Watering plants with pumped water transmit disease?

[kevn357]

So I have a clay garden that always gets flooded by my neighbors run off and am going to dig a hole next to my garden and install a sump pump to dry it out. I can either pump this water into a drain or send it to rain barrels that I can then water my plants with. If I water my plants with this water can I transmit soil diseases to my plants leaves?

[Labradors2]

I cannot see a problem - as long as your neighbours don't use herbicides!

Linda

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by kevn357

So I have a clay garden that always gets flooded by my neighbors run off and am going to dig a hole next to my garden and install a sump pump to dry it out. I can either pump this water into a drain or send it to rain barrels that I can then water my plants with. If I water my plants with this water can I transmit soil diseases to my plants leaves?

Do you know anything about your neighbor's septic system,leech fields, well water or just points?

Or do you have a municipal system where everything goes to sewers.

Carolyn

[Worth1]

A point to think about even if you are clear or not on the sewer thing Carolyn mentioned or herbicides.
Once that water hits the soil it will be full of microbes.
When you put it in any kind of tank it will become stagnant and or anaerobic.
Which isn't any big deal you will just have to treat it with Clorox bleach or the chlorine wafers you can buy.
This will in turn evaporate out and you will have good water.
The herbicides are a different story.

Worth

[Jonnyhat]

you could throw a filter on the outlet of the rain barrel

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Jonnyhat

you could throw a filter on the outlet of the rain barrel

Not too sure about that since what you'd have to use to filter out bacteria and viruses would be the same as a Millipore filter that's used in research labs and the holes are only several microns across, and those filters clog up very quickly,trust me,been there,done that.

Carolyn

[Labradors2]

Why would you have to treat it. Do plants care if there about bacteria?

I'm asking because I have been taking water out of the sump pump hole in the basement to water my seedlings that are under the grow lights. I have been collecting the water in containers and letting it warm to room temp before using.

Linda

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

Why would you have to treat it. Do plants care if there about bacteria?

I'm asking because I have been taking water out of the sump pump hole in the basement to water my seedlings that are under the grow lights. I have been collecting the water in containers and letting it warm to room temp before using.

Linda

Linda, if you go back and look at the first post,the concern was exterior flooding of a person's garden,thus the responses.

You are talking about an interior situation with a sump pump and that's totally different . I assume you also know where your septic system is, re the water table and where any leech fields are and can be sure that nothing is contaminating your sump pump hole.

Just noting that warming liquids from places like sump pump holes to whatever is just going to allow for increased growth of bacteria,primarily,in those waters.

Carolyn

[Worth1]

Also the plants might not care but if you have the right bacteria and a microscopic cut you may become infected.

Not to say I dont run around in the water puddles bare footed.
Also the climate has a lot to do with it.
I dont know about now but a few years ago people were always picking up some kind of nasty flesh eating bacteria from the trinity river here in Texas.
The more warm and tropic the worse it gets.

As for the filtration it takes one heck of a system to filter out stuff.
What we as a public use is a system that filters drinkable water.
My friend on the other hand works on and builds systems that can take water from a frac pond and make it drinkable.

Worth

[Labradors2]

Thanks Carolyn and Worth,


Worth, I shall forever think of you bare-footed and splashing around in puddles. What fun!

Carolyn, You have a point as we do have a septic system which goes away from the house, but it probably isn't worth all the trouble of grovelling down on my knees to take the water out of the sump hole!

Linda

[kevn357]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Do you know anything about your neighbor's septic system,leech fields, well water or just points?

Or do you have a municipal system where everything goes to sewers.

Carolyn

Everything goes to sewers here.

[kevn357]

Originally Posted by Worth1

A point to think about even if you are clear or not on the sewer thing Carolyn mentioned or herbicides.
Once that water hits the soil it will be full of microbes.
When you put it in any kind of tank it will become stagnant and or anaerobic.
Which isn't any big deal you will just have to treat it with Clorox bleach or the chlorine wafers you can buy.
This will in turn evaporate out and you will have good water.
The herbicides are a different story.

Worth

Hmm. I don't know if it's worth the trouble. I have no idea how chlorine I would need to add and how often.

[Cole_Robbie]

If you leave the water sit in a barrel, the solids are going to settle to the bottom. I'd probably dip buckets off the top of the barrel and splash in a little peroxide, which does the same thing as bleach, but is a lot more forgiving if you over-do it.

UV rays from the sun will also have a sterilizing effect on pathogens. Drinking water can be purified from viruses and bacteria simply by letting a clear bottle of it sit in the sun all afternoon. Obviously, that doesn't work for chemical or herbicide contamination.

[Labradors2]

Good to know Cole.

Linda

[PaulF]

The University of Nebraska Extension has taken the position that runoff water should never be used in food production just for the reasons stated above: the unreliability of identifying unknown pathogens and chemicals. They even have stated that rainwater collected from building roofs could be unsafe because of the possibility animal wastes and chemicals in roofing materials.

Universities seem to go a little overboard in their safety concerns, but I see the point.