Smelly water feature

[The Medway Handyman]

Spent the weekend getting the garden ready for summer.

Pressure washed the deck & furniture, oiled both & decided to clean out the
water feature.

What with handymanning it none of it got done last year so it was all a bit
of a mission.

Water feature was really smelly when switched on, I suspected something had
got into the tank & died!

Turned out just to be filthy, cleaned out tank & filter and all is well.

Is there anything I can add to the tank water to keep things clean &
fragrant?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

 

[The Wanderer]

Spent the weekend getting the garden ready for summer.

Pressure washed the deck & furniture, oiled both & decided to clean out the
water feature.

What with handymanning it none of it got done last year so it was all a bit
of a mission.

Water feature was really smelly when switched on, I suspected something had
got into the tank & died!

Turned out just to be filthy, cleaned out tank & filter and all is well.

Is there anything I can add to the tank water to keep things clean &
fragrant?

Many garden centres do a 'clear feature' additive for water features.
Bleach would do as a temporary measure, but it degrades in a matter of
hours in strong sunlight. Only add a very small amount, as it might harm
any rubber pipework, couplings etc. That presumes, of course, that it is
just a water feature and doesn't have any fish.

 

[Tony Williams]

Is there anything I can add to the tank water to keep things
clean & fragrant?

Aspirin?

 

[TMC]

Bleach.
Milton?

 

[Bob Eager]

Spent the weekend getting the garden ready for summer.

Pressure washed the deck & furniture, oiled both & decided to clean out the
water feature.

What with handymanning it none of it got done last year so it was all a bit
of a mission.

Water feature was really smelly when switched on, I suspected something had
got into the tank & died!

Turned out just to be filthy, cleaned out tank & filter and all is well.

Is there anything I can add to the tank water to keep things clean &
fragrant?

I'd try Milton. Rather less damaging and toxic than bleach (if it's OK
for babies....).
Get at the chemist.

 

[Tim S]

I'd try Milton. Rather less damaging and toxic than bleach (if it's OK
for babies....).
Get at the chemist.

Milton *is* bleach.

Milton contains Sodium Hypochlorite, same key ingredient as most household
bleach. If you get a thin unperfumed bleach with no extraneous additives
(eg Tesco's Value Bleach) I'm pretty sure it's the same stuff for less
money...

Here's a useful reference: http://www.milton-tm.com/healthpro/pro_faq.htm

Cheers

Tim

 

[Bob Eager]

Milton *is* bleach.

Milton contains Sodium Hypochlorite, same key ingredient as most household
bleach. If you get a thin unperfumed bleach with no extraneous additives
(eg Tesco's Value Bleach) I'm pretty sure it's the same stuff for less
money...

Here's a useful reference: http://www.milton-tm.com/healthpro/pro_faq.htm

My point was the lack of toxicity. Milton is bleach with some extra
purification - to reduce toxicity - as your reference says. Perhaps I
should have said "Milton is not just bleach". As for the money, it
depends on what value you place on safety - given the relatively small
amount required, cost is not really an issue.

 

[Tim S]

My point was the lack of toxicity. Milton is bleach with some extra
purification - to reduce toxicity - as your reference says. Perhaps I
should have said "Milton is not just bleach". As for the money, it
depends on what value you place on safety - given the relatively small
amount required, cost is not really an issue.

Hi Bob,

Milton *would* say that, wouldn't they...

Personally I wouldn't worry about it for a water feature in the slightest.

To put this in perspective, my late mother told me once that she couldn't
afford Milton for my baby-bottles and she came to a similar conclusion
concerning the fact that many products were based on the same key
ingredient as Milton. Not wanting to poison me, she rang up Domestos's
technical people and asked if such-and-such a Domestos (non-perfumed, non
thickened etc) product was safe to sterilise baby bottles. She was assured
that it was. I'm still alive 38 years or so later...

Perhaps Milton does use Sodium Hypo made to a higher standard, or maybe they
don't. But I *really* don't think anyone's going to get poisoned by using
regular bleach in suitable proportions in the context given here.

However, this is academic - if little is needed, the OP can use Milton if it
makes him happier

Just my 2p's worth.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Bob Eager]

Milton is not less toxic.. you have to rinse it out.
It will do the same damage as bleach does if you don't.

bleach /can/ have smelly stuff and detergent added and is usually stronger
than Milton but that's about it.

All I'll say is...read the link....and leave it there.

 

[Tim S]

Hi Bob,

Milton *would* say that, wouldn't they...

I'll quickly add, before anyone else does, that I found the link just to
confirm to myself that Milton was still primarily Sodium Hypo - and it does
have some useful data concerning concentrations. I suppose my brain's
marketing-bollocks-filter automatically blanked all the claims that it was
somehow "special" and magically pure!

Cheers

Tim

 

[The Natural Philosopher]

Milton is bleach.

