Rains have always been fascinating. The rainwater harvesting systems are on rising trend. They are not only used to conserve rainwater for cleaning, washing and gardening purposes but also for drinking after applying basic purification methods like boiling or filtration. Drinking rainwater is more economical and easy way than any other packaged drinking water in many respects.
A healthy body is an outcome of a nutritious diet and clean drinking water. To stay healthy, it is imminent to keep care of the sources of potable water. This need of every individual is encashed well by the bottled or packaged drinking water companies. The concept of adding extra minerals to the naturally collected water from the rivers and streams has gone viral since its inception. And nothing seems wrong about it. But under this pretext, the benefits of drinking rainwater have been forgotten.
Following is expected from drinking water:
- The water should be pure i.e. the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) should be present within the acceptable range. A TDS for a quality drinking water is set below 500 mg/litre (ppm – parts per million).
- It should be colourless and odourless.
- Should be free from any dissolved harmful chemical substances, pollutants, bacteria and gases.
- Should possess the naturally dissolved minerals.
TDS of rainwater can be less than 20 to 50 mg/l. Pollution can be the main cause of higher TDS. Rainwater, if collected and preserved efficiently, can fulfil all the requirements of the safe drinking water quality.
Basic Rainwater Composition
Rainwater is always considered to be the purest form of water, due to its natural composition of minerals and ions. The major components of rain include dissolved particulate materials and gases from the atmosphere. The exact composition, though, varies geographically.
- The rains in coastal areas have salt and CO2 as bicarbonate anion (acidic pH).
- Areas with anthropogenic land use practices will have gaseous acids such as SO3 and NO2 and bases such as NH
- The local climate has a great effect on the solute concentrations of the terrestrial rainwaters.
Since rain is a result of evaporated water vapours from the surface water, it is more like a distilled water. But assertions are made that the pouring water gathers harmful suspended air pollutants and gases, making itself contaminated before it reaches back to the earth.
It is researched that the pollutants in rainwater get washed away within 20 minutes of pouring rain. This makes up another reason for why rainwater is still the preferable source of drinking water.
Pros of Using Rainwater over Packaged Water
- Commercialized packaging of water involves high energy consuming activities and are highly expensive. It saves a lot of energy and resources when rainwater is used for drinking, cleaning and washing purposes.
- Using rainwater for daily chores promotes contribution towards greener solutions. This is because it discourages the spread of pollutants in the atmosphere, occurring due to the use of plastic bottles and other waste material being flown into the river during the manufacturing process.
- Drinking purified rainwater helps in maintaining natural pH levels of the human body. It also maintains the right balance of minerals in the body, that would have been disturbed by using packaged mineral bottle water.
- The natural defence mechanism of the human body remains active if the rainwater is used more rather than any packaged drinking water.
- Apart from drinking, the rainwater can be used for improving the quality of your field crops and garden plants.
- Economically, the use of rainwater soothes out your expenses. The packaged drinking water is not always affordable (and, are not available everywhere).
How to Be Safe
We remember the times when we used to drench ourselves under the rain and had fun while drinking rainwater as it poured down from the clouds. Those were the times with high air quality. The air pollution has made us bit sceptical of this rainy days’ tradition. In present times, it is better to be safe, than to regret later.
Although rainwater is still considered the purest form of water, it is still necessary to treat it with basic methods, before you use it for drinking. In this respect, one must safely collect, transport and store the rainwater. One should follow the following tips to have ready-to-drink rainwater:
- Keep the catchment areas clean.
- Maintain drainage gutters and downpipes of a rainwater harvesting system.
- Regularly clean the rain barrels or rainwater storage tanks.
- Ensure that the water storage tanks are constructed of the materials which are suitable for storing drinkable water. For example, plastic tanks are not advised for storing water (especially the rainwater, which is naturally acidic in nature) which is intended for drinking. It is because, with the progression of time, the chemicals from the plastic tanks starts dissolving in the water, making it contaminated and unfit for consumption.
- Steel tanks are the best option for storing drinkable water.
- One can treat the stored rainwater with chlorine to use it for drinking purposes.
- Install submerged water filters in the underground storage tanks to keep solid waste and contaminants away from the stored rainwater.
- Drainage gutter filters also prevent solid wastes like dried leaves, bird’s poop, debris, etc. from entering the conduits and then into the storage tanks.
Rainwater is a natural treasure. With proper conservation and utilization, the water problems of any part of our country can be solved. Join hands and promote rainwater harvesting.
Drainage Gutter and Rooftop Filters at Chaitanya
Pollution is a big concern for our country. Going green with methods like rainwater harvesting is a significant contribution made by us. Understand the process of rainwater harvesting and be a part of it, at any possible level.
Chaitanya Systems can be your partner in this campaign of rainwater conservation. Our product ranges to support the commercialised as well as the domestic need for rainwater harvesting. The FRP water drainage gutters are high quality built. The rooftop rainwater filters are effective in providing filtration up to 500 microns. The gravels and Hume pipes collar rings for groundwater recharge structures are also available with us.