tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23047857.post6681042218134024495..comments2024-03-17T19:32:26.043+00:00Comments on Daughter of the Soil: Floodblog ... Day 3Rebsie Fairholmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811733792196954188noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23047857.post-40820856600037351502007-07-30T04:23:00.000+01:002007-07-30T04:23:00.000+01:00On drinking rain water- Most of our rain water is ...On drinking rain water- Most of our rain water is collected from roof runoff. There are bird droppings and dirt dust up there, but it washes off in a heavy rain, then the water is pretty clear. To be safe, you can filter grit through paper filters or even pillow cases. You can sterilize by boiling or using chlorine tabs or even a bit of laundry chlorine bleach (which take 4 hours and evaporates into the air). Certainly, you can bath or do some laundry with it, then flush the loo with the used water or water the garden. You would be amazed what you can drink if you are thirsty enough.fluffystuffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15634153387939501107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23047857.post-27454828177526558312007-07-28T13:19:00.000+01:002007-07-28T13:19:00.000+01:00That's a very good point, Mike. I suspect it's as ...That's a very good point, Mike. I suspect it's as much a cultural issue as anything else. There's a perception that rainwater is "dirty", especially with all the hype about "acid rain" and industrial pollution. How clean the rain really is around here I have no idea, because we've always had unlimited water on tap in the UK, and although there's no regulation against drinking rainwater, nobody does it!<BR/><BR/>The current crisis is really caused by our reliance on tap water, and the fact that everything is geared up to run on tap water, so that its sudden absence becomes a huge problem. Clearly many, many people around the world manage perfectly well without it. And the fact that this area is surviving pretty well on 5% of its normal water usage shows just how much we waste in our normal everyday lives.<BR/><BR/>There has been a mad scramble to distribute commercially produced bottled water for drinking, but nobody here has issued any advice about whether it's OK to drink rainwater. We're being advised to collect it for sanitation purposes.<BR/><BR/>Fluffystuff ... that was my main worry when the electricity supply was threatened ... I have a small-ish freezer but if it was turned off I would lose a lot of stuff (including garden produce) and have a flood of melted ice in the pantry! We're very grateful for these small mercies at the moment.Rebsie Fairholmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17811733792196954188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23047857.post-8347082993977295092007-07-28T09:19:00.000+01:002007-07-28T09:19:00.000+01:00What's wrong with drinking the rainwater? Is the ...What's wrong with drinking the rainwater? Is the area infested with heavy industry or anything else that would contaminate the rainwater as it falls through the air? (I would think most contaminants have been pretty thoroughly rinsed from the air by now, with all the rain you've been getting.) Are there regulations against drinking rainwater or something?<BR/><BR/>We have <B>no</B> sources of drinking water other than what falls from the sky; our water is sweet and tasty, and, after living off it for... ummmm... eleven? years now, we're all still healthy.<BR/><BR/>Not trying to be contentious, here; I am genuinely puzzled...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23047857.post-33444746679756853132007-07-27T04:59:00.000+01:002007-07-27T04:59:00.000+01:00I am so happy to know you are hippyish. I, too, fe...I am so happy to know you are hippyish. I, too, feel a need to be more self-sufficient. I have about a year's supply of food stuffs, cook almost everything from raw materials, and take great pleasure in preserving my own foods. My danger zone is my dependence on my freezer. If the electricity went out, I would have three days to eat mass quantities of foods. I would have to feed the entire neighborhood. What a party!fluffystuffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15634153387939501107noreply@blogger.com