Christopher Smith writes:
Although by doing so I risk instigating the ŒSpanish Inquisiton¹
sketch, there is also a third reason--that rainwater tastes a hell of a
lot better than most scheme water.

I won't disagree with you as far as taste goes. But the Sydney Water
Board does not recommend that city residents drink the rainwater they
collect. It recommends the water be used for the laundry, toilet, and/or
garden. I think pollution would be the concern. Many homes would be near
busy streets, some under plane flightpaths (kero fumes, and reports of
black spots on clothing set to dry outside), some downwind of industrial
fume stacks, etc. Discarding the first few minutes of water from a dirty
roof might not be sufficient precaution.

In my opinion, one additional reason would be that the city would be less
vulnerable to threats by any group to disrupt the city water system in
some way. As it stands at present, few residents would have even a day's
reserve of drinking water on hand in their home.
--
John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)