Harvest Rainwater and Start Composting

zombiepaw

Got a water butt kit to catch rainwater, and save a bit on water charges, and it hasn't rained since, typical. Also started composting food and garden waste this year, it made a big difference to my veg patch, why buy expensive compost when you can make the best of stuff yourself.

Oldtree

I still add a couple of handfuls of pelleted chicken manure to the vegi beds, as the compost on its own will not have sufficient nutrients for a good crop.

I harvest and filter the rainwater firstly with a 1 micron agricultural filter then with a britta filter and then use it to drink. I can no longer drink bottled water or tap water as I am used to the clarity of rainwater.

zombiepaw

never thought of filtering it to drink, great idea. I just kept it for watering the veg and washing the car and outside areas. Buying bottled water just does not make sense to me. I have a filter in the kitchen tap, tastes fine.

Oldtree

before you start drinking it you should do a little research as I did, mainly on New Zealand and Australian gov sites for detailed info and papers. some of the most important pieces of info I came across was that lead valleys and the suchlike on a roof do not add lead to the water provided that the water does not puddle in the lead and ideally galvinised guttering should be used.

bird poo and other detritis may be an issue but in the years of drinking rainwater I have not had any stomach problems, despite finding a dead bird in the downpipe! :eek: I have since put curved galvinised wire over the top of the downpipe to prevent another ingress. I also clean out the gutters twice annualy along with the tank.

If you have a reverse osmosis filter then you would get top totty rain water to drink.

Once you get used to rain water you will notice the difference between it and any other water.

another issue may be industrial pollution as I live where there is none.

paddy147

You can buy 210 litre water but kits (tank,downpipe kit and stand) for 50 euro now.

paddy147

zombiepaw wrote: »

never thought of filtering it to drink, great idea. I just kept it for watering the veg and washing the car and outside areas. Buying bottled water just does not make sense to me. I have a filter in the kitchen tap, tastes fine.

It needs to go through a 4 stage filtration process and also a UV sterilization process for it to be used for showering.

You would then need to have the water tested to see how "drinkable" it is.

Rainwater used for showering or drinking,would also need to be stored in a cool place and also in a tank that is protected from algae growth and from sunlight.

djpbarry

Oldtree wrote: »

bird poo and other detritis may be an issue but in the years of drinking rainwater I have not had any stomach problems...

Drinking harvested rainwater that has not been treated with a well-maintained UV filtration system is extremely dangerous. You are leaving yourself open to some pretty nasty infections, such as Leptospira for example. Waterborne disease can go way, way beyond a “stomach problem”.

Think about it – would the provision of safe drinking water in the developing world be much of a challenge if rainwater could simply be collected in a receptacle and consumed without treatment?

paddy147

zombiepaw wrote: »

Got a water butt kit to catch rainwater, and save a bit on water charges, and it hasn't rained since, typical. Also started composting food and garden waste this year, it made a big difference to my veg patch, why buy expensive compost when you can make the best of stuff yourself.

80 euro for that???:eek:

You got stung there mate.

50 euro in lots of builders providers.:)

PS-Even at full RRP its only 60 euro.

Oldtree

djpbarry wrote: »

Drinking harvested rainwater that has not been treated with a well-maintained UV filtration system is extremely dangerous. You are leaving yourself open to some pretty nasty infections, such as Leptospira for example. Waterborne disease can go way, way beyond a “stomach problem”.

Think about it – would the provision of safe drinking water in the developing world be much of a challenge if rainwater could simply be collected in a receptacle and consumed without treatment?

You are right and this should be investigated by anyone considering doing this, thus I encouraged the OP to do their own study into pottable water.

Its a wonder my ancestors survived at all drinking from a barrel maby they were and then me are immune to lepto. Still beats drinking the galway "treated" water and the crap that comes down the group scheme pipes.

As regards the third world is it the arid regions you are talking about where the sourced of any water would be contaminated ground springs?

Oldtree

Two types of Leptospirosis infection affect people in the UK and Ireland.

1. Weil’s Disease - this is a serious and sometimes fatal infection that is transmitted to humans by contact with soil, water or sewage contaminated with urine from infected rats.
2. Hardjo-type Leptospirosis - this is transmitted from cattle to humans.

extreamely dangerous may be overstating it a bit

djpbarry

Oldtree wrote: »

Its a wonder my ancestors survived at all drinking from a barrel...

It's very likely that many of them didn't.

Oldtree wrote: »

Two types of Leptospirosis infection affect people in the UK and Ireland.

1. Weil’s Disease - this is a serious and sometimes fatal infection that is transmitted to humans by contact with soil, water or sewage contaminated with urine from infected rats.
2. Hardjo-type Leptospirosis - this is transmitted from cattle to humans.

extreamely dangerous may be overstating it a bit

Well, I don't know about you, but I would consider a potentially fatal infection to be extremely dangerous.

Lantus

Oldtree wrote: »

Two types of Leptospirosis infection affect people in the UK and Ireland.

1. Weil’s Disease - this is a serious and sometimes fatal infection that is transmitted to humans by contact with soil, water or sewage contaminated with urine from infected rats.
2. Hardjo-type Leptospirosis - this is transmitted from cattle to humans.

extreamely dangerous may be overstating it a bit

agree with UV treatment but if you dont keep cattle on the roof and typically rats dont venture onto the roof either would the overall risk be relatively low? Assuming just high grade one micron filtration?

Merch

If it comes to getting charged for water, I'd like to spend the least getting the most, in a word efficiency
What is the largest consumer of water in the home?, if there are savings to be made thats where it will be. I'm not sure if I'm keen to drink the stuff off the roof just yet, plus some of my water may come off a shed roof, which will have gutters accessible to animals.

While it may be best to allow it to flow into a tank, I cant see how i can do that without making an unsightly connection at the soffit, also the soffit is at the base of the attic so will be below any tank level. Its more likely Id allow water from seperate tiled sections to drain and collect at one central point at ground level and pump it back to a seperate storage tank in the attic for use to flush toilets, maybe feed washing machines.

I think toilets must be up there on the high usage and it seems an awful waste to flush potable water down the drain??

So, what level of filtration would be adequete for flushing the toilets?
for washing clothes?
showering?
If I could fill the cisterns alone, I'd be happy.

Markcheese

I'm on mains water anyway so not planning on drinking stored rainwater, but going to use it for everything but the kitchen tap and the hot water tank... Suppose I'll need a bottle of mains water water in bathroom for tooth brushing but it'll stop the kids leaving the tap on while brushing anyhow....don't think I'd be too bothered about uv filters for shower or washing machine ...

Oldtree

My system for drinking water is all mannual but I have gotten used to it so its not an issue. Water from tank into large 5l bottles once or twice a week. dispenced then through the britta filter as necessary. 1l bottles next to sinks for teeth washing refilled as necessary.