Funky rain barrel water?

[pootroock]

Hey everyone! So I just moved to New Mexico, and the house I moved into has a couple rain barrels! For obvious reasons I was really stoked for this before we moved.

So we're here now and I'd like to use the water that's been collected this year, however, the water that comes out is FUNKY, and I mean like a wretched bog water stench that makes me gag. I've read several articles online about this and so far most of them say that it's rather normal for rain barrels to smell bad because of the natural bacterial activity, and that it's good to use on flowers and plants that are in the ground, but I haven't found anything about this in regards to watering bonsai. I know getting the water tested is the best bet, but I'd rather hear from some bonsai-minded friends before I go paying for one!

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Yes, it smells.
Most of the bacteria are hard to prevent and especially salmonella smells like a bog.

They don't like air and moving water, so if you can find a cheap solar powered pump, it will reduce the smell and their growth a whole lot. But that's gonna stink for a couple days at first though. I got a weak but effective solar power pump for about 15 follars on ebay. It will reduce the smell somewhat, but it doesn't prevent it entirely.

My rain barrels have gold fish and some aquatic snails in them, gold fish to eat mosquitos and aquatic snails to eat any algae.
Having aquatic floating plants in there also prevents buildup of nutrients and educe algae as well. The more life that's in there, the more diverse the microbial composition will be and the less you have to worry about getting some kind of weird infections. And also, the less it stinks.

There are ways to filter your water but that takes huge bassins or expensive equipment.

 

[pootroock]

Yes, it smells.
Most of the bacteria are hard to prevent and especially salmonella smells like a bog.

They don't like air and moving water, so if you can find a cheap solar powered pump, it will reduce the smell and their growth a whole lot. But that's gonna stink for a couple days at first though. I got a weak but effective solar power pump for about 15 follars on ebay. It will reduce the smell somewhat, but it doesn't prevent it entirely.

My rain barrels have gold fish and some aquatic snails in them, gold fish to eat mosquitos and aquatic snails to eat any algae.
Having aquatic floating plants in there also prevents buildup of nutrients and educe algae as well. The more life that's in there, the more diverse the microbial composition will be and the less you have to worry about getting some kind of weird infections. And also, the less it stinks.

There are ways to filter your water but that takes huge bassins or expensive equipment.

So it would be okay to use the water as is on my bonsai then?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Absolutely. Just don't drink from it! And don't make a spray mist out of it because you can get legionaires disease from the droplets.