RAINWATER FOR DRINKING

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WE ARE CURRENTLY COLLECTING RAINWATER FOR DRINKING. WHAT CONTAMINANTS SHOULD WE TEST FOR? WE DO NOT NEED INFO ON ROOFING MATERIALS, JUST WHAT MAY BE FALLING FROM THE SKY. ALSO, ANY INFO ON SELF-SUFFICIENT FILTERS. OUR PREDOMINANT WINDS ARE FROM THE WEST, AND RAINS ARE FROM THE SOUTH. WE ARE IN CENTRAL NC. OUR LOCAL WATER TESTING PERSONNEL HAD NO IDEA - JUST SENT A HUGE LIST OF POSSIBILITIES WITH AN EQUALLY HUGE PRICETAG.

-- JIM PICKERAL (LEPICK3@HOTMAIL.COM), July 05, 2000

Answers

Hmm.... I'd guess at a minimum you should probably test for the acidity of your water (to save your pipes), the total organic solids, dissolved nitrates, fecal coliforms (from bird poop), and if you're in a agricultural area for pesticides (your local feed and seed should be able to tell you whats commonly used in your area).
Home brew filters are easy enough, you can do an internet search on "sand filters" and get enough info to keep you reading for days, you'll still need a .5 to .7 micron filter to make sure you get all of the guardia cysts and other really tiny nasties out of your water, they cost about 50 bucks for the filter and housing and about 30-40 bucks for the replacement filters and should last for about 6 months to a year (since allmost all of the solids have already been trapped by the sand filter.

You should also have a "first flush" device that wastes the first 10 gallons or so of water that comes off of your roof and washes off most of the accumulated dust and crud on the roof in the first few mins, this can be as simple as another downspout (thats blocked at the bottom leaving only a very small hole) in the gutter thats before the one leading to your storage tank, when the first downspout fills up it then lets the water go on to your other downspout and onto your tank.

Hope it helps a bit.

Dave

-- Dave (AK) (daveh@ecosse.net), July 05, 2000.


Several months ago when i was asking about cisterns and rainwater collection, someone on the forum was kind enough to direct me to a great site that has links to answer all questions such as yours....my bifocals are not good enough for me to accurately copy a website address, but if you e-mail me, I will be happy to send the page along to you since i have saved it for future reference when we are ready to put a new roof on....God bless...

-- Lesley (martchas@gateway.net), July 05, 2000.

Jim, I don't know. But I have a neighbor who has a rain barrell outside and has been dipping and drinking directly from it for over 50 years. I imagine that has been pretty standard for the past few millenia.

-- Rachel (rldk@hotmail.com), July 06, 2000.

I used a roof collection system for 15 years or more. I used the water for dishes, baths, cleaning and such, I carried my drinking water. But then again, if I got caught short, I would use the rain water for coffee, boiled coffee, not mister coffee. In the winter I would break an icicle off the roof overhang and put it in my highball.

-- Hendo (OR) (redgate@echoweb.net), July 06, 2000.

I suspect boiling any of the water you use for drinking or food preparation first would be less expensive than a filtration system. I get my water from an open spring and use it without any filtration. I've gotten to where I can't drink most city water, especially in Nashville. It's like drinking from a chorox bottle.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 06, 2000.


Hi,

I found the following 'along the way to something else'; maybe it could help. At the least, check out the ECHO web site.

ECHO, 17391 Durrance Rd., North Ft. Myers, FL 33917, USA Phone: (941) 543-3246; Fax: (941) 543-5317 E-mail: echo@echonet.org; Website: http://www.echonet.org

... In the bookstore:

A HANDBOOK OF GRAVITY-FLOW WATER SYSTEMS by Thomas D. Jordan Jr. This handbook is written with the intention of collecting together all the knowledge, theory, and practices necessary for the surveying, signing, and construction of gravity-flow drinking water systems for rural communities. Efforts have been made to organize the material for quick reference, and to present it in a manner that allows overseers of both engineering and non-engineering background to understand quickly and easily.

240 Pages, Paperback Order # 790; 19.50

////////////////////////////////////////////

j

-- j (jw_hsv@yahoo.com), July 12, 2000.


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