Rain Sample

I for one am ready to start getting some rain...my rain collection barrels are empty (gave me time to clean them all out the other day). The water coming of the nipa is always brown but I attribute that to the nipa roof. The water collected from the polycarbonate roof material above the garden seems pretty clear, actually give that water to the dogs with no ill effects...not now as only have a couple inches in the main barrels from the rain the other day. I will check tomorrow to see how the water looks in the barrel from the garden area as it has been a couple days sitting.

For whatever reason my plants seem to do better with the rain water than the well water, not sure why but they do. With the dry conditions and wind I am watering the garden at least twice a day and the dirt is just soaking it in. We've talked about bringing some water in from the river but pretty sure that would not be any cleaner than rain water.

Shawn

 

I would never expect much dust (Wrye can second on true dust after spending time in Afghanistan...never saw anything close to that in my life), but all our windows have screens and we are cleaning them weekly because of dust...this was even during rainy season when you would not expect it. We are much closer to the highway than the beautiful area Jacob is living, but it does make you wonder how far pollution and just dust is getting.

My wife has told me stories when her family would drink rain water collected as well as from the river growing up...she would not do the same now as their are so many more people and who knows what is going into the river, even upstream.

Shawn

 

we don't have much of any dust here and all along, i was thinking the rain water color is from smoke.

here's my rain gauge <http://www.weatheryourway.com/cocorahs/rgcoco.htm> but i have the thing mounted 20 feet above the ground and i don't use the reservoir cuz i have the collection funnel feed into a length of blue pvc pipe and have a brass faucet on the lower end for taking readings.

i also recorded the rain when i lived in panamá and i had the same results. there, i used the rain gauge as you see at weatheryourway.com. the rain was always funky at the beginning of the rainy season and after several days without rain. i tasted the rain and it tasted like smoke, the smoky taste would be gone after a half hour of heavy rain. mostly 3 stone fires there also but not as much debris burning as here. i also collected rain water for drinking on a clear plastic sheet.

i haven't tasted it here but i will next time it rains.

 

sunday, 29 mar, we had our 1st rain in 21 days.
i tasted the rain sample and it doesn't taste like smoke so i have no idea what that orange stuff is... the sample is kinda viscous (thicker than drinking water) and the flavor is mild. it tested at 0% dissolved solids (brix) so there's very little or no mineral in it.

notice the right, unsettled sample is .02'' more than the left, settled sample cuz i took a taste out of the tube

shawn... did you have a chance to check the rain at your place?

so far, the rain for the month at our place is .32''. a total of 1.64 for feb and march, kinda dry, huh...

 

Hmmm looks yummo! Care for a nice Earl Grey ol' Chap? jeje

Looks like those samples were taken from a Nipa Roof mate, was that so? Iron should give a clear sample. In Australia we now have pipes that catch the litter and dirt run off, it fills while the crud settles then the clean water runs off via a side tube to the catch tank to settle further and give clear water for either drinking or watering the lawn.

I am hoping one day to have underground tanks that can both catch water from the iron roof as well as top up measure as well as settle at the water plain underground to give year round water like a large well.

Something similar to this: (I honestly do not know why many do not do this here?)

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Agreed and you can buy Filters that plumb into your pipes so when you turn the Tap you get fresh clean drinking water. I use to drink from Rivers as a kid when I was thirsty, now I watch these survival programs on Pay TV and laugh at some of the lengths they go to to ensure drinking water that is pitched straight from a clean water source directly from the ice on a mountain. No one ever told me I could not drink it straight from the river untreated, nor my entire family for that matter when Dad and I would take the water Tanker out into the country and drop the pipe into some local's dam where I would try and screen the Frogs and Fish from being sucked up the hose, we would bring the water back and I would pick out any floating Frogs or Fish, then we would drink it straight from the Tank at home untreated. My Parents have since passed on (aged 73 and 75YO) and all of us kids are still alive today, well; we did use to joke about how if someone dropped a Nuke the only things left alive would be us kids and Cockroaches, maybe I was not that far off of the mark? lol

 

After seeing from the house, the BIL taking a dump in the river beside us and washing his @ss I most certainly would NOT drink from any river here! As a kid things like that never crossed my mind, but I am fully aware to this practice today!