Water butts

[BooseysMom]

Just wondering whether anyone ever cleans out their water butt? I have never cleaned ours in the nearly 10 years we've had it and since I heard a news report of a gardener dying from Legionnaire's Disease while using a hose pipe, I was worried that spraying it on plants would be dangerous. I noticed you can never get all the water out of the bottom of it either and when the water is left standing there is a greater risk, isn't there?
Thanks

Assuming your water butt is filling from rainwater off the roof it will get dirt and bird poop in it.
So when a water butt gets below the level of the tap, we tip it over and empty it out. (Found a newt in it once!) Then rinse it out with the hose.

I don't clean it very often, but I am quite careful about spraying the water from a butt so as not to make aerosol droplets. I also don't use water from the butt in the greenhouse if I'm going to stand plants in trays of water

I have literally just sat down after hosing out my smelly water butt.

Just Googled Legionnaires.

Semi-convinced I'm now going to die 🫠🙈

Thanks for the replies everyone.

The spray droplets is what scared me cos I was spraying the house plants when the fan blew the mist into my face!

You can get tablets to stick in there but I don't think they actually kill legionnaires, etc.
DH won't even take it apart so I can clean it!

Yikes! I’ve never thought about cleaning it out. Well, maybe in passing. It's huge and unmoveable, and there's always water in it (wet part of the country). I water the greenhouse plants with it (tomatoes and peppers currently). Am I going to die?

Clean our butts 😝 at the end of the season with a tiny bit of disinfectant, scrub with a brush then rinse out.

You can buy filters that fit between the butt and the feed, though I expect it is still good practice to clean it out occasionally?

Suitably chastened, must do better 😄

What the hell is a water butt? 🫣

Oh dear. Made it to 57 and found yet another chore I’ve been neglecting.

It's this thing...
I was fretting as it says the bacteria grows in temperatures over 20 degrees and this thing is always in the afternoon heat.
I use the water to spray the plants and the fan blew the spray into my face which is why I'm freaking out!

If it was that likely, we’d have a lot more dead gardeners!

I can’t wash mine as plants grow over it. It’ll be fine.

Oh thank you, I don't have one of those just a basic tap and hose pipe. I can imagine that would definately feel unsettling, and a clean out seems a good precaution, however as another pp alluded to, it seems like a rare tragic event.

Ha, only just seen this post now. Just sitting down after cleaning our water butt. Probably the 1st time it's been done since we moved in 8 years ago. It was empty so a good chance to do it. It has a couple of inches of stinky sludge in the bottom. Put it on it's side, got the sludge out with a spade. Small bit of washing up liquid, scooted that around with a stiff broom. And now it's drying.
Do you really need DH to take yours apart? Ours was only held to the down pipe with one plastic screw. Very easy to disattatch.

DH cleaned ours the other week because it was blocked. I don’t think he does it vey often

I had heard before that hosepipes could be a legionella risk

That's the same as ours. We moved in here about 8 years ago and it has never been cleaned. I guess I don't need him to do it really. It's just I insist on it because I do all the bloody cleaning!! He has to do something the lazy get!! 😆

I have two water butts and an IBC. Never cleaned any of them and have no intention of doing so.

Years ago I bought something silver which supposedly keeps the water pure in a water butt. I have three attached to down pipes but only use a watering can . Never thought of a hose pipe. Never cleaned them out

That's a very good point!

I wouldn't use waterbutt water in a spray, and definitely not indoors.

Legionnaires isn't a huge risk if the butt is in regular use and the water is constantly changing, but there will be all sorts of other bacteria and moulds in there.

What is an IBC?

Thanks. I'll definitely not use it indoors again. We do use the butt regularly but (butt ... ..sorry!!) there's always a certain amount at the bottom which never gets used as the tap is too high to reach it.

Mine was really stinky earlier in the year, but once some oxygen got in as it went down, it was fine. I bought some treatment to put in it but discovered you had to empty the water butt and scrub it out first. Mine is attached to the wall so that won't be happening!