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GBlist: GBList: greywater



RE: using rainwater for domestic purposes in NYC apartment bldg.  

I am not sure this is such a good idea because of the substantial
potential for contamination of drinking/cooking water by settled dust on
rooftop collectors.  Urban areas tend to have much higer levels of toxic
substantces in airborne dust (metals, pcb's, etc. and in the past,
lead).  Snow on the roof in the winter could also be polluted (not quite
as bad a roadside/groundlevel snow I presume).  The pollutant dose to
the body could be significant over time, esp. for infants.  

In rural/remote areas, roof top collectors would make more sense if
pollutant sources such as pesticide spraying and waste burning are not
present.  I lived in Bermuda in the early 60's where they relied almost
exclusively on roof-top and hill-side rainwater collection --  of
course, the air was fairly pristine out in the middle of the Atlantic. 
They stored the water in large cisterns under the house, whitewashed
(limed?) the roof each year, and (I was told) kept little fish in the
cistern to each mosquitos.  I don't know what current practices are in
that part of the world (Caribbean or tropics) for collecting rainwater
while avoiding contamination from dust or from biological sources in the
tank, but I suspect there are some good info sources there, perhaps
through Peace Corps, US Agency for Intl. Development, Swedish foreign
aid programs, etc.

Tom
-- 
Thomas J. Phillips                             AIR     {)   FOOD
Air Pollution Research Specialist                      /|\	
CARB/RD, Box 2815, Sacramento, CA 95812        WATER    |    SKIN
916.322.7145/4357 FAX                                 _/ \_
http://arbis.arb.ca.gov/indoor/indoor.htm
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