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Well, the name roof water was taken, but I don't believe the idea has been mentioned: water filters instead of roof shingles.
I have a flat roof with skylights that constantly need repairs. Since the water wants to get into my house so badly, I think I should let it. Filter, divert, and use.
It
seems to me that because every household needs water for drinking, washing and sanitation, it doesn't make sense that we work to keep the water out. As with rooftop solar panels for electricity, this idea brings the resource closer to the household, and reduces reliance on utility companies.
Although the filters would certainly be larger than the standard pitcher filter, they should be small enough for easy removal so that they can be cleaned and eventually replaced.
"How we treat your water"
http://www.nwl.co.u...mestic/waterhow.asp
[angel, Nov 21 2006]
[link]
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Might I suggest it would be more resource efficient and easier to divert, filter and store? Ie collect the water in the same way as most other rain collection tanks do (using existing gutters) then filter the water before it goes into the water tank. You could use a multistage filter with a screen to keep out large foreign bodies like leaves, sticks, dead birds, etc, then a sand or fabric element or carbon, etc element to filter other nasties. In fact, I'm all for filtering rainwater from your roof and using it. Where I live we get a few metres of rain per year, but over a 2-3 month period. I'd like to see everyone having a rainwater tank (it's easier to keep the water clean and viable for long periods if you filter it well first). |
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So bun for the thought of using rainwater storage. |
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I would suggest you include the addition of chlorine to your "filtered" water and the installation of a UV unit as close as possible to the drinking points (kitchen sink?).
Water filters as shingles would be tremendously expensive to maintain, as dust, bird droppings, rodent droppings and other contaminants would get to them all the time (current design allows the first litres of water to bypass the rainwater collection system so the roof, gutters and downpipes are flushed). |
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With all of the stuff from the birds and the environment that ends up on my roof I doubt that I would drink anything from it. Filtered roof water is not filtered enough if it is full of bird droppings and chemicals from the roofing materials. |
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ah, but by filtering you *remove* the droppings and, (if you put enough pressure across the activated carbon filter) remove the chemicals too. Oh hell, put a reverse osmosis system in and get chemically pure water.... |
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-You think they filter your tap water?- |
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Go read up on your local drinking water minimum contaminant standards. It's a scary read no matter where you're from. |
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//-You think they filter your tap water?- //
They certainly filter mine (linky). |
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Oh allright then. A lot of public supply water isn't however. Serve me right for making absolute statements. |
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Do what Custard' said in his first anno but instead of the hassle of Cl and storing it clean, store it dirty and filter between tank and tap. |
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Also, rainwater is relatively pure, do we really need to filter? |
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You are right, Custard', most supply water isn't charcoal filtered (it may be particulate filtered though as in Angel's link) but the adding of chlorine or chloramine has the same efect, it kills all the "nasties" that you would otherwise consider filtering out. Incidentally, filtering after it comes out of the tap is quite often mainly to remove the chlorine that was added. |
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Incidentally, where Angel and I come from (the UK) we have what is reported to be some of the cleanest, if not the cleanest water in the world. An exception to this may well be countries with a lot of desert as you can't get much cleaner than water distilled in desalination plants. |
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Thanks for all the replies, esp Custardguts. |
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Chefboyrbored, I can't dig a well, I live in a city. |
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That is a great idea; although the water would not be clean enough to drink, it could replace all the purified water wasted watering plants. Collect roof-water, and during dry seasons, show off your bountiful garden and healthy yard. |
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