I thought he was a poet..

 

[Clive Mitchell]

Many garden centres do a 'clear feature' additive for water features.
Bleach would do as a temporary measure, but it degrades in a matter of
hours in strong sunlight. Only add a very small amount, as it might
harm any rubber pipework, couplings etc. That presumes, of course, that
it is just a water feature and doesn't have any fish.

If you wanted to go really technical you could add a UV steriliser in
line with the water flow, or even an ozone bubbler that effectively acts
as a continuous biodegradable bleaching effect. These are all things
that could be sourced on ebay for Koi pond use.

 

[Dave Fawthrop]

On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:45:32 +0100, "[email protected]"

|!
|!|!
|!>> Bleach.
|!>>Milton?
|!
|!Milton is bleach.

NO! Milton is bleach *plus* salt in specific proportions

 

[Dave Liquorice]

Water feature was really smelly when switched on, I suspected something
had got into the tank & died!

It had gone stagnate. The suggestions of bleach will kill things but once
the bleach has dissipated the bugs'll come back. Running the feature to
keep the water oxygenated will be a better long term solution, along with
cleaning out any gunge from the bottom of the tank after leaf fall in the
autumn so any bits don't sit there and rot.

But isn't decking and water features so last century?

 

[The Medway Handyman]

But isn't decking and water features so last century?

Decking is alive & well & prospering I'm glad to say. Nice little earner.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

 

[Andy Hall]

Decking is alive & well & prospering I'm glad to say. Nice little earner.

Ideal in fact. Material cost not that high. Construction not that
difficult and once you know the key pieces like a solid framework easy
to produce good results.

Price expectation not particularly related to materials cost.

Seasonal but it does compensate for the £5 tap washers.

Have you thought of selling the customers up?

Patios and decks need cleaning this time of year. Pressure washer
needs servicing. Trouble is that that costs more than buying new
one. However, as a trusted advisor you could sell them a nice PW that
they wouldnt otherwise buy.

 

[Andy Dingley]

Is there anything I can add to the tank water to keep things clean &
fragrant?

Yes, you can add the foam / brush filter that you removed and washed for
storage last Autumn. Don't leave them in there if you're not pumping
water through them regularly.

 

[Dave Liquorice]

It's just that they haven't reached t'pennines yet..... ;-)

Wouldn't last up here. If it didn't get blown away it would rot. You have
seen the shed picture haven't you?

http://www.howhill.com/weather/view.php?t=p&y=2005&m=04&d=28

Christmas Eve 1999 the entire roof was blown off as a unit. It cleared the
wall that the shed is leaning against in the above photo and just clipped
the top of a similar height wall the other side of the road. The road is
wide enough for cars to pass at speed, despite the blind summit.

 

[The Medway Handyman]

Ideal in fact. Material cost not that high. Construction not that
difficult and once you know the key pieces like a solid framework easy
to produce good results.

Price expectation not particularly related to materials cost.

True enough. I can buy really good 28mm deck boards and treated sawn timber
from a local importer at really good prices

Seasonal but it does compensate for the £5 tap washers.

I don't do £5 tap washers I will re washer taps, but my minimum charge
is £30 for the first half hour. Not that local plumbers will do it at all,
they can't be arsed so it seems.

Patios and decks need cleaning this time of year. Pressure washer
needs servicing. Trouble is that that costs more than buying new
one. However, as a trusted advisor you could sell them a nice PW
that they wouldnt otherwise buy.

I do the odd bit of patio cleaning and it's fairly profitable. The market
for selling HPC is highly price sensitive and highly competitive, so I'm not
really interested.

True enough, if I found a potential client wanting a good machine I could
earn a margin, but there is a perception problem peculiar to HPC's. A
jigsaw, for example can be bought for £20 and a really good one could cost
£100 - 5 times the price.

With HPC's you can buy one for £40 but a really good one would cost £500 -
over 12 times the price.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

 

[Great Scot]

Spent the weekend getting the garden ready for summer.

Pressure washed the deck & furniture, oiled both & decided to clean out
the water feature.

What with handymanning it none of it got done last year so it was all a
bit of a mission.

Water feature was really smelly when switched on, I suspected something
had got into the tank & died!

Turned out just to be filthy, cleaned out tank & filter and all is well.

Is there anything I can add to the tank water to keep things clean &
fragrant?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Nooooh!
bugral point in adding any chemicals, only kill anything living. Will also
deter,or kill, visitors ie. birds, hedgehogs, voles etc. Kids, now there's
an idea.
Why is the water feature smelly?
Perhaps because it is stagnant?
Ever see a burn or brae that was smelly. No, and you'll never.
Just introduce some flow of air to assist water circulation. Only needs to
be minimal.
GS
ps. sorry about the kids thing. Lov'em, but couldn't eat a whole one