Water economy v. midge larvae

[Airehead]

Having seen some ridiculously expensive water containers paraded by A Titchmarsh *see note below I realised I had a redundant plastic dustbin which I have been attempting to fill with rainwater for the last few weeks. But can anyone advise me how to avoid the proliferation of midge larvae in the bin? The difficulty of keeping water fresh has not been mentioned by the Telly Experts.

* And as a generality, I am very dubious about the real benefit of many proposed economy measures - in this case, is there really an overall gain in using the petrochemical industry, with its pollution and wastage of an irreplaceable resource, to save a volume of water which in the event of a drought will in any case be ridiculously insufficient?

[Alan]

A lid?

[Jonny]

Put a lid on it.............Jon

[Jonny]

LOL...............Jon

[wildone]

How are you filling it? If from the downpipe of a gutter then you will need to have a hole in the lid for the pipe to go through.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Airehead

* And as a generality, I am very dubious about the real benefit of many proposed economy measures - in this case, is there really an overall gain in using the petrochemical industry, with its pollution and wastage of an irreplaceable resource, to save a volume of water which in the event of a drought will in any case be ridiculously insufficient?

True but you might be able to get a decent crop of chillies, with no food miles, without pulling on the tap water supply.

You may struggle to keep the water 'fresh' you'd probably have to boil it or sterilize it if you wanted to drink it, but the tomatoes will love it just as it is.

Echo Jonny and Allan, lid with hole in centre for downpipe or funnel...

[Jonny]

Actually, a lid might not help, if the water is comming from a downpipe. Having worked on many roofs, I have seen midge lava in so many gutters. People rarely clean out there guttering and it fills with dirt and moss, which when damp is a haven for the miggies, (how many times have you seen birds feeding in gutters) so lid with pipe and filter may be needed...........Jon

[Chalk Downlanders]

I used to have a number of water butts in my garden. They always teamed with life so with a net I scooped them out and fed my tropical fish. They love it

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Jonny

Actually, a lid might not help, if the water is comming from a downpipe. Having worked on many roofs, I have seen midge lava in so many gutters. People rarely clean out there guttering and it fills with dirt and moss, which when damp is a haven for the miggies, (how many times have you seen birds feeding in gutters) so lid with pipe and filter may be needed...........Jon

Would the 24hour darkness not hinder their development within the butt?

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Sticky

I used to have a number of water butts in my garden. They always teamed with life so with a net I scooped them out and fed my tropical fish. They love it

I suppose some kind of life cycle within the water would probably add to the nutriant levels within the water which is no bad thing if you use the water for veggies.
I recycle my fish tank water change water through my chilli plants and other pot plants so neither the water nor the fish related nutriants get wasted.