Posted: 7/25/2011 6:57:48 PM EDT
| I bought a 65 gallon rain barrel that fits under a downspout. Of course, we had no rain for a month after I got it. Well, it finally rained. We got about 10 min of heavy rain and BAM it was full. The plan for this was to supply the garden beds, but now I'm thinking I need more barrels. I could sustain my front lawn and more if I could collect it. It's roof runoff so it wouldn't be potable, but it 's good for the garden. I consider the experiment a success. |
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Would the water be potable if you ran it through a Berkey or comparable filter? I've been trying to figure this out for months. This. I'd love to know this as well. Was almost going to try and filter some through my sawyer zero two before I decided to do some research and find out that it can be done before I ruined it. |
| The store that I work at has one of those water machines that you seem to see everywhere. Ours get serviced once a week due to our town having terribly hard water. Any way, the tech always checks for total dissolved solids before and after the filtration process. Just for kicks one visit I had him test the rain water that was coming off of the roof. Next to none and less than after the filtration. This doesn't mean you could drink it, but I would see no reason that you couldn't filter it for potable water. |
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ever hear of a cistern? Yup, thats rain from the roof in that cistern. People have been drinking cistern water for almost 2 thousand years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cistern cisterns can be beautiful 
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Quoted: But I've heard that there are issues drinking runoff from an asphalt / shringle roof. Something about chemicals leaching into the water. So, would a good filter remove these trace chemicals and/or is this even an issue? yes, i would filter it. activated carbon should take care of any trace chems from your roof. a simple http://shop.monolithic.com/collections/emergency-preparedness/products/just-water-complete-bucket-system should take care of it and get out other nasties too. |
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Would the water be potable if you ran it through a Berkey or comparable filter? I've been trying to figure this out for months. This. I'd love to know this as well. Was almost going to try and filter some through my sawyer zero two before I decided to do some research and find out that it can be done before I ruined it. My main residence is off grid and all water is catchment from the roof. It collects in four 2500 gallon tanks and goes through a 5-micron filter and then a charcoal filter before entering the house. I treat the tanks periodically with regular bleach just in case. Oh, we have a "first flush" system where the first 10 gallons or so coming from the roof are diverted and do not enter the tanks just to keep dirt and birdshit out of the system. |
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My main residence is off grid and all water is catchment from the roof. It collects in four 2500 gallon tanks and goes through a 5-micron filter and then a charcoal filter before entering the house. I treat the tanks periodically with regular bleach just in case. Oh, we have a "first flush" system where the first 10 gallons or so coming from the roof are diverted and do not enter the tanks just to keep dirt and birdshit out of the system. I would love to see a picture or two of your setup if you don't mind posting it. Also, how does the first flush system work? |
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Quoted:
My main residence is off grid and all water is catchment from the roof. It collects in four 2500 gallon tanks and goes through a 5-micron filter and then a charcoal filter before entering the house. I treat the tanks periodically with regular bleach just in case. Oh, we have a "first flush" system where the first 10 gallons or so coming from the roof are diverted and do not enter the tanks just to keep dirt and birdshit out of the system. I would love to see a picture or two of your setup if you don't mind posting it. Also, how does the first flush system work? Blake, I'll get some pics when I'm there next weekend. Right now I'm on another island for work. |