Rain Water

In most cases, YES. The water collected in reservoirs from rain is an example. It is generally lower in minerals, requires less chlorination due to the ultra-violet rays it is exposed to from the sun and it can easily be aerated. Filtration is not done unless it is an unusual situation. Chlorination is usually done at the location where it first is put into pipes.

This is the type of water provided to much of California and other locations. One is located behind the Hoover dam. Also on many systems electricity can be generated by the height difference between the storage level and the distribution level.

With small residential systems additional treatment may be necessary on a smaller basis. This is the type of system that is used in Bermuda with their rain cisterns.

Having been exposed to both reservoir water and pumped well water I prefer the rain water. Less mineral taste, less dirt and other solids in it. Rain water is generally slightly more acidic than well water. This is due to the acid air that the rain falls through and the mineral exposure that the well water has.

Also, some of the biggest breweries and high densities of breweries in the United States was due to the better rain water that was provided to them from the reservoirs. Example- Brooklyn, NY

Try it, you'll like it.

Good Luck, Old Salt

Is there any WHO directive on this?.

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I'm sure they due but researching that is your task not mine.

Experience has showed that whatever the WHO has is not as old as experience, about 20 centuries of it. This is the way that Julius Caesar and the romans got their water. It was collected, transferred through the conduits and used by the citizens.

TWENTY CENTURIES, that's a long, long time for experience.

Good Luck, Old Salt

It is. The bulk of domestic and industrial water supplies are either harvested rainwater or harvested subterranean waters. The treatment regime depends on how much you need and what is in it, and for that you will need a chemical and a biological analysis. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

The World Health Organisation guidelines are widely published and you can find them just as easily as I can.

We sometimes have to watch what we harvest here in the states.

There are cities here who claim rights to water that rains on your property, claiming it is not yours but "city water".

Sounds like cities that don't want people collecting water to avoid paying outrageous water and sewer bills. Do you know of any in particular? This is of some interest to me because I have considered collecting roof water into some kind of a cistern and then run separate lines to my commodes supplied by a pump in the cistern. I've getting tired of being fleeced to flush my toilet or water my lawn.

My sister built a house in Mo. where there was NO water.

They built a cistern, under their patio, and collected water off half their roof into it. Supplanted that with a water truck.

They used it as potable water. I suppose they treated it, but don't know for sure.

Never got sick AFAIK.

We were raised on an Arkansas farm, with cows. I drank from the same creek the cows used and pooped in, I'm sure. Never got sick from it. The water was always crystal clear and cold.

We rented a house between Hilo and Pahoa on the Big Island for a week that used a cistern collecting water off of the painted metal roof. Rain water tastes a bit funny because there are few, if any minerals, except for whatever bird droppings get washed into it. (Really!) There was a large, covered tank in the yard to store the water. All nine of us survived and no one got sick. They get plenty of rain there but because the close proximity to the coast and porous rock, conventional wells do not work well (consider the water flow rate through lava rock coupled with everyone's septic system ). They did have a UV treatment device plumbed between the pump and the expansion tank.

Read this.

Unbelievable! ...and such restriction has been on the books for 100 Years? That's really hard to believe!

That's what I have done. I do have a well and cistern in my back yard - cistern has outlet into the basement where I have a pressure system separate from municipal water supply. It took extra valving and piping, but I have the option for my outside taps on rain water or municipal supply. I haven't gone as far as running extra piping for the toilets, not yet anyway.