drinking rain water ??
- Thread starter R3XXY
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There is a steelworks not far from me ,I wouldn't drink rainwater that fell in that area as it's brown.Even if it falls from the sky it doesn't hurt to boil it (if you think most water we drink is boiled anyway).As Andywink says it's never done me any harm drinking it from a tarp or poncho.This weekend in Swift Valley I taught my son how to collect rainwater from our tarp,we both drank it and we're still O.K.
Tough question, not all rainwater is created equal. In theory condensed cloud should be fine. I know in Central Brazil at the start of rainy season we have a great deal of airborne dust and the rain sometimes falls as mud. After the rainy season arrives in force this is no longer a problem.
Rain that falls through a canopy of trees should be considered biologically unsafe. I have collected and treated this water often though as it saves me a hike to a water source.
You can see this water collected in a pool of my tarp after falling through trees and is quite chewy. Once filtered and treated it was fine. Mac
Rain that falls through a canopy of trees should be considered biologically unsafe. I have collected and treated this water often though as it saves me a hike to a water source.
You can see this water collected in a pool of my tarp after falling through trees and is quite chewy. Once filtered and treated it was fine. Mac
I did read somewhere about letting rain fall for five minutes or so to clear the air and wash your tarp off before you start collecting. The exact amount of time eludes me and I cannot find the source at all, but I know I have read it somewhere. I checked the usual suspects but it was not mentioned by any of them, but five minutes seems fair enough to me. You'll die one day anyway, so don't get too worried about it! Obviously, if you live in an industrialised area with billowing clouds of manky smoke shooting up in the air, then don't bother otherwise you should be just fine. You're gonna boil it anyway, cold tea is rubbish!
There's some debate on that. Do you boil tea or not? I'm in the "don't boil the coffee camp", but I'm not really a tea drinker aside from when I wake up to a fresh pot of it hanging in my tarp.
Mac
Sorry Asa,
. I like to believe that it's not leaching into the water but I'm really not sure that is true. 
I'd hate to have to stop because it's a pretty low effort means of collecting water, not unlike "udder-hood". I once captured rainwater on a mylar space blanket during a very brief thunderstorm out in the desert. It didn't amount to more than a couple of gritty mouthfuls but was refreshing at the time. Every drop of rain has at least one tiny particle in it, like Pict says, sometimes it's more dirt than water.
I've always thought that the Hennessy Hammock's rainwater collector/fly tensioner thing looks to be a neat idea, never tried it though.
Sorry Asa,
I once captured rainwater on a mylar space blanket during a very brief thunderstorm out in the desert. It didn't amount to more than a couple of gritty mouthfuls but was refreshing at the time. Every drop of rain has at least one tiny particle in it, like Pict says, sometimes it's more dirt than water.
I've always thought that the Hennessy Hammock's rainwater collector/fly tensioner thing looks to be a neat idea, never tried it though.
Hi list,
I built my own water collector when in Guatemala/Honduras for a platypus (or coke bottle; caps fits both!) and used it quite a lot on my Hennessy tarp (with no ill results)
First version was 2 caps with the bottleneck part of a plastic bottle (funnel). The funnel had a piece of string to attacht/clip it to the tarp.
The cap on the bottle hat it's centre removed, as well as the second cap. In between I put a piece of mozzie netting to act as a first filter. The two caps were taped/glued together.
Works like a charm, lightweight. And almost for free !
The second version is even more basic. Just a cap with a piece of string thru it. THat way the bottle/bladder can hang on the end of the tarp. No funnel needed. Most of the times this worked well enough. Saved the space (and risk for damaging the funnel) for the bottle neck. Weigt wise it doesn't mean that much.
Now let's see if I can find a link for that....
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=johanvandijk&P=guest&AID=2622879&T=1
it is pic no 27 and 28
Not sure if these links work
http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewImage.asp?AID=2622879&IID=92439319&INUM=27&ICT=28&IPP=60
http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewImage.asp?AID=2622879&IID=92439319&INUM=27&ICT=28&IPP=60
and the true basic version should be
http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewImage.asp?AID=3653289&IID=150547999&INUM=31&ICT=54&IPP=60
but then even with only 1 cap (sorry can't find the pic)
In action (in the backgarden but hee...)
http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewImage.asp?AID=3653290&IID=129108887&INUM=6&ICT=20&IPP=60
Grtz Johan
Who most of the times doesn't have the patience to sort things out to post pics with embedded links etc from his office pc...
