[Half a plot man]

An odd question but here goes...we are on a water meter so charges are high, does anybody know if you can use sterilsed water in the garden for general watering. We are now throwing away 6ltrs of milton sterilised water every night due to new arrival of baby boy. Could i use this to water flowers etc at home?

[BostonInbred]

its going to go some way to sterilising the soil and killing all the friendly bacteria (as the yogurt ads so say)

[Janeymiddlewife]

Interesting question - I would have thought no, as milton is a bleach sodium hypochlorite agent, and would interfere with plant cell metabolism. However if someone more knowledgeable than I says yes, then listen to them!! Have you thought about a rainwater collection system, using bathwater siphoning it with a hose - I can remember my dad watering his marrows with bathwater in 1976!!

[Half a plot man]

Interesting question - I would have thought no, as milton is a bleach sodium hypochlorite agent, and would interfere with plant cell metabolism. However if someone more knowledgeable than I says yes, then listen to them!! Have you thought about a rainwater collection system, using bathwater siphoning it with a hose - I can remember my dad watering his marrows with bathwater in 1976!!

Yes, I am going to install two water butts on the 4" downpipes of the house, also I have a small water butt in mind for the shed roof collection. Not sure about the bath water though.....

[BostonInbred]

Ok i just did a bit of research, this is a BIG nono!!!

It decomposes when heated or evaporated to form sodium chlorate and sodium chloride:

    3 NaClO → NaClO3 + 2 NaCl

Sodium Chlorate is a lethal herbicide, in fact it now been banned under the EU
Sodium Chloride is salt, ploughing salt into the earth was what the romans used to do to make it unusable for growing for for several years.

[Half a plot man]

Ok i just did a bit of research, this is a BIG nono!!!

It decomposes when heated or evaporated to form sodium chlorate and sodium chloride:

    3 NaClO → NaClO3 + 2 NaCl

Sodium Chlorate is a lethal herbicide, in fact it now been banned under the EU
Sodium Chloride is salt, ploughing salt into the earth was what the romans used to do to make it unusable for growing for for several years.

Not good news then! Down the drain it goes then. thanks for all your replies. 

[Mark-S]

The effects could be that as chlorophylll (the green pigment) is very sensitive to sodium hypochlorite it may scorch the leaves if let on for prolonged periods, I wouldnt, even allowing for the low concentration.

watering the root crops could be a less risky option, but why risk it...

[penance]

No idea of what milton would do to soil.

How many water meters do you have?

If you use a hose outside you can request another meter fitted on that.
Water bills are charged on supply and removal, if you are using some for outside you are not using the water companies system to take it away and so should only be charged for the supply of that water.

[Trikidiki]

Why not pour your milton solution into the cistern of your loo just after its been flushed then let it refill to normal level or just use it to flush the loo directly. Then you can happily take six litres of fresh water from the tap for no net loss.

[mumofstig]

Now that is a good idea

[Kristen]

Have you got room for an IBC instead of a water butt? They hold 1,000 litres and usually set for less than £50 (they are the area of a pallet - roughly 1M cube - used to carry bulk liquids - pick one that has not had been used for something noxious!)

1,000 Litres will be a lot larger than the average water butt, but not as nice to look at

[Half a plot man]

Have you got room for an IBC instead of a water butt? They hold 1,000 litres and usually set for less than £50 (they are the area of a pallet - roughly 1M cube - used to carry bulk liquids - pick one that has not had been used for something noxious!)

1,000 Litres will be a lot larger than the average water butt, but not as nice to look at

Good idea, sadly we don't have the room. I work at a metals foundrey and we have hundreds of IBC's but none clean enough for domestic usage sadly.

[Half a plot man]

Why not pour your milton solution into the cistern of your loo just after its been flushed then let it refill to normal level or just use it to flush the loo directly. Then you can happily take six litres of fresh water from the tap for no net loss.

Now this is a great idea and easily done too as we have a downstairs loo!!!!!

[strangerachael]

What about considering microwave or steam sterilisation - no nasty chemicals necessary 

[BostonInbred]

What about considering microwave or steam sterilisation - no nasty chemicals necessary 

True, why cant you sterilise a babys bottle in a vegetable steamer, they only use about 1L of water.

Or even better, what about a steamer you put in the microwave, Argos do one for about £8.