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What with the news that parts of Kent are to have compulsory water meters fitted I was wondering how to clean rainwater for use in bathing,washing ect. I know that in theory you should be able to use rainwater direct but haing small children it worries me about the bacteria that may be present (or grow) during water storage. Is there a safe way of filtering out the harmful bacteria? We already recycle as much water as we can,having a septic tank makes you think very carefully about water usage! Just would like to do more.

G'Day Goodlife,

I have been looking at this myself! Rural Australia has lived off untreated rainwater for over 200 years, but we get nervous!

The official setup seems to be a charcoal filter to take out taste, smell and particulates and a UV light (which uses electricity) to kill the bugs.

I am still thinking about it!

Nev

Thanks Andy. This is very interesting but it seems they are just using filtered rainwater for flushing the loo and clothes washing but its a start! The tank system they use might prove difficult as we are on an old river bed and there is only about 3ft of top/subsoil before you start hitting giant boulders and then the bedrock,it was murder trying to fit the septic tank and involved a lot of men with picks and bad language! Our water supply is odd too,although it is piped in from the water company it actually comes from the mountain and not a resovoir,the cold water is always FREEZING! There is a rumour that we have a spring in the garden,havent found it yet but will try with the dowsing rods!

I spent the first 6 years of my life washing in and drinking collected rainwater as we had no such thing as mains water. Mum says sometimes a rat was discovered in the tanks but we never got sick! I suppose it would be different if you were used to mains water full of chemicals and drinking it might make you ill until you got used to it. I can't see how it can be a problem for washing/bathing in though. Much better for the skin, surely! And for your clothes!

we only have water tanks - no town water. these collect all the water off the roof. sometimes get a frog stuck in the pipe on the way to the pump. just adds a bit of flavour no one I know of that has a water tank treats the water. there are cleaning services available to clean the sediment from the bottom. have two young children and have never had any trouble from the water. local council regulation to have a water tank with any new residence for drinking. no filters that I am aware of.

the only water we had on the farm in ireland when I was a kid was the well and we never had any trouble or illness. I wouldn't worry about it

i prefer rain (tank) water to town (tap) water ... i too grew up on tank water & now find it hard to drink tap water.

i can taste & smell too many of the chemicals used in the tap water ... i am more worried about drinking the tap water than rain water.

My grandparents lived where, for a long time, there was no mains water. Drinking water came from a nearby artesian well that supplied several cottages from a tank on a hill. Before that it was just collected rainwater from big underground tanks that surface runoff would collect in. As children, we were warned never to drink it unless it had been boiled, because it had bugs in. Apparently amoebic dysentery is no fun at all.

The Drinking Water Insectorate may be able to give you the official low-down.

Thanks Stew,was worried about Legionnella gowing in the tank.I have found that our village actually has its own well (its quite famous apparently,so famous that Ive been here three years and hadnt heard of it!) Its fed from a spring up the mountain and although it (to me anyway) smells of sulphur,the locals swear by it,you just have to let the water stand in the fridge for a while.Ive been down to it and a bottle of what at the moment looks like rusty water,is standing in the fridge. Will try it tommorrow. Thanks for the link.

[quote="Muddypause"]Drinking Water Insectorate Another famous typo?

How was the water Goodlife?

...

...Goodlife? *shakes her frantically*

Oh Dear.

Actually, that's quite funny.

I blame this buggy keyboard.

nice one stew - i didn't ANTicipate that one :)

hedgewizard wrote:How was the water Goodlife?

...

...Goodlife? *shakes her frantically*

WWWHAT??? Oh its you! It tasted a bit like well,iron I suppose,not unpleasant and was much better the second day.Looks like I will be making a couple of trips a week!