[Guest]

I guess I have put this post in the right place. Anyway, I had been searching for an economical, easy, and healthy alternative to treated tap water. Rain water is it. I was a little intimidated at first and had read some other posts saying the same thing. It is so easy! I keep a sterilite tub(28 quarts I think) on the back porch and one good rainy day gives me an entire gallon of water, at least. I don't have to treat it, there are no hoses or connections to leak, and it is free. Just wanted to offer some encouragement to anyone considering it but thinking it might be too much trouble.

 

[Guest]

how safe is rain water? I live in downtown area Louisville, KY and wonder if the rain has toxins in it?

 

[jbeetle]

I have been toying with the idea of using rain water as well. I use aged tap and distilled as of right now. I just don't like buying so much water . There are these big tubs you can get that have spikets, and can be attached together to make avery large reservoir. But these can get kind of expensive so I never bought any. I was talking to a friend and he just got cheap trashcans and made his own system using them. Maybe he could post something about his set up and experiene with rainwater (some homework for you jon lol)?

I live in a city and wouldn't use my rain water, but my parents live in the suburbs so I would set mine out there if I did it. How bad is it that we can't consider the rain to be clean, safe, or healthy enough... says a lot about how things are.

 

[Scott]

Doesn't matter...

where you collect the water... it matters where the air in your area has traveled from.

Here in Maine we do not have a lot of industry. Unfortunately, much of our weather/air comes straight from some of the highly industrial areas of the midwest. Hence we get acid rain.

Brent Brock has said that you really do not want to use rain water without testing for Nitrogen (the component that makes acid rain).

s

 

[jbeetle]

test first

True, and I would suggest doing some tests with the rain water before investing any money in it or even worse any frogs lol. Scott, do you know of any specific things we should look for in the water (you said Nitrogen, but at what level is it harmful)? Or should I contact Brent about all of this, as I have to email him anyways?[/quote]

 

[Scott]

Definitely talk with Brent - I'm paraphrasing at best.

s

 

[andersonii85]

Just a thought: I have heard of ways to make your tap water into rain water through reverse osmosis. I don't completely understand the concept, but there is a way to do it. If the process is simple enough I would try that rather than collect water from outside when it rains.

Justin

 

[Guest]

yea, getting a RO system to filter your tap water would only pay off if you were using about 50 gallons of water a day for 3 years. i only water my orchids with rainwater. And definitely get your water tested before you use it. i am lucky, our rain is realitvly clean =) i use a big blue tarp to collect water into a big bucket every time it rains. i can get about 15 gallons from a good solid rainy day with my 3 big tarps!