Is rain water pure for drinking?

Most rain is perfectly safe to drink and can be even cleaner than the public water supply. Rainwater is as clean as its container. Only rain that has fallen directly from the sky should be collected for drinking. I shouldn't have touched plants or buildings.

While clean rainwater is safe to drink, it can easily become contaminated when dropped, which could pose a major health hazard. While useful for many things, rainwater isn't as pure as you might think, so you can't assume it's safe to drink. Rain can carry different types of pollutants into the water you collect (for example, bird droppings on the roof could end up in the barrel or water tank). Rainwater can carry bacteria, parasites, viruses and chemicals that could make you sick, and it has been linked to disease outbreaks.

However, when rainwater falls from the sky, substances in the air and the earth melt into the rainwater. Fortunately, when rainwater penetrates the ground, it turns into mineral water. This water (groundwater) is relatively safe to drink. However, rainwater that falls to the ground is not only absorbed into the ground, but goes everywhere.

If it falls on waste, it becomes wastewater, as it becomes contaminated. It can also flow across the sea and into river systems. A properly maintained rainwater tank can provide good quality drinking water. As long as rainwater is clear, has little taste or odor, and comes from a well-maintained water collection system, it is likely to be safe and unlikely to cause illness for most users.

Earlier we wrote about the importance of cleaning and disinfecting dedicated water storage tanks (i) Water used for domestic use for drinking, preparing food, or bathing must meet water quality guidelines to protect your health and that of your family. The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines now recommend the use of the pesticide s-methoprene for mosquito control in rainwater tanks. Clean the roof or wait until after the next rain before reconnecting the drinking water tank to the roof. However, if you suspect that the water in the tank is contaminated, you can chlorinate it by adding powdered chlorine for swimming pools (calcium hypochlorite, 65% available chlorine) or liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite, chlorine available at 12.5%).

This “first flush” can be used for washing, watering plants, or other non-drinking uses. Some areas have water that is good for drinking, while others have struggled with purification systems and providing residents with fresh, clean water. Since Korea's water facilities are quite nice, muddy water is managed and supplied to us despite its large amount of more than one million to ten million times of yellow powder. If so, the rain in a coal mining area will be “Coal Rain”, and the rain in the industrial complex should be “Chemical Rain”.

Cisterns, rain barrels, and other containers intended to store rainwater should also be properly maintained and disinfected, and according to the CDC, especially after floods and heavy rains. However, the problem of lack of knowledge about water is not limited to our country because water management has only been processed by experts in several countries. We'll tell you what the best pH levels are for your drinking water and how you can tell if your water isn't safe.

Thomas Nguyen
Thomas Nguyen

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