Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I know rainwater isn't suitable for drinking unless it's been treated, and run-off can be nasty as well, but what about collecting rainwater for washing?

It's been raining heavily every day here in FL. We have hard tap water which dries out my skin and hair, and I was thinking about placing a bucket outside and collecting what I could from our daily intermittent showers. If I don't get much out of it, perhaps I could use it to "rinse off" the hard water from the shower.

Your thoughts?

Edit: It rained enough yesterday and last night to fill up a 5 gallon bucket! But I noticed that it's slightly yellowish. Since it came from my (metal) gutter run-off, is the color due to the iron? It rains hard here every day (even now at 7am, there's thunder rumbling in the distance), so I don't think there's much build-up of gunk on the roof or gutter aside from pine needles.

edited Jul 18 at 10:57

asked Jul 17 at 13:48

Nemesis
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Gerg · Answer 1 · 2012-07-17 14:01:37Z UTC

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Well it's not really all that different than river water...as long as it isn't sitting around and getting stagnant I say go for it!

answered Jul 17 at 14:01

Gerg
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Its definitely cleaner than river water. I think it would be fine to use for showering. – RaiseFitness Jul 17 at 14:03

JeJ · Answer 2 · 2012-07-17 16:05:50Z UTC

My parents use rainwater at their house for showering, and they run it through a filter that also hits it with UV (so you could drink it if you wanted to). Removes particulate, so the drains don't get clogged, for one, and for two, there doesn't seem to be a lot of data on what potentially showering in pollutants may do for you, so they erred on the side of caution.

That being said, we also would filter our well water at our last house. My parents are definitely keen on them.

Alex · Answer 3 · 2012-07-18 13:08:53Z UTC

Our household water is rainwater off the roof, collected in a 15,000 gallon concrete cistern. The interior of the cistern is painted with an epoxy coating that prevents the water from leaching mineral content from the concrete, so the water remains very soft. A blower on one end and a vent pipe on the other keeps fresh air moving across the water's surface, preventing the water from stagnating. Treatment is sediment filters followed by UV light. This water is absolutely wonderful.

For drinking water, we run it through reverse osmosis to remove mercury and any other pollutants, followed by a calcite mineral cartridge and a Japanese Wellness Filter.

sage_ · Answer 4 · 2012-07-17 15:30:46Z UTC

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rainwater is naturally distilled.

answered Jul 17 at 15:30

sage_
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	True, but it can also contain pollutants which I was concerned about. Probably minimal issue considering it's for topical use only, right? – Nemesis Jul 17 at 15:55
	maybe not if you lived in Beijing; i bet their rainwater is fairly acidic by the time it reaches the ground – sage_ Jul 20 at 2:55

saiklón · Answer 5 · 2012-07-17 16:21:38Z UTC

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Have you not been camping in the real wilderness? Yeah it is perfectly fine. Just don't let it sit too long outdoors if you are collecting it or you will have all sorts of stuff you cannot see in that water in a short time especially in FL.

answered Jul 17 at 16:21

saiklón
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I'll most likely be using whatever I collect during the day the following morning. So within a 24-hour period. – Nemesis Jul 17 at 16:49

Has anyone tried using rainwater to use in the shower/bath?

5 Answers