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Tap Water or RO

Hi @Dr Mike Oxgreen

Not everyone is so lucky. Your results speak for themselves. How is the rainwater collected - does it pass over a roof and through guttering, for example? Do you rinse out your water butt from time to time? I'm interested in knowing what is possible with rainwater as I have sometimes considered collecting from my greenhouse roof.

JPC
 
My rainwater passes over roofing tiles (mostly slate), and is collected from a diverter in the gutter down pipe. It also comes from an area of flat roof. Depending on how rigorous I’ve been at keeping the gutters clear, it may have passed through some composting leaf litter on its way down. The water has a very faint yellow/brown tint, probably due to my poor discipline in clearing leaf litter.

I would be more careful if I ever have significant retiling work done, or any refurbishment of the flat roof - new tiles and new roofing felt might leach more minerals than old materials.

And I did test the rainwater more regularly when I first started using it. But after many months of zero test results I stopped worrying!

In my experience rainwater collected from guttering is safe to use. I’d recommend collecting it and testing before use for the first few months of use (and after any roofing work), and of course always use a water conditioner that neutralises toxins, such as Prime.
 
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Hi @Dr Mike Oxgreen

Thanks for the detail about your rainwater setup - it's useful to know. For many years, I have used remineralized RO water. But, that has posed a few problems during the pandemic. I am planning to get my RO water from https://www.spotlesswater.co.uk in the very near future. They are a lot cheaper than getting it from MA - and, in my case, nearer to home. There's one in Bracknell.

JPC
 
Slugs can be a problem with rain water butts. A band of anti fouling paint is a good deterrent. I pump rain water from the collector butt to storage butts with covers. I use about 15 gals per week and have yet to run out. (approx 30 gal water change) A hard winter may be a challenge. Have considered indoor storage but have to balance this with possible divorce.
 
Gulczi said:
I still looking for upgrading my RO unit. Seems that adding second membrane should help a lot.
Click to expand...

It helps! Also adding a pump to raise pressure to 60psi helps.

I have 2 150GPD membranes and a pump, it takes about 1hour to do 25 liters.
 
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