"Terryc" wrote in message
...
0tterbot wrote:
i really do chuckle when townies are told their rainwater's supposed to
be for the garden or the toilet, or something. dear me.

When it rains, it flushes out all the industrial and motor vehicle
pollutants in the city/town air into rainwater tanks, which isn't as
benign as a bit of dust.

that's very true, but i wouldn't be supposing that town water (not directly
from rain) is any better because it ends up with the same stuff (or worse)
in it as well. conversely, country rain water can presumably end up with
shocking things in it (it comes out of the air too ;-)

i feel confident that the massive majority of water in australia is fit to
drink (including the crunchy water from my dam, if i was that desperate)
including or even despite the fact that storage dams for cities are full of
poo, dead animals (and occasionally people), giardia, and so forth. the
reality is that almost nobody in australia ever gets sick from water, even
though we know it's all full of traces of christ knows what, chemical
run-off, poo, and dead things. it irks me that incompetent bureaucracies
(e.g. most local councils) get to make these decisions from a completely
irrational base (the nsw govt 360 degree turnaround on rainwater tanks being
one minute banned outright in cities, & the next encouraged, is the sort of
thing i mean).
kylie