Collecting rain water to drink - help

[i11matic1795]

Hi Guys,

I've been looking into how I would go about collecting rainwater and making it safe to drink, partly to avoid water fluoridation , and partly because my dads always going on at me about how much water I use.

I live in the middle of a small city, I've got a bit of space in the yard for this project, I haven't measured up but I'd say I've got up to 1.5m deep, 4m wide and 2.5m high.

Do any of you have a home rain water collection system? Do you drink it? Or water the plants etc? Could you post some pictures?

If there's anybody that knows exactly what I'd need to make the water fit for consumption that would be really helpful

Thanks or any replies,

i11matic

[Arzosah]

Hi there

Interesting reasons to collect rainwater! First off, how come you use so much? Treatment of anything - to drink, to eat, to fuel - takes energy and effort, so cutting down your use is actually the first thing (sorry! I realise you may not have wanted to hear that!).

People certainly water the plants with rainwater, and divert it to flush toilets etc. If I've got flowerpots to clean, I'll clean them in rainwater first, to get the worst off, and then clean them properly. But drinking it takes it to a whole other level, especially in a city, where the rain has taken on whatever pollution might be in the air.

Take a look around the board first, there are collection issues (guttering, down pipes, water butts, cisterns, whatever) and purification - various sorts of filters. There's no one easy answer to give you, so have a look and come back, we can help you more then.

[Briggs 2.0]

Doulton Ultracarb filters will remove chlorine and fluoride, however they ideally need to be on a pressurised system, not gravity fed via guttering. Drop me a PM if you want more info on my setups.

[ForgeCorvus]

Briggs is a bit of a Water Guru, so take him up on his offer

If you're trying to avoid pollutants, city rainwater isn't the best starting point.

Remember, only the water thats going to be used on your insides needs to be treated to the maximum....

Tap water in the UK is probably the cleanest in the world, but so little of it actually gets drunk