Hello all. Last summer I used a plastic rain barrel. I diverted rain water from one of my house downspouts into the barrel. The top of the barrel had a round opening that I covered with screen to keep out debris (and mosquitos).

However, the rain barrel developed a nasty smell. Apparently fine pieces of organic matter made it into the barrel either from the downspout or through the screen. As it built up, it gave the water a brown cast and smelled really foul. As the rain barrel was next to my patio, I finally had to dump it out.

Is there anything I can do to prevent this problem? Any suggestions and advice are appreciated! Thank you in advance.

Lori