Just wondering, would it be safe to use the water from a rain water barrel for drinking water if you boil it first? The type of rain water barrel I am talking of are the type that hook up to your home's gutter system and collect the rain water. Mainly they are used to water you garden and yard.
well rain water is pretty pure water to begin with but if you have a few water purification tablets would just pop a few in the barrel when it was full.
The reason I thought of boiling or using water purification tablets is because the rain would be running down my roof and into my gutters before it is collected in the barrel.
They make a shut-off device that diverts the first so-many gallons of water. When the roof is washed clean, then it starts to fill the barrel. I would still boil the water first. Make sure there is a debris-screen on top of the barrel.
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what thrillbilly said... put a screen over the inlet so debris cannot get in and then before use make sure you filter out the sediment... you could also use bleach to treat the water, a little bit goes a long way...
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I forgot, I assume you have a metal roof? Shingles would put lots of contaminants in the water. Metal roofing is the only kind I would drink rain water off of. Maybe tile also. JMO lol
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I forgot, I assume you have a metal roof? Shingles would put lots of contaminants in the water. Metal roofing is the only kind I would drink rain water off of. Maybe tile also. JMO lol
No I have a shingle roof, and that I why I was questioning the use of that water for drinking.
Hmmmm, I'm not a chemist, but shingles have to be a huge source of bad chemicals, have a sample of the water tested by your state, they can tell ya all the stuff in it and if its potable. I don't know how Ohio works, but MO has a place ya can send soil/water samples for testing, through the Agriculture Department.
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I use rain water in my house. I don't drink it but I do use it for cooking, washing dishes, brushing teeth and bathing etc.. it probably wouldn't hurt to drink it but to be safe I haul drinking water. cistern water can get lots of different contaminants off the roof & gutters. around here they aireal spray for mosquitos and that lands on the roof too.
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Having a large container is handy, I use two 35gal plastic trash cans with the lids installed a hole used for the down pipe to pass through off a sheet metal roof, a piece of bed sheet to keep the bug's out, best to put a large mesh screen at the top to prevent sparrows from falling down the pipe and drowning in the cistern makes for a very un-pleasant tasteing water, I use a Kitadin water filter for drinking and if in a hurry will boil for coffie the unfilterd water.
where there is a roof jack just add a sheet metal cover over the section of rain gutter directly down stream of the the chimney lots of combustion smudge and bird dung so its directly channeld off the roof and not in the rain barrel.
Use ing small containers is nice for cleaning and to easily stow for winter season (permafrost and -50F winters) In areas where it rains in-frequently it would be best to terrace and use ditches to channel run-off into a doug out or a cistern and then water is held in reserve.
It doesent take long to burn through 60 gallons of water, so its best to have a good capacity passive collection system.
Ive seen runoff type ditches next to a cistern before with a windmill back-up the cistern was near the upper reaches of a hill so gravity feed was a pluse.
Ive also seen use of Spring boxes for gravity feeding stock cattle water troughs.
Last edited by Rex in OTZ; 06-29-2009 at 09:51 PM.
It also depends on how clean you gutters are. I know I don't think I'd want to drink, even if that's all there was to drink, any water from my gutters. On one side of my home, the next door neighbor has a mulberry tree and by August, the gutter on that side is full to the brim with mulberries that have sat in 90 degree heat for a few weeks. and I'm not about to get up there and clean them once a day or once a week. And who knows what all else ends up in the gutters.
I'd much rather just put a barrel or other rain catching apparatus in the yard somewhere strictly for that purpose.
Let us know if you do this and how it works for you.
__________________ "My next door neighbors two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs then Obama has." - Gary Johnson
Yes - enough heat will destroy microbial and viral inclusions in the water.
No - most rainwater is collected from the runoff of roofs and gutters. Heat will not destroy many of the chemical compounds water can collect from these sources.
I've no problem with a rain barrel for drinking water, especially the ones with the screening that have been discussed here. But I would run it through a really good 0.1 micron or better water filter before using it for drinking or cooking, just because I'm paranoid.
I'm with those who would recommend having their rainwater tested before drinking it. But....in a SHTF scenario, I would drink it.
I've got two 55 barrels collecting rainwater under downspouts and have been doing so for three years. It's used only for watering plants. I attached a garden hose fitting to the bottom of the barrels and let gravity do the work.
If it was for drinking, it is easy enough to make a charcoal & sand filter to clean it up a bit. They now teach people in third world countries to make these to clean up their drinking water, very simple & reasonably efficient.
