Converting Rain Water to Drinking Water

[newbury]

You need to boil the water, to each 10 gallons add about 100 ounces of malt extract, boil let it cool, maybe throw in a few ounces of hops. Throw in some yeast, cap it so it can ferment. After a few weeks bottle or keg it.
Note - this is not for washing, only drinking.

 

[kleetus]

speaking of brewing... I literally am drinking the 1st pint out of a new batch.. it just complete its carbonation.. a nice Belgian style ale around 7.5-8%. I call it "Not a Banana in my Pocket" the recipe was based of one called "Dirty Banana". The yeast puts off a banana aroma but adds no flavor to the beer, if you use a different yeast (T-33) then it doesn't. I also did a batch of dirt banana but I wanted to see just how the yeast affected flavor.. its quite noticable

Dirty Banana Bock - Beer Recipe - Brewer's Friend

 

[kenmac]

Well, without boasting ('cause I had nothing to do with it), Tasmania has some of (if not the most) cleanest air quality in the world. It might be because we're so close to Antarctica. :confused3: Anyway, there's practically no pollution/harmful particulates here... and quite a few of us (including me) use wood heaters too.

We're very rural, small population for the State and an island with a lot of forest cover. Very clean rivers & streams too, a number of people/neighbours pump straight from them too.

I wouldn't dare pump from the river or stream.. there are large cattle farms & chicken houses here.. Guess where all the pasture & chicken house run off ends up

 

[kleetus]

What type of metal roof? If it's the painted tin, you are better off... As for most of your usage, I wouldn't do anything but basic filter out the trash. Just treat the drinking and cooking water.

painted steel, I don't think its galvanized.. 26gauge steel is what it lists.

 

[TnAndy]

You may need to do it in two steps. A whole house filter system followed by a disinfection system (chorine). I would limit the filtration and disinfection to the drinking water only. Maybe a water softener for the rest of the water for bathing and laundry.

You'd soften rain water ? Really ?

I'd put in a 5micron filter and a UV light, and not drink chlorine.

 

[TnAndy]

My house is 100% plumbed to my rain-water tank (roof collection). There's no filtration system, just pure rain water and whatever's in my gutters :laughing:. I refer to it as champagne as the taste is beautiful! One drawback is that the water is 'hard' which tends to slightly shrink some clothes, especially bed linen, but the smell (chemical free) is lovely.

Folks, rain water is nature's distilled water....it has no minerals in it to be "hard" (dissolved lime mostly). It tends to lean more toward the acid end of the scale (soft) than alkaline (hard)....it will combine with CO2, NO2, and SO2 in the atmosphere to form various weak acids.

When that runs thru a limestone rock layer, it dissolves lime into the water (which is why caves form). Water sources from limestone tend to be "hard". Rainwater, or water sources that come out of sandstone springs like ours, are 'soft'.

If your water is hard, it's because you are storing it in a concrete tank, and it's dissolving the tank, leaching into the water.

 

[Wagtail]

Folks, rain water is nature's distilled water....it has no minerals in it to be "hard" (dissolved lime mostly). It tends to lean more toward the acid end of the scale (soft) than alkaline (hard)....it will combine with CO2, NO2, and SO2 in the atmosphere to form various weak acids.

When that runs thru a limestone rock layer, it dissolves lime into the water (which is why caves form). Water sources from limestone tend to be "hard". Rainwater, or water sources that come out of sandstone springs like ours, are 'soft'.

If your water is hard, it's because you are storing it in a concrete tank, and it's dissolving the tank, leaching into the water.

All right, Mate, it's soft. My mistake and ta for the correction. My tanks are both poly, as are the pipes that lead into them... colourbond 'tin' roofs on all my buildings.

I assumed the hardness due to my linen shrinkage... darn near impossible to 'fit' my fitted sheets anymore.

 

[Wagtail]

I wouldn't dare pump from the river or stream.. there are large cattle farms & chicken houses here.. Guess where all the pasture & chicken house run off ends up

I agree, neither would I and for the very reason you give.

However, they must be using some sort of post-pumping filtration. I believe that the filtered intake is typically buried in the sandy bed of the river/stream.

 

[Redneck in training]

While working in Australia few years back I remember an article describing a business producing and selling bottled rain water. Tasmanian Rain is the brand. There are several US brands also.

 

[TnAndy]

I assumed the hardness due to my linen shrinkage... darn near impossible to 'fit' my fitted sheets anymore.

Nah.....you're using too hot water....or it's those cheap Vietnamese sheets...