safety checks for car and also catchement Q

[MarkP]

quote:

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Originally posted by lavarat

Municipalities do a pretty good job of filtering their water, chlorinating it and testing it frequently. I've never seen mosquito larvae swimming in city tap water. No, catchment water does not look pretty good compared to any of the cities where I have lived.

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You have likely never seen mosquito larvae swimming in catchment tap water either, but go to either the catchment tank or the river and you will see them and more

[lavarat]

"You have likely never seen mosquito larvae swimming in catchment tap water either, but go to either the catchment tank or the river and you will see them and more"

In two of the houses that I rented, there were no filters in the filter housing until I checked and put them in. Some mosquito larvae were surviving the pump and getting through when there was no filter. Probably most of the larvae do not survive the pump, but some of them do. And the mangled larvae also make it through. The standard filters that most people use do not remove the organic liquids from the catchment. It's up to the individual whether they want to drink catchment water that has not been properly filtered and treated just because it looks clean. I didn't want to take unnecessary chances when county water was readily available at the spigot stations.

[terracore]

Most water needs to be treated to be safe regardless of the source. I consider unfiltered/unsterilized catchment water to be dangerous, and I wouldn't drink it. I consider my 20, 5, and .5 micron filters and UV sterilization unit to be my own water treatment system. I think Hawaii municipal water is pretty good. I have consumed tap water in some cities that practically had to be chewed before swallowing it was so gross. The water in Hilo is definitely much better tasting than the water in Kona.

[ironyak]

Not to harp, but the volcano off-gassing has changed many of these considerations. UV, chlorine, baking soda, common filters, etc do little to nothing for the arsenic, heavy metals such as lead and mercury, and other hazards that are part of the volcanic discharge and effects.

Dept of Health says if you have vog to not to drink catchment water regardless of treatment. County water has to pass EPA guidelines - water machines filter this source even more. We spend less than $5 a week on drinking water. The choice appears clear IMHO.

[MarkP]

I think that the heavy metals are leached from the roofing and pipes by the acid rain rather than coming directly from the volcano. Is that not correct?

[ironyak]

Originally posted by MarkP
I think that the heavy metals are leached from the roofing and pipes by the acid rain rather than coming directly from the volcano. Is that not correct?

That is the primary concern especially for lead, but volcanic gases contain a whole set of hazardous materials that can end up in catchment water.

http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/book/export/html/151
Most Common Gases
Water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are the most common volcanic gases.

Other Gases
In lesser amounts, volcanoes release carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbonyl sulfide (COS), carbon disulfide (CS2), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen (H2), methane (CH4), hydrogen flouride (HF), boron, hydrogen bromine (HBr), mercury (Hg) vapor, organic compounds, even gold. From Cadle (1980).

Mercury is released by most volcanoes and has been measured at Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Hekla, Erebus, at Mount St. Helens (Siegel and Siegel, 1987). Kilauea produces about 270 tons of mercury each year and has been identified as the source for mercury on Oahu, 320 km away.

https://books.google.com/books?id=hMA70VU36qUC&lpg=PA96&ots=AN3bnhx7ZW&dq=arsenic%20volcanic%20gas&pg=PA96#v=onepage&q=arsenic%20kilauea%20volcanic%20gas

3.6.8 Arsenic in volcanic gas emissions
Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, USA, erupted in January, 1983. During a two-week period including the eruption, atmospheric particulate matter (PM) around the colcano was collected on 0.4 um air filters. Measurements of the atmospheric particles yielded 0.0045 - 1.600 ng/m3 (nanograms of arsenic per cubic meter of air). Before the eruption, the average arsenic concentrations were 0.013 - 0.039 ng/m3.

[Rattlestaff]

I wouldn't drink any catchment water here to save my life, UV treated,filtered, ect. Its a crap shoot.period. not to mention said heavy metal deposits.

[Jay Bondesen]

It would be interesting to compare test results from county water and filtered and treated catchment water. Even then there is so much variability between home systems it wouldn't really apply across the board. Not only the equipment differences but the roof and the trees and the critters and location all have a chance of impacting water quality. We have used only catchment for seven years now. It's possible we have been lucky or maybe we are dying a slow death.
We did have one liner failure when running water washed out under the tank and the liner split. Of course we bought a few thousand gallons of county water with the new liner. My filter system was not able to remove whatever was in it that tasted terrible and it took several storms to get back to normal.
So, it's not for everyone. If you use catchment it just becomes one of the chores of home ownership. Or if you don't then the chore is to go get county water. There is no reason to think that it's impossible for us to end up with safe water on our own. I bet this is another of those things where there is no definitive answer.

Jay

[terracore]

It's good to see that the county has discovered a way to obtain drinking water that doesn't fall from a sky effected by a volcano.

[Peter Epperson]

Some years ago my company built a ferrocement water tank for a retired chemist who had just built a house in Ninole. Before moving here he had gathered water quality reports from the county. After reading them he said there was no way he was going to drink that crap. I think his primary complaint was residual toxins left over from sugar cane days. He wanted to take charge of his own water. We built him a tank that included extra sampling pipes so that he could monitor and treat his own water. Don't know if he is still around but last time I saw him he was in his late '80s and after years of drinking catchment he looked plenty healthy to me. I've been drinking catchment water myself for 40 years now. I can't agree with those who suggest catchment water is deadly. Take responsibility for maintenance and catchment water can be the best.

Do not use RO systems. Those, I believe, are not good for your health.