Cleaning Water Bowls?

[nogalus boy]

I am about to go outside and clean my dogs water bowls out and was wondering what everybody uses to keep them from turning green and just keeping them clean in general. I know a lot of people use bleach but Im just not so sure I wanna go that route. Im sure their are other options out their that I just dont know about. I usually try and clean them out by scrubbing them down with hay. I change out their water at least twice a week because I know that I wouldnt want to drink 2 week old water. lol. The hay or grass helps clean a lot of the grim off of them but doesnt last long at all. Thanks and all opinions will be grateful.

[Reuben]

The only way I know that works is to use about a 1/2 cup or so of bleach with about a quart or so of water and slosh it around in the bucket. Make sure all areas of the inside of the bucket makes contact with the solution. In about 30 minutes or so all the algae should be dissolved. Once dissolved rinse bucket and fill with fresh water. This lasts for at least 2 weeks. Seems to last the longest if the water bucket is in a shady area.

Doing it your way cleans the bucket but does not kill all the algae. The algae comes back faster when it is not killed.

The best way is to dig a trench about 12 inches deep and run a pvc line to the dog kennel and install a TEE with 2 faucets and on 1 faucet facing into the kennel about 18"s up install a licks it on the faucet and then you won't have to worry about algae. Just make sure the slab under the licks it is in a sunny area so that it can stay dry.

The other faucet you can install a hose for washing down the kennel.

[dub]

Two sets of bowls. You do not use much bleach. Maybe a quarter cup per five gallons max. Then soak them overnight in the mix. Rinse well and dry in the sun. Swap them out when you see green. Anything that kills algae will be bad for the dogs so rinse well. Algae doubles about every 24 hours. Scrubbing only has to leave a little for it to come right back.

[slimpickins]

White plastic barrels, cut off the top 2/3, leaving room for about 20 gallons.
Scrub clean, rinse, refil, add a capfull of bleach. It's not enough to hurt.
I've tasted the water and can't taste or smell the bleach but it's enough to keep the algea out for a few extra days.
I like these barrels as they are big enough for dogs to sit in to cool down. 

[TJR89]

i dont know how good it works but i heard that a little vinager in the bucket keeps the algae gone and is obviously harmless. dont know how good it works or how much to use but maybe somebody else has actually used this method and can inform us all.

[Mike]

i dont know how good it works but i heard that a little vinager in the bucket keeps the algae gone and is obviously harmless. dont know how good it works or how much to use but maybe somebody else has actually used this method and can inform us all.

I been pouring a little apple cider vinegar in mine the past 6 months... it works great, no more green. I just dump a little in their 5 gallons buckets when I rinse and refill them... probably 2 or 3 tablespoons worth.

[TJR89]

I been pouring a little apple cider vinegar in mine the past 6 months... it works great, no more green. I just dump a little in their 5 gallons buckets when I rinse and refill them... probably 2 or 3 tablespoons worth.

im glad to hear that because it seems way safer in my mind to use this method

[BIG BEN]

 The vinegar works good. A ole man told me one time that he use to line the bottom of his water buckets with copper tubing, coiling it from the out side all the way to the middle. He said that he never had to scrub his water buckets. I give fresh water every 2 days so I only have to scrub buckets every couple months, plus my bucket are cut in half to conserve on water and makes it easy on my pigmy hog dogs 

[dub]

I am going to try vinegar! I am all about an easier way

[BigAinaBuilt]

I grow the algae on the bowls on purpose and add vingar to a fresh bowl to clean off the algae and grow new. No scrubbing involved!

[OLD GLORY]

I was under the impression SOME algae is ok. It acts as a  natural filtration system doesn't it? like streams which have some algae.

[nogalus boy]

Thanks guys. All the info was very informative. I like the vinegar solution. I might try that after I go to town tomorrow. I actually diluted some bleach and cleaned it that way. I think it got a good kill. I scrubbed it with a wash cloth to get it spot less. I hate for my dogs to drink out of green buckets. I used to raise fighting chickens and man it sure took a while to clean all of them waters. I appreciate all of the advice. 

[sfboarbuster]

I use grey buckets and it doesn't seem like near as much algae grows in them

[Caughtandhobbled]

I use large water containers, I prefer chlorine because it keeps the mosquito larva out and it keeps the water crystal clear.

[Reuben]

I was under the impression SOME algae is ok. It acts as a  natural filtration system doesn't it? like streams which have some algae.

x2

We all have seen dogs drink water from most anywhere and they never seem to get sick... However, I just like to see pure clean water in the bucket. I don't think the dogs care...

