sludgy waterbutt!

aimzee84

Hi All!

I have just drained the last of the water from the butt to water the garden and found about a foot of nasty sludgy 'stuff' in the bottom!

So, my two hopeful questions are... Is there an easy way of getting this out? The downpipe goes right to the bottom and the butt is up on bricks-almost impossible to remove (we didn't fit it-the previous owners did). Or do I have to just try and get in the with a spade of something?

Second one-when/if I do manage to clear it, can I throw it on the veg patch? I should imagine it's just organic debris, though it comes off the garage roof which is asbestos-would that cause a problem?

Thanks in advance for your help!!:j

forgotmyname

Just accumulated dirt and leaves etc. Ideal for the compost bin or bury it slightly.

The roof material wont make any difference. Bound to be worse elements in the air.

Get the hose in there under pressure and pump it out? Or partially fill it and stir it up and scoop out with a small jug/bucket.

Whatever you have to hand really.

wellused

Could you cut the downpipe and join it back with a sleeve? Then you could remove the butt and tip it upside down on the garden.

aimzee84

Thank you both-unfortunately (haha!) the sun has gone in now so I will have to put it off for another day.. Looks like it's going to be a messy job whichever way I go about it! Sure wish we had a composter now though!

Ectophile

Are the bricks cemented down? If not, you could remove them and drop the water butt down a bit. Alternatively, is it possible to slide the butt off the bricks onto the ground?

If you can do that, it should be possible to wiggle the downpipe down until it disconnects from the guttering.

Once you've done that, it should be possible to tip over the water butt for easier access.

aimzee84

Thanks Ectophile-hadn't even considered looking to see if the bricks were cemented!
Easter Monday looks like being an interesting day....!!! :-/

savemoney

I just clean mine once or twice a year with pressue washer. I do cover mine up. I also have used a brush and some disinfectant. You can also get water butt treatments I got some recently with my water butt online when I ordered some more

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=water+butt+treatment

aimzee84

Thanks for the link-I don't think it's ever been cleaned, and it's probably been here about 15+ years!!

Once I've bitten the bullet and cleaned it out I'll definitely be keeping on top of it!!