In Central Brazil we're blessed with a two-season climate that makes water either feast or famine.
When we hammock camp during rainy season (Jan-Feb) it isn't a question of if we'll get rain but if it will let up. We usually set up some form of rain catch even if its just a container set below the runoff point. It just makes camp life so much easier when you have an abundance of water for washing.
In dry season we will often build a container and place it under a slow drip in the rocks or if there is a place with a thin sheen of water drifting over a rock we will channel or dam it up and make a drip. Sometimes you can do this with just a piece of paracord angled over the base of the rock towards some drop-off point. That constant drip, drip will fill several liters a day of good clean water. If you don't have time a clean T-shirt draped over such a seep will slowly become saturated and can be wrung out. Mac
When we hammock camp during rainy season (Jan-Feb) it isn't a question of if we'll get rain but if it will let up. We usually set up some form of rain catch even if its just a container set below the runoff point. It just makes camp life so much easier when you have an abundance of water for washing.
In dry season we will often build a container and place it under a slow drip in the rocks or if there is a place with a thin sheen of water drifting over a rock we will channel or dam it up and make a drip. Sometimes you can do this with just a piece of paracord angled over the base of the rock towards some drop-off point. That constant drip, drip will fill several liters a day of good clean water. If you don't have time a clean T-shirt draped over such a seep will slowly become saturated and can be wrung out. Mac
H
He' s left the building
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Rainwater should ideally be filtered and treated just the same as any other naturally occurring waters. In an emergency situation it may be one of the cleanest options, but as others have said it can become contaminated (Chernobyl rainwater anyone?!!)
It can taste quite 'stale' (well, the times I've tried it anyways)
My wife's grandparents in the Caribbean have lived off nothing but rainwater all their life (from collection area/roofing into above ground storage tanks) and they are as tough as anyone I've ever met!
It can taste quite 'stale' (well, the times I've tried it anyways
) My wife's grandparents in the Caribbean have lived off nothing but rainwater all their life (from collection area/roofing into above ground storage tanks) and they are as tough as anyone I've ever met!
Hi
I work in the water industry, and the most likely cause of bacterial contamination of rainwater would be whatever it runs over or into for you to collect it (assuming its not running through a tree canopy).Boiling will sort this out, but it does not enable you to store the water for any length of time, for that you will need chlorine tablets or similar.As far as chemical contamination, if you avoid catching it with anything treated with hydrocarbons/tar etc you should be ok,most other waterproof fabrics should be fine.In most cases any traces of contamination would be very low, so unless this was a long term source of water you are unlikely to have any worries.With chemical contamination, identifying it and treating it can be more difficult, but activated carbon would be the best, thats what is used in your Brita water filters etc.
I work in the water industry, and the most likely cause of bacterial contamination of rainwater would be whatever it runs over or into for you to collect it (assuming its not running through a tree canopy).Boiling will sort this out, but it does not enable you to store the water for any length of time, for that you will need chlorine tablets or similar.As far as chemical contamination, if you avoid catching it with anything treated with hydrocarbons/tar etc you should be ok,most other waterproof fabrics should be fine.In most cases any traces of contamination would be very low, so unless this was a long term source of water you are unlikely to have any worries.With chemical contamination, identifying it and treating it can be more difficult, but activated carbon would be the best, thats what is used in your Brita water filters etc.
Basically water goes bad fairly quickly, especially if light gets to it.If its kept dark and cool then its most probably fine for 24 hours, but if you want to store it longer, you will need purification tablets or similar, or to re-boil it before use.Treated water kept in reservoirs and running through the underground pipes never sees daylight till it comes out of your tap, and will also have some chlorine remaining in it, which keeps it sterile.The levels are very low, in the region of 0.1 to 0.5 parts per million.
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