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M'Lady was giving our cats county water, the water we carry from the county watering holes.
She was thinking that she was doing them a favor and looking out for their health.
I kept telling her it was a waste of time because I would see them constantly drinking from water puddles on our tarps and on the ground.
The East Coast liberal "do-gooder" that she is, was not dissuaded from trying to give them "good clean water".
Lately we had noticed that they [both cats] were not drinking from their water bowl for any reason.
So she began to fill it with catchment water just to see what came of it.
This morning one of our cats was merrily lapping away from their water bowel with the catchment water in it.
Which brings the question:
Do they know something we don't?
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Was a Democrat until gun control became a knee jerk, then a Republican until the crazies took over, back to being a nonpartisan again.
This time, I can no longer participate in the primary.
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I can usually smell the chlorine in County water. To me it is reassuring, but perhaps not to the cats?
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Cats can smell impurities in water. If they're drinking it, then it's okay for them to drink.
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http://punaweb.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=21575
"I tested county water and compared our catchment"
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My dogs too refuse to drink county water. And I don't blame them, I don't drink it either.
FWIW - one of the reasons I live in a rainforest in Puna is to have catchment water. I wanted a reliable water supply that did not depend on anyone else for all my water needs.
Now, a not maintained, or poorly maintained system is certainly dangerous. However, with a little care, proper design, good maintenance, we have completely potable (drinkable) catchment water. Its not that hard! I really don't understand all the fear of drinking catchment water. My system is cleaned, I do NOT have those cotton string filters (bacteria breeding-grounds without chlorine or similar in the water), and yes its tested. We do have clean roofs, covered tank, first flow diverters, potable liner, and UV Sterilizer just in case something can grow in the tank - I've had it tested - and monitor it often. BUT I have far more faith in our catchment water's safety than ANY county / city water / tap or even bottled at the store. I personally do all I can to avoid county/city water (unless it's been R/O'd to remove the chlorine etc), and never never drink bottled water. The standards on those are so low.
The rain water is far cleaner - all you have to do is keep it clean.
Personally I think we've all been mislead about the safety of chlorine and other treatments in public water supplies, but I don't think there's any other way to keep large distribution clean enough to be biologically safe. But they certainly don't want us worrying that the chlorine or such is actually harming us, but I have my suspicions and I'm not taking that risk. - Just my humble opinion.
Living the good life - off the grid in Puna
Living the good life - off the grid in Puna
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So birds poop on your roof, probably rats as well, but you are worried about the chlorine?
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
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Why worry about the chlorine in county water if you put bleach in your catchment tank?
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Sfendt, you don’t have any filter between your tank and the UV filter?! am I reading that right? If so, you may want to defer to people who have actually studied this extensively and install one or two. If a large particle of dirt encrusted with bacteria passes through your UV, The light will not penetrate in time to kill those bacteria. By adding filters (even if they breed bacteria like the inside of your tank does), you are giving the UV light a fighting chance to expose those bacteria to a lethal dose by making sure they are in small enough clumps for the UV light to kill. But don’t take my word for it either.
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawaiirain/...vlight.pdf
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A simple Brita filter does nicely removing the chlorine if taste is a problem. I use the 1.5 G one and it tastes better than bottled or plain R.O water.
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I have a pretty common UV sterilization unit and the owner's manual says a 5 micron filter HAS to be installed before the UV unit in order for it to function correctly. I have a 20 micron unit before the 5 so it lasts longer.
