Chemicals in water

[cbr6fs]

cheers for that cbr6fs, only had a quick look at them as I do not use them . Only thing I could suggest would be a few of them in line, and get the water tested before you drink. Take the water from the top not the bottom of the river. Theres bound to be something in the future, graphene is looking good in this regard

www.pureflo.co.uk/index.php/problem/

sand filter or something perhaps?

It's generally a very bad idea to take drinking water from any source located close to a densely populated area, if you look at most countries water supply they usually have reservoirs located away from densely populated areas and more often than not on higher ground.

Now think that even from these relatively clean non polluted sources our drinking water is usually mechanically filtered AND chemically treated by many processes, it's difficult to imagine how tough it is to provide consistently safe, clean water from rivers or ponds near densely populated areas.

No doubt it would be possible, but by the time you've removed all the harmful poisons, heavy metals and pollution there is not going to be much left in the water that's going to be good for you like salts and minerals.
Plus the expense, time and effort needed would be monumental.

 

[petrochemicals]

It's generally a very bad idea to take drinking water from any source located close to a densely populated area, if you look at most countries water supply they usually have reservoirs located away from densely populated areas and more often than not on higher ground.

Now think that even from these relatively clean non polluted sources our drinking water is usually mechanically filtered AND chemically treated by many processes, it's difficult to imagine how tough it is to provide consistently safe, clean water from rivers or ponds near densely populated areas.

No doubt it would be possible, but by the time you've removed all the harmful poisons, heavy metals and pollution there is not going to be much left in the water that's going to be good for you like salts and minerals.
Plus the expense, time and effort needed would be monumental.

well something like 20 million people drink from the Thames, but cost is the main thing about, and lime if you have lots of industry. One reason the west midlands water supply was sourced from those lovely people in wales is its soft, and lyme was bad for the industrial machines, theres only so much groundwater you can economically take and then its a toss up if its drinkable. I'd feel hard done by having to shower in London water, let alone drink it ! Its also rammed full of oestrogen from soya and recycling, there are fish by water treatment plants that actually change sex due to the levels of oestrogen.

 

[petrochemicals]

mmmmmmmmmmmm !

 

[ged]

Seems like you have 3 choices to me

1/ Continue tapping into and nicking water from the works

2/ Get a proper supply installed that you pay rates on

3/ Use river and bottled water

Don't know your exact circumstances but for me personally i'd morally struggle to do #1 long term

You seem to have interpreted the OP differently from the way I did. I took it to mean that the owner of the firm in question is trying to get his employee to defraud the water supplier by claiming that the business water supply is in fact a private supply, which would be cheaper than a (metered) business supply and so save the business some money.

Which of us has it right?

How about catching rain water, is that an option?

I think that should have been option 4. Or possibly 1.

Won't cover all your needs ...

In the UK it could almost certainly cover all your drinking water needs. It's odd that rain water isn't used more, I suppose it's harder work.
When out and about I routinely collect it from a tarp, sometimes directly into my mug, boil it and drink it. I like to let the rain flush the tarp a bit first, but even if there's a bit of bird cr@p on there, boiling it is enough for me.

I'd have thought you could easily collect it from a roof, filter it through a barrel of gravel and then if required use a more technical filter.

 

[cbr6fs]

well something like 20 million people drink from the Thames, but cost is the main thing about, and lime if you have lots of industry. One reason the west midlands water supply was sourced from those lovely people in wales is its soft, and lyme was bad for the industrial machines, theres only so much groundwater you can economically take and then its a toss up if its drinkable. I'd feel hard done by having to shower in London water, let alone drink it ! Its also rammed full of oestrogen from soya and recycling, there are fish by water treatment plants that actually change sex due to the levels of oestrogen.

True, didn't even think about that.

Still think that for a individual the set up costs, running costs, time land and resources required make it a unrealistic option.

You seem to have interpreted the OP differently from the way I did. I took it to mean that the owner of the firm in question is trying to get his employee to defraud the water supplier by claiming that the business water supply is in fact a private supply, which would be cheaper than a (metered) business supply and so save the business some money.

Which of us has it right?

No idea, i understood that by saying:

tapping into a works water source

He was being asked to get his own metered supply instead.

I think that should have been option 4. Or possibly 1.



In the UK it could almost certainly cover all your drinking water needs. It's odd that rain water isn't used more, I suppose it's harder work.
When out and about I routinely collect it from a tarp, sometimes directly into my mug, boil it and drink it. I like to let the rain flush the tarp a bit first, but even if there's a bit of bird cr@p on there, boiling it is enough for me.

I'd have thought you could easily collect it from a roof, filter it through a barrel of gravel and then if required use a more technical filter.

Not sure if that's feasible long term.
What does the average household consume?
What with toilet flushing, bathing/showers, pot washing and food prep, drinking water, house cleaning, garden watering, i think it's something like 300 litres per day.

Sounds a lot but the average toilet flushes something like 8 litres on each flush.
8 times a day that's 64 litres just on toilet flushing.

Unless you severely rationed water or had a huuuggggeeeeeeeee catchment area (like a reservoir) i can't see rain providing enough.
Plus you'd need pretty vast storage tanks to get you through the dry summer months.

Plus it'd still need treating and/or filtering.

If i remember rightly British Red has a pretty effective rain catchment and storage system be interesting to hear straight from a reliable source how much rain water he captures.

 

[ged]

Not sure if that's feasible long term.

I meant for drinking water.

What does the average household consume?
What with toilet flushing, bathing/showers, pot washing and food prep, drinking water, house cleaning, garden watering, i think it's something like 300 litres per day.

Twenty or thirty years ago I looked around and the best estimates I could find were (litres per head per day)

Africa: 4
UK:40
USA:400

Now look at it....

http://www.data360.org/dsg.aspx?data_set_group_id=757

 

[mrcharly]

I have a relative who works for a water company in Australia. She says (and she is fairly senior so should know) that most of the water in western australia is used by mining companies, but the usage is included in general quantity reporting.

That said, Australians do like their showers and lawn irrigation.

 

[British Red]

If i remember rightly British Red has a pretty effective rain catchment and storage system be interesting to hear straight from a reliable source how much rain water he captures.

I capture a decent amount (and its worth bearing in mind that where I live is, technically, a desert). Clearly "how much" depends on rainfall, but I have gathered 6,000 litres in a 24 hour period. The fastest ever was 3,000 litres in an hour. A day of gentle rain gives me 1,000 litres. The key for an effective system is not only sufficient catchment area, but sufficient storage. Any area can go a long time between significant rain. I have had a Spring in which we only had three decent rains. We have 10,000 litres overground, 10,000 litres underground and a well. If I had to exist on rainwater only I would want more storage rather than more catchment - our catchment is already MUCH bigger than a normal domestic setting.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I am with British Red on this one. I installed a 500L tank on the down pipe from half my roof. Didn't install the over flow as I ran out of time, and thought that nights rain wouldn't be enough to fill it, I'll install it tomorrow. Oops, 3 hours later when the rain arrived, I was out with a torch in the dark trying to disconnect the input from the drainpipe to the tank, 500L came off the roof I had in well under an hour. Alas my small garden can't realistically have any further storage, so I have to make do with the 500L I have. Which fortunately hasn't run dry so far this year, but has in previous years. But I only use it for watering the garden.

J

 

[santaman2000]

Agreed about the storage being more important. Up until the 1960s, Key West had no water supply other than captured rainwater (remember that the Keys are coral islands with very limited freshwater supply) The catchment from the tin roofs was easy, but every home had a fairly large cistern.

Of course all that changed when the Navy laid a freshwater pipeline from the mainland.