Water Butt maintenance

This article has some interesting facts about possible risks while using water butts. The strong recommendation appears to be to use a watering can rather than a hose to reduce the risk of inhaling airborne legionella.

legionellacontrol.com/news/garden-water-butts-legionella/amp/

I have Bronchiectasis and I’m worrying now about my shower head. Going to Google NTM

I repeat, Porton Down found 95% of water butts contained the Legionnaires bug.

My father used to scrub out the water butts when I was a child. I did think that was "normal".

Jaxjacky

Never cleaned mine over many years, we’re fine, the garden is fine, this sounds like another ‘idea’ to sell you stuff.

As if people aren’t obsessed enough with scrubbing the life out of everything, we’re now advised to clean rain water !!!
Twaddle, absolute twaddle.

I have two very large water butts/tanks. They each contain a mesh bag of ceramic hoops, the same as is used in fish tanks. The tanks never need cleaning, the rain water is always pure and crystal clear. They have tight-fitting lids

I bought the appropriate amount of ceramic hoops and made large net bags for them

Just asked DH as watering is his responsibility.

He said “I swill them out occasionally when they are empty, haven’t done them lately (which means ages ago).”

Just uses water. Never buys anything to do them with.

Another (needless) thing being pushed for us to buy.

Yes, legionnaires disease.
I think it comes from bird poo on the roof of your shed/house etc.

Here's an article:
www.envii.co.uk/garden-blog-post/the-ultimate-guide-to-water-butts/#:~:text=The%20best%20way%20to%20prevent,chances%20of%20inhaling%20the%20bacteria.

At Porton down they did research that showed 95% of them had the bug that causes legionnaires disease.
I empty mine completely in the summer and give them a good clean..
Will see what the rhs says.

We’ve had ours for over 25 yrs, never had to clean them, I don’t like the idea of putting chemicals into it, we try to grow organically. The water has never gone stagnant.

Something else dreamed up to part you with your money.

Callistemon21

I'd be more concerned about the shower head in our shower.

I regularly remove ours and soak it in white vinegar. Not many people (or doctors) are aware of NTM which you are more likely to get if you have lung problems such as bronchiectasis.

We had an allotment with compost heaps and I got NTM maybe from the compost or steam from using the steam room at the gym.

DH cleans ours every year.Tries to do when it’s nearly empty as you need to empty the butt, use a solution of Jeyes fluid in water, scrubs the sides with a brush then rinse.

We clean ours every year but only with washing up liquid. Perhaps we need to up our game?

I had a silver disc which I put in the water butts. I don’t know if they still make them. The water always seems good and I use it to clean and fill the birdbath as well as watering the garden. My grandmother swore by it for washing hair. Said it kept your hair glossy.

I drain mine at the end of the summer, and you can see inside them when you take the top off, they look clean. All I’ve ever done is use a few capfuls of Milton to flush the tap through, but I guess you could fill the whole butt with water and use more Milton (or Jeyes Fluid) if you could see algae inside.

I do as Aggie does, empty them by end of October and disconnect from the downpipe. I usually rinse out any sludge at the bottom. I reconnected ours in March.
I've never used an chemicals to clean the inside.

I think that as long as the lid is on insects can't get in to lay their eggs so no mosquito larvae at least.

We empty ors before the frost , and have just set them up today . They don’t get stagnant , more likely to run dry ,!

I'd be more concerned about the shower head in our shower.

Never cleaned mine over many years, we’re fine, the garden is fine, this sounds like another ‘idea’ to sell you stuff.

Sorry jeanie99
The sensible answer is that, when it used to get nearly to the bottom, he cleaned it out, but it has rained a lot lately.

Glorianny

OMG I didn't know about water borne diseases. Is that true? My GS finds the idea of Granny's butt hilarious (I blame US cartoons). When I announced that I thought my butt was leaking he almost collapsed. Goodness knows what he'll do if I tell him my butt's spreading disease.

😂😂😂

I don't think we've ever used hydrogen peroxide (does it sting?)

I do know about water-borne diseases (just ask DH! 😴)

I just asked him and he said "I dunno".
Sigh.

We don’t do anything to ours except collect water & use it for watering! Always wash hands etc after gardening & can’t see why butts need cleaning?

I did see a treatment at a garden centre the other week that was to put in water butts. I hadn’t thought about it before but it made me realise the are full of stagnant water.

Never thought I could catch diseases from a water butt. I don’t drink that water - I only use it to water my summer plants..I don’t ever clean the water butt. Maybe I should 😂

OMG I didn't know about water borne diseases. Is that true? My GS finds the idea of Granny's butt hilarious (I blame US cartoons). When I announced that I thought my butt was leaking he almost collapsed. Goodness knows what he'll do if I tell him my butt's spreading disease.