Consuming catchment water...

[67Cam]

Originally Posted by 1freespirit

?..Wonder which one would be worse? Catchment or spring?

When I put the poll together I tried to be lighthearted and humorous about it, given some of the cantankerous discussions that have taken place in the past. i wish I hadn't done that. If I could figure out how to edit the language I would, but I don't think it's possible.

I don't think of drinking catchment water as a "worse" option, or a "toxic killer" (my words in the poll - again to lighten up the conversation). I think that with proper treatment and preparation drinking catchment water would be just fine to drink. If I'm lucky enough to make it over there I would set up a system that made me feel comfortable enough to drink it.

This is the over-the-top, overkill, redundant system I cooked up in my imagination. I would probably par this down a bit in reality...

[mushroomhead]

when i was in hawaii i showered, brushed my teeth, washed the dishes all with unfiltered rainwater for about 3 months with no problems. then for about a month i drank rainwater treated only with chlorine. the smell of it really threw me off. didnt have any problems but i looked for other water sources whenever i could.

in your diagram the only thing i would modify would be the uv system. i heard they demand a lot of power and i personally wouldnt like the added expense of replacing the bulb. but it would guarantee you safe drinking water if that is a major concern to you.

[terracore]

From: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawaiira...lines_2010.pdf

"The most endorsed method of disinfection for home use in the United States currently is an ultraviolet light system...
While chlorination is commonly practiced by municipalities, regulatory policies in the USA tend to discourage private citizens from chlorinating water with chlorine sources not approved for water treatment. Household bleach products are not labeled for use for water treatment because they are not approved for this use by the FDA...Chlorine may not be a good treatment in combination with reverse-osmosis treatment systems, because some of the membranes used in these systems break down in the presence of chlorine."

"While chlorine is a very effective agent for killing many pathogenic organisms, such as leptospira, it will not kill protozoan spores (cysts) of pathogens such as Giardia or Cryptosporidium. In fact,even full-strength household bleach cannot harm some protozoan cysts. These single-celled animals can be harmful to humans, especially the young, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems."

Chlorinating drinking water without testing is dangerous. I can't believe it's recommended on public forums like this one time and time again like its gospel. Adding toxic chemicals to drinking water is SCIENCE best practiced by those properly educated and armed with the proper testing facilities to do so (AKA laboratory). A UV system is not expensive or complicated to operate and is the RECOMMENDED method to turn rain water into safe drinking water. I'm sure all the armchair scientists will chime in and post that dumping an unknown concentration of toxic bleach into an ever changing volume of water based on whatever storm systems are passing through is a better idea. But it's not. The state of Hawaii recommends against it, the science recommends against it, the FDA recommends against it, do your research before adding bleach to your catchment tank (do you even know that chlorine and household bleach aren't the same thing? No? Then don't do it.)

[67Cam]

I've been reading about options for water treatment and found using ozone (3 oxygen molecules) is an amazingly affective method at killing viruses, bacteria, spores, cysts and algae, with very little down side. Municipal water treatment plants have been using it for some time and pool/hot tub manufacturers have started incorporating ozone generators into their products more recently.

Another, safer option to look into...

[terracore]

Only two problems with ozone: 1) It's usually made with UV light, since UV light can already disinfect the water.... why? Extra energy expenditure, more parts to break down, etc. 2) It can interact with stuff in the water and create carcinogens.

Water purification - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia :
Ozone disinfection[edit]

Ozone is an unstable molecule which readily gives up one atom of oxygen providing a powerful oxidizing agent which is toxic to most waterborne organisms. It is a very strong, broad spectrum disinfectant that is widely used in Europe. It is an effective method to inactivate harmful protozoa that form cysts. It also works well against almost all other pathogens. Ozone is made by passing oxygen through ultraviolet light or a "cold" electrical discharge. To use ozone as a disinfectant, it must be created on-site and added to the water by bubble contact. Some of the advantages of ozone include the production of fewer dangerous by-products and the absence of taste and odour problems (in comparison to chlorination) . Another advantage of ozone is that it leaves no residual disinfectant in the water. Ozone has been used in drinking water plants since 1906 where the first industrial ozonation plant was built in Nice, France. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted ozone as being safe; and it is applied as an anti-microbiological agent for the treatment, storage, and processing of foods. However, although fewer by-products are formed by ozonation, it has been discovered that ozone reacts with bromide ions in water to produce concentrations of the suspected carcinogen bromate. Bromide can be found in fresh water supplies in sufficient concentrations to produce (after ozonation) more than 10 parts per billion (ppb) of bromate — the maximum contaminant level established by the USEPA