Water Butt Treatment - Keeping Rainwater Fresh

The Perfect Water Butt Treatment

Garden Water Butt

Collecting rainwater in a water butt or water tank from the roof a building has been going for eons and is a very useful way of collecting a free source of water. However, as the rainwater falls from the sky onto the roof, it will pick-up debris that has either fallen onto the roof or into the gutter and gradually washes into the water butt where it begins to get broken down by the anaerobic bacteria that a present in the water.

Gradually the water then begins to smell stagnant and this is especially present when water has been standing for a long time and during hot weather. The stagnant water can also become a breeding ground to water borne diseases that affect humans, such as legionella, and for plants - Phytophthora which can be fatal for plants.

Therefore, it is important to prevent debris from falling or being washed into the water butt by putting a piece of mesh over the down pipe, but remember to keep this clean from large pieces of debris such as leaves which will make the rainwater pour over the guttering rather than down the pipe; smaller pieces will naturally get washed into the water butt.

Another thing to remember, is to always keep the water butt covered with a lid to stop any algae from developing in the water and to stop mosquitoes from breeding.

 

Water Butt Treatments - The Best Way to Stop Rainwater Turning Stagnant

As I have already said, rainwater can turn stagnant when left without use for long periods and therefore we need ways to stop this from happening and there are a couple of solutions.

There are a number of safe non-toxic water butt treatments on the market, that reduce bad odours and prevents scum, slime and algae from forming. The problem with these are, unless you empty the water butt each time or you know how much water you have used each time, it is difficult to know how much water butt treatment to add each time, plus you have to remember to add it.

AquaFresh EM Ceramics Water Butt Treatment

However, there is an alternative - EM Ceramics Water Butt Treatment. A bag of em ceramics are dropped into the water of your water butt and they continuously stop rainwater from turning stagnant. They work by emitting an infrared frequency that has the ability to always keep the rainwater smelling fresh and prevent smelly bacteria from proliferating. They are such an easy and simple solution that works.

EM Ceramics have EM or Effective Microorganisms baked within the clay and they are a collection of 80 different types of microorganisms that have a beneficial influence on us and the environment. EM was originally developed by Dr Teruo Higa from Okinawa, Japan.

 EMBiotechSolutions