[Spana]

Not sure where to put this 

My grandson is a keen gardener and has sole charge of the family garden and for a 15year old does a pretty good job.  :happy:

Last year he made a water feature in a barrel and says the water keeps getting smelly. Hes looking at buying some sort of solar pump for it. I know nothing about such things and cant help him.
We've had a look on line but cant  work out what we need.

Anyone have any experience of barrel water features, how do you stop smelly water

This is it

[RichardA]

It  looks very nice and well worth looking after. The smell may be blanket weed or algea which can be treated by chemicals from any good water garden or aquatics type shop or if you like me don't like chemicals then try barley straw again can be bought. Oxygenating plants might help.
A small solar pump would help as would a mains driven one which would run all the time or a small aerator (air bubbler) might be cheaper.
My MIL used to have a barrel with a cast iron ornament above it through which a small pump trickled water. Two problems - no three - tended to freeze up in the winter, splashed water about if windy so messy and barrel got low (also froze up making icy patches) and she said it made her want to go "pee" so not at all relaxing.
Might be worth goggling as a problem "smelly pond" or green pond" etc.
Hope it works out OK
R

[Alastair-I]

I've tried a couple of solar pumps and not found one that's any good - too weak and fail very quickly.

A small volume of water will go smelly quickly if material accumulates and decomposes anaerobically.  The solutions are:

• Aerate the pond with water movement, a pump is more efficient than a bubbler (bubblers don't aerate the pond directly, the rising bubbles establish water movement similar to a weak pump - whenyou see the EA do it they're using pure oxygen)
• Change the water frequently abd clean out debris from the bottom (10-20% by volume every 1-2 weeks using rainwater)
• Be scrupulous about removing dead leaves, dead vegetation, etc.
• Don't try and keep fish (you don't say about this)

You can add chemicals to clear the problem.. but anything that's going to be effective will be harmful to wildlife.  Using algaecides to kill blanket weed, etc may give an initial result but is storing up problems for the future.  Blanket weed grows because the water is getting too many nutrients, too much light or both.  Killing the weed without addressing the cause of the problem just allows the excess nutrients to accumulate for a bigger problem later.  The best way to deal with blanket weed and algae is to remove it manually as this also removes the nutrients it has consumed.  I find duckweed to be very effective at controlling light and nutrient levels.  It grows very quickly and can be netted off as a mulch or added to the compost heap.

[Goosegirl]

Your 15 year old grandson has made a lovely job and it's a shame that it is creating a problem after all his efforts. He needs a bigger barrel for a start, so treat him to one. Oxygenating plants should help, as will keeping it free of leaves, etc. I have used Algon in my waterfall feature and I'm sure it says it is ok with wildlife - but check out first. Make sure that all plants are potted in an aquatic compost for lower nutrient levels. Personally, I don't like duckweed as it spreads all over the surface so you don't see the water. Lowering light levels will also help, so place in a shady spot.

[arugula]

In our last garden, we made a water feature with a sunken builders bucket underneath mesh with pebbles on top, so same type of arrangement.

This sort of thing:

how do you stop smelly water

I recall under certain conditions such as warmer weather the water could smell a bit, but running the pump to power the "fountain" bit of it and have the water moving seemed to alleviate the problem.

In fact, THIS SITE where I got the diagram, seems informative.