Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Anyone who has a home has noticed places where the water runs off the roof more than in other places. I like to collect it to save on my water bill, but I only use the water for things like watering plants and flushing the toilet. But what about for drinking? Is it safe for that?

At the beginning of a rainfall, the color of the water that I see in a bucket if I collect it at that time is brown. That's the same color as my roof, so I imagine that it's either dirt that accumulates up there, or it's actually something from the shingles themselves. After about a half hour of rainfall, it is clear when I collect it. But safe for drinking? Even though it's clear, are there still chemicals in it from flowing over the roofing before ending up in the bucket?

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

That depends on what kind of roofing material you have... rainwater harvesting systems generally have a "flush" that discards the first, dirty water when it starts raining, then fills your tank with the clean stuff.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

I wouldn't drink from a shingled roof even if it wasn't the first water coming off it.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

run it through a berkey first.


check that book out!

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

I've got the ability to hold 700 gallons of rainwater and I use it for my garden. In a SHTF situation where water was no longer available, I'd use it for drinking after filtering.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Or an AQUARAIN........

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

I wouldn't even do it through a Berkey unless there was no choice except going without water. I just don't see how it's worth messing with the crap in shingles. You can drink from a smelly garden hose from a year too, but the taste will never go away and I don't think it's healthy.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

For a few years here at my place we used rain water throughout the winter for everything....we drank it to, no special filter other than our standard whole house filter that's on the main line coming into the house.We did this to supplement our piss poor old well , now we have a new GOOD well. And yes we have a metal roof. Drinking the run off from our roof only mildly affected me .....read some of my post's, you'll know what I mean.:wub:

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

rainwater is quite healthy, just by observing its affect on plants its obvious there is stuff in there not found in tap or hose water.

personally, i would liike to find other places than a roof to get it from, maybe make a stainless steel catchment system? or collect it in a kidiie pool? i am interested in starting to consume more rainwater myself.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

I know a guy that uses large funnels to collect water into barrels. For funnels, he uses squirrel deterrent cones used to keep squirrels from climbing rope that he got at an outdoor supply store. No roof required.

Also, at my in-laws, the woman next door has some empty garbage cans standing on the propery line in back. They fill with water on their own but without a screen to keep mosquitoes from breeding there they are a hazard so I kick them over for her.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

correction....

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Better stick with the Berkey...

http://goldismoney.info/forums/attac...1&d=1239246321

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

LOL your kidding right ?

I'm sure some of the membership here realises or at least has a belief that we are being sprayed almost daily.

IE you have heard of Chemtrails right ?

DO you honestly want to consume the water that has fallen onto your roof when the crap that they are spraying onto us collects there ?

How often do you wash down your roof between rainstorms ?

I don't mean spray it down but actually go up there and scrub it down to really clean it off all the stuff that has landed on it over the years.

If you place a dish or flat piece of glass outside and leave it alone for a week or more and then come back to it and check it out notice all of the particles that were in the air that have collected on it.

And then ask yourself the same question.


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Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Here is an old fashion design to filter roof water into a cistern. When one barrel is full, the valve switches to the other one. Valve would be easy with PVC.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

I'm pretty sure bears shit in the woods, but I'm positive birds shit on my roof.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Don't get me wrong Berkey is very good...but you get more bang for your buck with aquarain.don't know how that happened to your filter but I'm sure that's not the norm. Here's a link for ya.........http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=346411

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Many people believe that ozonated water increases energy and alertness.

BTW... rainwater collection is one reason I chose to go with steel roofing. If I ever had to depend on it I could. However, I would still filter it before drinking.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

The picture on the bottom is incredibly persuasive.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

my grandparents lived totally off grid all their lives and lived to be in their 70s

they collected rain water runoff from a metal roof on their house and stored it in a concrete underground cisturn then hand pumped it into the house for usage without filtration

i dont know if it was safe but just stating a fact i think personally i would build a sand filter setup like posted earlyer or run drinking water through a aquarain/berkly

i would think the water gathered from the metal roof would contain what ever dust-pollen- that would settle on the roof

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Hahahaha! Good one!



Thanks!

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

My grand parents lived in a house that was built in the 1900's in rural NSW (Australia) and their only water supply was a large galvanized corrugated iron tank attached to the back of the house that was fed off the spouting - no filters.

When I was a kid, I remember it being the sweetest water I ever tasted!

