This is a nuisance with the Worm Factory design - worms and stuff get down in the "basement" no matter what you do. But standing water, bad smell and dead worms shouldn't be happening.

Ultimately it's best to try and control the moisture in the system so that there it little to no leachate draining into the drainage area, but that can be tricky when first starting a new bin, and there are always occasional overflow events...You will gradually get the feel for how much additional bedding to add with your food scraps to soak up and distribute the moisture that comes out as the scraps break down.

In the meantime, if leachate is draining into the bottom, it should be draining out via the spigot rather than collecting as a stinky lake. Did you have the spigot closed, or open?

Even with the spigot open, there is a little space below the spigot where moisture can collect. It's a flaw in the design. Hopefully, that amount of moisture isn't enough to drown worms and/or create an anaerobic stink. Putting some dry bedding down there is one good way to absorb it. I actually put some pebbles down there to fill up some of the space.

Even when everything is working well and there isn't too much moisture in the bin, some worms always like to go down there and hang out in the "basement" and leave their castings there. So the drainage tray eventually fills up with castings and needs to be scooped out. Those big handfuls of soggy castings and worms are not my favorite thing to deal with. But there shouldn't be a bad stench and standing water and there shouldn't be dead worms even if it's kind of wet.

Thank you! The little area (gap) below the spigot was where the dead worm/slime situation occurred. Like I said, it was a very small amount but the smell was ungodly. I keep the spigot open most of the time and have only had drainage from it twice. I hope my bedding and coffee clear up the issue. I felt like it was bad to breathe in the fumes it was so putrid!

It is a stench like no other. But lots of AIR circulation is the best thing to kill it and fortunately, the introduction of oxygen usually clears anaerobic smell quickly.

Emily, I've never had a WB360 so no experience with your problem. Don't want to suggest you mutilate your WB360 by drilling air holes through the sides like I would probably do but maybe you could put some dry wood shavings or hardwood pellets used for cat litter or stoves to absorb some of the excess moisture in the drainage tray. Those high-carbon materials prevent it from going anaerobic (stinky) by absorbing leachate while providing some improved air flow. Let us know what works for you. Good luck!

Harry

Exactly what I ended up doing! Thank you. I placed some river rocks below the spigot to give the worms something to crawl onto if it became wet and threw a bit of coir and cardboard down there as well!

I attached a picture of the WF360.