Welcome to the UK Window Cleaning Forums

Starting or own a window cleaning business? We're a network of window cleaners sharing advice, tips & experience. Rounds for sale & more. Join us today!

Water harvesters and algae...

Bart90

Well-known member
Messages
649
Location
West Midlands
A question to you like minded folks who harvest rainwater.

How do you stop all your 25L can etc going green with algae and bits of the green stuff getting in your tank/backback?  Do you add anything to the water?  I'm going to pressure wash some of my 25L cans out as the hose just won't cut it but wondered if there's another way.

 
Magic sponge the inside of the harvesters and rinse them out. You probably wont get far with a pressure washer either. Then Pump through double d.i. 

 
You need to kill the algy spores put a weak bleach mix in them slosh it about leave it for an hour rinse out job dine it will now be sterile and algy free keep it coverd if out side or paint the tank black and the problem won’t happen so often 

 
I bought a roll of black shrink wrap, the type they wrap pallets with from eBay for a few quid. I put a tarp around the ibc and then shrink wrapped it all up. My ibc spends half of the day in sunlight, I've not had any algae since.

 
You need to kill the algy spores put a weak bleach mix in them slosh it about leave it for an hour rinse out job dine it will now be sterile and algy free keep it coverd if out side or paint the tank black and the problem won’t happen so often 
Will any left over bleach affect the water purity?

 
Will any left over bleach affect the water purity?




Provided that you rinse it out it will it will be fine , just cheak your tds before using if you are worried , but Ime sure it will be fine , we don’t rainwater harvest but u have sterilised my tanks this way for the past 18 years without any ill effects , if you pump the water out with a pump just flush it through with water and it will be fine , don’t put the bleach mix through any filtration though . 

 
Was just going to start a new thread and found this one,

just a thought for algae prevention, I came across these today for ponds 

and wondered if anyone has one of these in an IBC tank for prevention?

not had a problem myself but a low cost proven way of controlling algae.

thoughts?

28F680FF-FDAD-45FD-BFFE-FC26867106B7.jpeg

 
To be fair they are used by people with ponds to keep the water clear , they don’t work I tried them around 29 years ago , I think it’s a bit of an old wives tale , but give it a go and see how you get on with them , the fact that an Ibc tank holds much less water than a pond might make a bit of a difference, 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
To be fair they are used by people with ponds to keep the water clear , they don’t work I tried them around 29 years ago , I think it’s a bit of an old wives tale , but give it a go and see how you get on with them , the fact that an Ibc tank holds much less water than a pond might make a bit of a difference, 


Not sure it will be of benefit for me as my IBC is in a garage with no windows , I don’t seam to have any issues. I did a little digging around and a study from 1991 was an interesting read in the New Scientist, It seams that they identify it works without working out exactly how! See below, not a totally boring read...

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13017644-200-science-how-straw-in-the-pond-keeps-algal-slime-at-bay/

 
Not sure it will be of benefit for me as my IBC is in a garage with no windows , I don’t seam to have any issues. I did a little digging around and a study from 1991 was an interesting read in the New Scientist, It seams that they identify it works without working out exactly how! See below, not a totally boring read...

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13017644-200-science-how-straw-in-the-pond-keeps-algal-slime-at-bay/
Thanks for posting.  I'm filling my 25L cans with water and bleach and leaving them soak for a couple of days before rinsing them out.  Seems to do the trick for now ?

 
Thanks for posting.  I'm filling my 25L cans with water and bleach and leaving them soak for a couple of days before rinsing them out.  Seems to do the trick for now ?


Yep, bleach would be my recommendation to kill the spores and scrub clean, fast and simple.

 This may be of benefit for people storing water in larger containers for prevention as cleaning an IBC 1000ltrs is often very tricky.

 it seams from the scientific research that it takes the straw a month for the chemical reaction to kick in, it should then continue working for six months or so. Prevention better than cure. 

 
Does anyone know if the algae will affect the pure water? I’ve recently noticed a small build up developing in my van tank as it’s positioned near the back of my van so the sunlight hits it constantly when the back doors are open.

 
Back
Top