View Single Post
  #15   Report Post  
Old 02-03-2012, 10:16 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Dave Hill Dave Hill is offline
Registered User
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Feb 2007
Location: South Wales
Posts: 2,409
Default Keeping water butt water safe for drinking?

On Mar 2, 9:41*pm, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...



What is the best way of keeping rainwater-butt-water clean and unpolluted
so that it remains safely drinkable? The rainwater will be collected from
the roof of my house via the guttering downpipe.


* Roof water isn't drinkable quality imo (take a look at what collects
inside inside your gutters and what's wriggling in the bottom of the
waterbutt). You'll still need to filter and boil it.
* *We used to use it just for washing, and flushing lavs.

* * Janet



What a lot of fuss.
When I was little, around 5 years old (1947)we lived right out on the
Llyn peninsula in North Wales, we had a galvanised rainwater tank,
with a tight fitting lid and a pump to get water from a well which we
shared with 2 other houses for when the tank was low.
Then in the 50's we lived outside Hastings and had a borehole and a
large concrete tank under the garage that stored our rainwater and the
water we pumped up from the borehole, though we mostly used the rain
water as the borehole water was very rich in iron so turned rust red
within hours of pumping up so had to be left to settle before you
could use it; though it tasted great fresh;
It was pumped into a pool that had newts and dragonfly lava in it,
then through gravel filters and down to the tank.
From the tank we pumped it into a tank in the roof and from there to
the taps.
We drank water straight from the tap and never had any problems, but
then we hadn't been pampered with a streile world.

David@ the wet end of Swansea Bay