Water from roof runoff: Drink it or Don't Drink It???

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Readymom
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Water from roof runoff: Drink it or Don't Drink It???

Post by Readymom »

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Original post by newguy at Fluwiki

DO NOT DRINK THIS WATER, it is dangerous!
* Link Unavailable. This site is no longer active and available to view on line. But the info was good and we wanted to keep sharing it!

Excerpts from this discussion:

:arrow: :arrow: ORIGINAL POST (newguy):
Water from roof runoff is dangerous because toxic chemicals can leach out of the tars and roofing materials.
I once worked on a construction site where the dogs drank from drip pans used to collect leaking water. All the dogs but one very obnoxious and apparantlhy discriminating on drank the water and died.

:arrow: (BroncoBoncoBillBull)
Runoff from the roof of your house may not be potable, but can be used for flushing toilets and other necessary things…

:arrow: (Denniscra)
[snip] beware of wood shingles as well since they can be treated with copper and arsenic compounds.
Readymom
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Rainwater Harvesting Acid Rain

Post by Readymom »

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Forum: Rainwater Harvesting Acid Rain Question
http://magictour.free.fr/fw/FW0172.HTM

This an important question to consider, if you are not near a water source, such as a stream, creek, river, lake, etc and need to collect rainwater:

:?: Posted by (Peej) at Fluwiki
Does anyone know whether acid rain is a factor when harvesting rainwater near an industrial area such as Albany, NY? Can the water purification techniques discussed for rainwater remove chemical contaminants? I'm no expert on acid rain, but I know there's a lot of nasty stuff going up that must come down . . .

Go to the link above to follow this conversation.
Last edited by Readymom on Tue Feb 09, 2021 6:05 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Readymom
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Re: Water from roof runoff: Don't Drink this Water!

Post by Readymom »

MedicalXPress

Roof-collected rainwater fails health test
http://www.physorg.com/news88268999.html

Drinking water from your roof carries a significant risk of illness, according to a five-year study from Massey University.

More than half of 560 samples from private dwellings in New Zealand exceeded the minimal standards for contamination and 30 percent showed evidence of heavy faecal contamination. --- continued at link, above ---
highdeserthawk
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Re: Water from roof runoff: Don't Drink this Water!

Post by highdeserthawk »

Even tho most roof today do not leach chemicals, It still has bird and bird droppings on all roofs. But the water can be used to water plants. We use the water off our metal roofs to water plants.
But if I was going to use it as potable I would put it into our solar distiller, it only delivers about 3 gallons a day so we are planning to get more of them.
Readymom
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Re: Water from roof runoff: Drink it or Don't Drink It???

Post by Readymom »

Center for Rainwater Harvesting

Our Purpose
http://www.thecenterforrainwaterharvesting.org/index.htm

Image Hat Tip to "woodlandmonk", over at American Preppers Network for this great source of information!

There are some people who imagine that composition roofs might have more chemical leaching than other materials, but this study would suggest otherwise. I came across this study when I was lookign to replace my roof and seeing if getting a metal roof was worth the cost. In the end, I decided that I was not worried about drinking rainwater that comes off of a composition roof and that I'd save the extra cash and not go with a metal roof.

===========

The site includes the following:

1 Home
2 Roof & Gutters
  • 2.0 Overview
    2.1 Safe Materials
    2.2 Calculating Area
    2.3 Tank Sizing
    2.4 Designing Gutters
3 First Filtering
  • Of Leaves
  • Of Dirt
4 Storage
  • Tank Sizing
  • Design
  • Tank Types & Construction
  • Placement
  • Self Cleaning
  • Maintenance
5 Pressurization
5.1 Muscle Power
  • 5.2 Gravity
    5.3 Hand Pumps
    5.4 Electric Pumps
    5.5 Pressure Tanks
    5.6 Pressure Switches
    5.7 Freeze Protection
6 Purification
  • What's Clean?
  • Before Storing
  • In Tank Purification
  • Filtration
  • Low Tech Purification
  • Mid Tech Purification
  • High Tech Purification
7 About Arsenic
8 Water Testing
9 Maintenance
10 Resource Links
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