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I have been watching the volcano closely (I'm sure that will come to news to all of you), and notice that the rate at which it pumps out sulfur dioxide has increased dramatically --so dramatically that parts of the park have been closed to visitors and health complaints have been popping up in Hilo and Puna. When the trades died back last week, the vog was very bad they tell me.
I understand that "acid rain" can adversely affect catchment water quality as well.
Should any adjustments be made to catchment water in light of vastly increased sulfur dioxide?
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Rain water here is slightly acidic even without the vog, if you have copper pipes you might consider putting some soda ash in your water to reduce the ph.
Daniel R Diamond
Daniel R Diamond
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We use sodium bicarbonate. This is baking soda, found easier than soda ash.
Soda ash is sodium carbonate
Wyatt
"Yearn to understand first and to be understood second."
-- Beca Lewis Allen
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Does anyone have a regular routine? I think my catchment is about 11,000 gallons. Might be ten. Not sure. One box per month? Test?
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My limited understanding is that this would be a much bigger problem if it were raining through the vog, thus carrying more of the SO2 into the catchment. Fortunately, our usual rain pattern also involves trade winds which blow the vog away from Puna. Perhaps someone more educated on this than me can let us know if the SO2 can be readily absorbed from the air into the catchment.
Cheers,
Jerry
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In twenty years of catchment living we've never drank (drunken?) the water from our catchment tank. We use it for washing dishes, bathing, flushing etc.
I imaging with today's technology (ultra violet, O-zone, reverse osmosis, and such; catchment water can be made safe. These units are expensive and I can't help but think of it as an open system starting with roof and gutters. (accessable to rats and birds)
Before the county spigots were set up, we knew all the Puna hosepipes where county water could be "cockroached" after hours. We then run it through a brita filter for excellent tasting safe water.
I prefer to haul a few jugs once a week or so from the county sites (Thank you Harry Kim), filter out the chlorine and whatever, and enjoy.
My toilet doesn't care one way or another.[:p]
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I know, I know. But you shower in it. Right? Is the general consensus that we don't do jack to catchment water other than filter it (maybe!)?
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I was planning to do like you would in Florida when you have to aerate out the sulfur (sulfurwater comes out of the ground). Aeration quiclky removes the sulfur from sulfurwater. Usually after aeration, which exposes the water to contaminates, it is chlorinated prior to the pressure tank. Then, only the water for drinking is run through an RO for taste purposes.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
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Glen, I seem to remember that you have a concrete catchment. I seem to remember reading somewhere (possibly here a couple of years ago) that concete catchments act as a buffer to the acid.... Maybe your system is self buffering???
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Carey, you got it. Glen, download a copy of Trisha Macomber's guide for catchment water from the UH Manoa CTAHR site and read it. She comments about how a concrete tank neutralizes acid rain in a catchment system.
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/RM-12.pdf
