I keep a couple of cubos full of water as back-up in case our mains agricultural water gets turned off.
Unfortunately it can go quite nasty very quickly. I want to be able to use it on the plants as well, so prefer not to put chlorine, or bleach in them.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to keep them fresh without nasty chemicals, please?

How about painting the cubos.
This time of year there is less sunlight, so should help with the problem aswell.

My advice, for what it is worth, is to firstly paint the outside of the cubes, then either build a wooden cover, or failing that cover with a tarpaulin or similar. The idea is to stop the light getting to the water. Also empty and re fill a few times each year to stop the water from going “stale”. The darker the paint the more the water will heat up – so covering is better –unless you want hot water ....

I water my garden with chlorinated swimming pool water.  The turnover of water means I don't have to have quite the intensity of chlorine so no stinging eyes.  Chlorine in its natural state is a gas and will disappear without harming the plants unless you have a particularly high concentration.

I have cubos as reserve water for my animals if our agriculture mains goes offline. I covered them with wooden frame and plywood. The water stays clear and fresh and I have been using this system for several years. I just drop it and refill a few times a year especially after summer to avoid legionella which breeds with sufficient heat. Tarps would work to I guess but they decay fast in the sun and wind damage. I prefer a more permanent measure. You could also bury them if your drawing with a pump anyway. Or go the whole hog and brick them up.

The Royal Navy kept its water barrels fresh with a tot of rum. Don't know the ratio but I am sure it could be fun figuring it out. ; )
Bruixot

Thanks everyone.
Looks like I will need to cover them, but want a cheap option.
1. I imagine paint is not cheap for something like this, if it is to last any time..
2. Unless can get cheap wood from somewhere this is usually an expensive option too, although lasts longer.
3. I have seen covers in Lidl sometimes for about €15, but still not that cheap and probably won´t last long.

Any suggestions for cheap, Tarps, Wood, or Paint, please?
Also, how do you know the level of the water when they are all covered up?

A cheap cover / tarpaulin first but also grow something like ivy or Russian vine that will smother the cubo in a few years.

Michael wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2012 at 9:41am:

A cheap cover / tarpaulin first but also grow something like ivy or Russian vine that will smother the cubo in a few years.

I can´t grow anything over them as they are on a concrete base up against the house.
+ still need to know where to get cheap cover etc.

You could use reclaimed wood from pallets. There is a place on the outskirts of Tortosa where they convert old wood into chippings - there is usually a huge pile of assorted wood there.  Often people go and collect it from there - give the machine driver a few euros and he'll let you take what you want.

Nigel

Or take a trip to a commercial grower,as I did,they will sell you the black 'cloth' they use to cover the ground to stop growth,very cheap and UV resistant,there is one under the bridge at Benifallet

Small B&Q type tarpaulin,with eyes and a length of bungee cord.The rest is easy.

When full, if you add more water .... it wont go in  ;D


Or you could look at the top - remove cover first - lol :D

I put a hatch on the top and one on the bottom for the tap. Though I have noticed water pouring out of the box when full so this is indeed a workable method too. : )
Bruixot

If you're filling from a pumped source it's easy to incorporate a float switch to turn the pump off when full.

wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2012 at 5:17pm:

I keep a couple of cubos full of water as back-up in case our mains agricultural water gets turned off. Unfortunately it can go quite nasty very quickly. I want to be able to use it on the plants as well, so prefer not to put chlorine, or bleach in them. Does anyone have any ideas on how to keep them fresh without nasty chemicals, please?

You can use "Katadyn"  tablets; they're not a nasty chemical

Alfred

I'm sure they work, but not the cheapest way, probably.

wrote on Dec 11^th, 2012 at 4:57pm:

I'm sure they work, but not the cheapest way, probably.

unless you're saving for a golden and silk lined casket, I think they're affordable and an effective disinfectant  :D

Well you obviously seem to know what I should be spending my money on  ::)

However, as the cubos hold a total of 2000 litres and mostly used on the garden, except in emergencies, I still believe this is not the best use of my money, or probably disinfectant tablets.

You will also find that not everyone on this forum is of retirement age and saving for caskets. Although I can´t actually imagine anyone on here saving for their casket.
Btw, welcome to the area  :-/

A little thin skinned, perhaps?
No I don't know what you should spend your money on nor do I care, my comment was all in jest as one can tell by the emoticon that followed my statement
however in this case chlorine is probably the best and cheapest solution as long as the dosage is right

Thanks for the undecided welcome...and have a great day

I seem to have maybe hit a bit of a raw spot there, but as long as you don´t care, never mind  ;)

I guess I didn't get the jest, as the cheesy emoticon didn't seem relevant to what you were saying, or to the problem that this is all about. Perhaps it was lost in translation.

Yet again you seemed to have missed the original problem, I can not use chlorine as the water gets used on plants and it will kill them.
Help is always appreciated, but please read the issues.
I always have a great day thanks....I live in Spain  ;D

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Ecover do a non chlorine bleach. Their products are plant and mineral based. This one might be suitable...
http://www.ecover.com/gb/en/products/productdetails.aspx?PId=9170&VId=20019007266&CId=104

I would check with the company before using though as to it's suitability.

John

Chlorine is a gas and so won't stay in the soil.  I've been watering my garden from the swimming pool with great success for years now.  Obviously if the concentration is vey high then you will have problems.

A simple but effective way is to hold the water in a container with a large surface area and either let the water stand till the chlorine has evaporated or aerate it with a simple solar fountain until the chlorine has evaporated. It shouldn't take long - a few days or so. It should then be safe to use. :)

Thanks, but I'm not sure how these help my problem.

The water is sitting in two cubos, so will not aerate well and most reports on the internet say that chlorine water is generally not consistently good for plants. Also, I really don't want to use any sort of bleach.
I think the early answers for covering up the cubos are the way to go, but thanks again to everyone.

wrote on Dec 12^th, 2012 at 5:41pm:

I seem to have maybe hit a bit of a raw spot there, but as long as you don´t care, never mind  ;) I guess I didn't get the jest, as the cheesy emoticon didn't seem relevant to what you were saying, or to the problem that this is all about. Perhaps it was lost in translation. Yet again you seemed to have missed the original problem, I can not use chlorine as the water gets used on plants and it will kill them. Help is always appreciated, but please read the issues. I always have a great day thanks....I live in Spain  ;D

I'm a chemist by trade, so yes I know what I am talking about, most drinking in any industrialized nation is carefully chlorinated, I have yet to see a plant that died from tap water. Even if the dosage is upped slightly it won't harm any plant and over time some of the chlorine will dissipate from sunlight especially if there is no tight closure on the cubos.

So no i didn't miss the boat I still have all my faculties in order... I have to assume you just wanted to post a really smart reply...

no more cheesy emoticons