Stinky water in water butts

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opps

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My mum has two water butts that collect rain water from the downpipes.

The water absolutely stinks.

They both have lids but the water has some brown scummy stuff on the top.

Is there anything she can add to the water (that will not harm the plants)?
 
I suspect the colour is to do with organic material breaking down ….. so it’s good for the plants

our shed water butt always has this issue and I always use it on the plants with no detrimental affects
 
Does your water stink though?

if you take the lid off, you can smell the water from quite a distance.
 
How long ago was it completely emptied and all the remaining silt etc cleared out? It probably has a load of gunk in it. When I picked a S/H one up off marketplace a while back the bloke said he'd not cleaned it out just drained the water out and that one had a load of smelly silt in the bottom.

Ours get a bit honky in the summer sometimes if we haven't had rain for a few weeks.
 
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freddiemercurystwin said:
How long ago was it completely emptied and all the remaining silt etc cleared out? It probably has a load of gunk in it. When I picked a S/H one up off marketplace a while back the bloke said he'd not cleaned it out just drained the water out and that one aload of smelly silt in the bottom.

Ours get a bit honky in the summer sometimes if we haven't had rain for a few weeks.
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I think that they are new. I shall ask how old they are tomorrow.
 
Millwright said:
It doesn't matter how you use it, if the lid is being opened to the degree that a smell is known to be present, then you can be exposed to the airborne bacteria.
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That's an unlikely method of entry, although not impossible.
 
opps said:
I think that they are new. I shall ask how old they are tomorrow.
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Forget about Legionnaires lurking within - you can add 'Pond Clear' to the water to break down the gunk before emptying it into the drain. Then get a tin of elbow grease, slather lavishly and get to work with a brush. Scrub-a-dub-dub and Robert is your father's brother. All clean again.
Perhaps a leaf-catcher at the top of the drainpipe would prevent leaves n' stuff clogging up the butt and offending your sinuses in future.
 
Having done some research...

It looks like Potassium permanganate will help, but yeah they both need to be cleaned first.

Other sources recommend dropping in some charcoal first.

It has also been suggested that a pair of tights will help to reduce the risk of crud entering.
 
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