I just bought a decent sized fountain for my patio. In essence, it is a cedar barrel chopped in half, with a hard plastic liner and a pump. Should I chlorinate this water to prevent ickiness? How about putting a little bleach in instead? It is on a private patio with no pets/drinking living things…
Will the chlorine/bleach eat through the plastic liner and leave me with a flooded patio?
if you don’t chlorinate or disinfect, you will eventually have living things growing in the water. A little algae, some bacteria - the spores for which are everywhere… tap water left alone for a week or two will be crawling with thingies. It depends how much sun the water/basin gets and the temperature. A little bleach will keep the water sterile for a time until all the chlorine evaporates off. Bleach shouldn’t eat through the liner as they are usually made for outdoor use and some even have UV protectors. Bleach comes in much thinner plastic jugs, so you should be fine. Swimming pools are usually maintained at 1-2 milligrams chlorine per liter of water. If you have a fountain running though, your chlorine will disipate off faster, and you’ll probly smell it a little bit. There are other chemicals you can use, but disinfection can be a pain. I have had ponds and pools for years, and would recommend letting a few small plants grow. Floating plants like water hyacinth or frogbit, even duckweed will keep algae down as they block out the light. Just skim the extras out as they get too thick. A bit of leafy green on the water contrasts nice with the brown of the cedar, and makes the whole thing look more natural. Also remember that birds may come to drink or bath in the water when you’re not around, and chemicals in the water aren’t good for them. Do a quick google search for “small water gardens”, and you’ll find some more info and pictures of how nice a few small plants can look in a fountain.