permaculture

[Jody Troupe <jodyt2@mac.com>]

Thanks Nick & Kate for the rainwater comments. That's exactly the info  
I was looking for!

JodyT



On May 20, 2008, at 7:33 PM, Nick Ritar wrote:

> I've spent almost all my life living in places that rely on  
> rainwater as
> their SOLE source of drinking water. In rural Australia this is very  
> common.
> Indeed visitors relish the opportunity to drink pure, fresh  
> rainwater, often
> taking bottles home to the city.
>
> *I would always prefer to use rainwater for drinking than  
> groundwater or
> water piped from some large communal reservoir or treatment plant.*
>
> Groundwater is much more susceptible to pollution than rainwater, any
> chemical pesticide, fertilizer, heavy metal, industrial pollutant,  
> natural
> radioactive isotopes etc etc etc that hits the surface of the earth  
> WILL
> make it's way into the groundwater.
>
> Municipal water supplies are often just as suspect, they typically  
> collect
> rainwater or groundwater, store it in huge centralized reservoirs,  
> treat it
> with toxic chemicals, add other chemicals "for your health" and then  
> pipe it
> through hundreds of miles of poorly maintained pipes.
>
> At least with rainwater YOU are in control of  your water.
>
> The only caveats I would put on drinking rainwater collected from  
> your roof
> are;
>
>   - don't collect water off a roof coated with a toxic substance  
> like tar
>   - be cautious if you live in an area with a lot of heavy industry  
> or next
>   to a busy highway (although lead is less of a problem than it was)
>   - if air pollution is a  problem in your area then install a first  
> flush
>   device to divert the first couple of gallons into your garden
>
> The rain itself is not usually the main source pollution that ends  
> up in
> your rainwater tank/cistern, it's the particulate pollution that  
> collects on
> your roof in the months/weeks/days between rain events. A first  
> flush device
> will divert the first few gallons of "suspect" water, until your  
> roof has
> been washed clean.
>
> If you are worried about the quality of the water in your tanks you  
> can
> always send them off to a lab for analysis.
>
> Often one of the biggest concerns that people have is the fact that  
> their
> rainwater tank/cistern hosts a large number of living organisms.  
> Just like
> any other natural environment, your rainwater tank will provide a  
> home for a
> bunch of different bacteria, micro-flora, algae and micro-fauna.  
> Just like
> any other healthy, living ecosystem, the key to ensuring no individual
> organisms population grows to dangerous levels is maintain a high  
> level of
> biodiversity.
>
> We do this by having a large (usually about 2 feet/60cm wide) hole  
> in the
> top of the tank that is exposed to the atmosphere. This hole is  
> covered with
> mesh screen to ensure no leaves or large animals can find their way  
> into the
> tank. The hole allows a wide diversity of tiny critters from the  
> environment
> as well as oxygen and sunlight to enter the tank. This ensures that  
> all the
> niche environments in the tank are filled and there are no  
> opportunities for
> the nasty critters to build to dangerous numbers.
>
> If you follow those simple steps and inspect your tank every few  
> months to
> ensure everything is looking ok then you will never look back. The  
> first
> time you drink your own beautiful fresh rainwater is like eating  
> veggies
> from your own garden for the first time. It will give you a sense of
> security, independence and the knowledge that you are genuinely  
> improving
> your families health.
>
> Collecting rainwater for drinking is a fundamental permaculture act.  
> It is
> good for the earth, by reducing the energy and infrastructure  
> required to
> supply clean water. It makes communities more resilient by  
> decentralizing
> our most important resource and it's fundamentally better for human  
> health.
>
> Nick
>
>
> life - http://www.milkwood.net
> work - http://www.milkwoodpermaculture.com.au
> art - http://www.cicada.tv
>
> phone - 02 6373 7763
> mobile - 0407 194 593
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 4:23 AM, Kate Halstead <rockyprairie@earthlink.net 
> >
> wrote:
>
> > Many folks in and around the city of Ketchikan Alaska have had to  
> > rely on
> > roof catchment systems and cisterns for all their household water for
> > years.
> > Never heard of any problems other than what happens in years of low
> > rainfall, then they have to rely on trucked in water that's then  
> > deposited
> > in their cisterns. I'd think there might be more issues from air- 
> > borne
> > particulate pollution ending up in the cisterns and thus in folks'  
> > bodies
> > than from rainwater, which isn't really distilled water, it  
> > definitely has
> > 'stuff' in it.
> >
> > Seems to me there are also villages in the seacoast mountains of  
> > Chile that
> > rely solely on mist nets to supply their drinking water. Can't  
> > imagine but
> > what there are many more examples around the planet of folk's  
> > subsisting on
> > either rainfall or collected dew as the majority of their drinking  
> > water.
> >
> > Kate
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
> > [mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jody  
> > Troupe
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:18 AM
> > To: permaculture
> > Subject: [permaculture] Rainwater - distilled water - ok for only  
> > source
> > ofwater?
> >
> > Hello all-
> >
> > Just throwing out a question that has come up on another discussion  
> > board.
> > I'm following an ongoing disagreement about the use of distilled  
> > water as a
> > sole source of drinking water (does it leach minerals, etc.)
> >
> > Of the people that choose to use water catchment systems, its  
> > stands to
> > reason that there might be some that have to use that rain water
> > exclusively
> > as their water source (no well potential, no piped water, no  
> > bottled).
> > Would
> > relying on rain water as your only source of water actually be a  
> > problem?
> > Its naturally distilled.
> >
> > Or, I've seen some designs for sun water distillers for countries  
> > that have
> > no access to clean water sources. They can distill their own water  
> > with
> > this
> > sort of Teepee-looking thing, but again, it would be distilled water.
> >
> > Does anyone have a comment, or have any actual experience with this?
> > Doesn't it seem weird that naturally distilled water would be bad  
> > for a
> > person? For some, it might their only source of drinking water.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > JodyT
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>
> --
> nick ritar
>
> life - http://www.milkwood.net
> work - http://www.milkwoodpermaculture.com.au
> art - http://www.cicada.tv
>
> phone - 02 6373 7763
> mobile - 0407 194 593
> --
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