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Decaying frogs apparently impart a sweet taste to the water.

:biggrin:

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

my concern woudn't be with the rain water itself. I'd be suspect about shingles made with creosote, tar and other toxins. Ever look into a gutter? The accumulation of roofing material is frightening! It would probably accumulate in your body as well.
I would only collect from metal roofs and then use it as non-potable water. A cistern for toilets, tubs, sinks, gardens etc.. might be a good idea, but this is your health yer dealing with here.

As far as filtration goes, its great for particles but try dumping a cup of gasoline in your well and filter that out! Filters are almost useless against hydrocarbons, alcohols, petrochemicals and most other toxic compounds.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Should be safe if you run it through a water distiller appliance after you collect it. Water distiller can remove almost any toxin from the water.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

i know i'll get flack for saying this...but i think people obsess over clean water...

the reason i say that is because i've drank from springs, lakes, rivers, shallow well pitcher pumps, rainwater, catch basins, artesian wells, creeks, melted snow, melted glacier ice, ect...for many years and never had a problem...

see that lake in my avatar...i've drank right out of it and the tributaries and outlet river that flows from it for ~8 years and no problemo's...never filtered. if the shore line gets yucky looking from the stuff floating around I just wait a bit, the wind will blow the other way in a few hours and it will clean up...

if the decaying, spawned out salmon murk up the water for a month in the fall i'll just go drink out of a mountain stream feeding the lake or a shallow well (surface water) about ten feet deep...

:)

the main difference i guess is the environment is very clean here with very few traces of man passing this way....just me and the bears...

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

I agree 100% - for those worried about chemtrails, what do you think your rain fall through, and onto, before it becomes a river and ends up in the reservoir, or in the ground your well is in?
I think chemtrails are BS, but if they did exist, then everything the rain falls on is contaminated and so the ground water will gradually become more and more contaminated. Personally, I'm happy drinking from a stream or lake, or the tap - it's not an issue I even dwell upon.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

I'd take that water over shingle broth anyday. Thats probably safer then the water from my tap!

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Is there any reason you couldn't secure a section of metal roofing to your shingle roof and collect from that point?

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Collect from roof, no matter what it is, then run it through RO. That water will be cleaner than anything from a city tap.

1. collect rainwater from asphalt or tin roof.
2. run through generic particulate filter
3. run through RO.

Done.

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Not sure what to think about Chemtrails as I've not read all the fact or many really... You can never tell whos creditable and I hadn't put that much thought into it till now...

But, if the boogie man gets away with put something in Chemtrails thats not nice, wouldn't you think he was putting it in the water supply, food thats sold at stores, detergent you wash your cloths in, etc... etc...

I'm not saying Chemtrails aren't real or they don't exist, I've seen the pics posted but what is supposedly in them???

Please don't give examples like: Right after I saw a plane go over and they sprayed, I got a bad head ache and my dog woudn't fetch; but whats really supposed to be in them...

I'm not trying to argue or start a flame fest (thought I'd say that as it seems people get all defensive when someone questions the popular thoughts or ideas), but I'm curious as to what everyone thinks...

Re: Safe to drink rainwater from roof runoff?
 

Back on topic and to echo what some of the other posters have said, I've seen what birds do on my roof and what comes off the shingles and fills my gutters, I don't think I'd want to drink anything that comes off my roof...

Atleast Not in a normal situation, in a disaster situation where its drink it or die, I think I'd be forced to try it...

If I was to resort to this type of water supply, I'd think I'd be forced to try some type of barrel collection, then filter options... Seems like the metal roof idea, may be a more efficient way to collect, But the shingles like I have, no way...

Also, I'd think this really depends on where you live... Hows the air/Smog there, how close are industrial parks and airports and other sources of pollutants??? If you live in a really rural area where the air is fresher and cleaner this might be easier to do...

Rainwater from metal roofs.
 

If you look at old metal roofs, some of the galvanizing (or paint on painted roofs) has worn off and faded. Where did it go?
Zinc is used in galvanizing but how much lead, mercury or other trace metals were in it? In an age where metals get recycled many soft mets get melted together. Does the electroplating process separate them?

Drink the purest water you can get. I don't know how well the Berkey removes trace metals.

Water is all I drink. No coffee, beer or sodas. I drink about 500 gallons of water a year. If my water supply has one part per billion mercury I wonder how much gets absorbed in my system in a year.