[lawson-dawg]

algae is always going to grow in water buckets but the vinegar solution sounds like your safest route to take, i use bleach to kill it off when i scrub the buckets after some time but although ive never done it personally, i know several people who add only a cap-full of bleach into their buckets along with the actual drinking water, and their dogs seem just fine but i don't think it delays algae growth by drastic amounts of time.  What will speed up the growing process of algae is photosynthesis and this process cannot be completed without sunlight.  So try to keep your water buckets out of direct sunlight and if you're using light colored buckets, e.g. yellow or white, try spray painting them black to stop the sun from penetrating from all other angles and have the exposed top in a well shaded area and that alone will slow down the algae buildup.  Combining the shading and darkening of the container method along with the few tablespoons of vinegar method would probably be your safest and easiest way of postponing the scrubbing task as long as possible.  On the farm, we thickly paint all of our water trailers and chemical mixing stations with several coats of black paint annually and it has proven itself successful.  We had 3 clear 500 gallon plastic water containers on trailers and several plastic yellow "Cess-pool" looking  water storage tanks that hold thousands of gallons of water and before we painted them, even with the lids on and sealed off, they would still grow algae like crazy and it was always a chore to clean out.  It would even grow in the tanks we'd mixed round-up in before!  Finally, a guy from Helena (a chemical/farm store) told us to paint them with several coats of black paint and sure enough, it stopped it completely and we could store water in them year-round w/o any algae growth what so ever.  It only stopped it "completely" in these cases because the containers all had lids and were semi air-tight but i still applied the same trick at home on my white and yellow 5-gallon buckets and keep them well shaded and i generally have to clean them out because of dirt and grime from the dogs sticking their feet into them well before i ever have to scrub them out due to algae buildup. So in a nutshell: Use dark colored or black painted containers, keep them out of as much sunlight as possible, and surely by adding a little vinegar to the mix, this will slow down the green gunk a significant amount and leave you with more free time to shovel SH*T out of your kennels. A little Botany Lecture 101, haha!!  Good luck fellas'  -Lawdawg

[Reuben]

Law Dog,

Your good...

[nogalus boy]

algae is always going to grow in water buckets but the vinegar solution sounds like your safest route to take, i use bleach to kill it off when i scrub the buckets after some time but although ive never done it personally, i know several people who add only a cap-full of bleach into their buckets along with the actual drinking water, and their dogs seem just fine but i don't think it delays algae growth by drastic amounts of time.  What will speed up the growing process of algae is photosynthesis and this process cannot be completed without sunlight.  So try to keep your water buckets out of direct sunlight and if you're using light colored buckets, e.g. yellow or white, try spray painting them black to stop the sun from penetrating from all other angles and have the exposed top in a well shaded area and that alone will slow down the algae buildup.  Combining the shading and darkening of the container method along with the few tablespoons of vinegar method would probably be your safest and easiest way of postponing the scrubbing task as long as possible.  On the farm, we thickly paint all of our water trailers and chemical mixing stations with several coats of black paint annually and it has proven itself successful.  We had 3 clear 500 gallon plastic water containers on trailers and several plastic yellow "Cess-pool" looking  water storage tanks that hold thousands of gallons of water and before we painted them, even with the lids on and sealed off, they would still grow algae like crazy and it was always a chore to clean out.  It would even grow in the tanks we'd mixed round-up in
before!  Finally, a guy from Helena (a chemical/farm store) told us to paint them with several coats of black paint and sure enough, it stopped it completely and we could store water in them year-round w/o any algae growth what so ever.  It only stopped it "completely" in these cases because the containers all had lids and were semi air-tight but i still applied the same trick at home on my white and yellow 5-gallon buckets and keep them well shaded and i generally have to clean them out because of dirt and grime from the dogs sticking their feet into them well before i ever have to scrub them out due to algae buildup. So in a nutshell: Use dark colored or black painted containers, keep them out of as much sunlight as possible, and surely by adding a little vinegar to the mix, this will slow down the green gunk a significant amount and leave you with more free time to shovel SH*T out of your kennels. A little Botany Lecture 101, haha!!  Good luck fellas'  -Lawdawg

Thanks Law Dog. Very nice. I will sure use this for the future. I got some vinegar yesterday at Wal Mart. Hopefully that will help. I know that the algae doesnt grow near as much in the water bowls in the winter or cooler months. But Im going to go ahead and take your advise along with the vinegar advise and hopefully not have to clean those water buckets as much. Thanks it was very informative.

[rdjustham]

i use dark buckets, they dont seem to gather as much algae as light colored ones

[coolarrowzone_06]

I use camo 5gal. bucket near to nothing algae grows in them with 11" round plywood top with 5" hole in center works great Rinse buckets weekend. Nothing added to water change plywood as needed.