The Basics on Water Quality of Harvested Rainwater

Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater Harvesting is a primary water source for the ENTIRE home. Yes, the entire home – including drinking, cooking, washing, bathing, everything!

How is this possible? Is the water produced by rainwater harvesting good water? Can you drink harvested rainwater? (Spoiler alert – absolutely!)

I wrote this article as a basic overview on the quality of water from rainwater harvesting, feel free to email us if you have further questions!

Water Quality

How is water quality determined? Through various standards and water tests. Rainwater Harvesting has been put through rigorous cross-examination, and the water has been found to be excellent in quality; both as a stand-alone water source, and also when compared to other water sources such as municipal (city) or well water.

The following are just a few water parameters that show rainwater harvesting in the spotlight.

TDS

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) is a great way to measure basic water quality. This measures the total amount of dissolved solids (contaminants) in the water!

Municipal water around the Knoxville, TN area can range from around 120-160 TDS.

Rainwater harvesting usually produces water that is below 30 TDS! Often it can even be below 20 TDS!

Hardness

Water Hardness is a very common contaminant is many water sources. Water Hardness creates a host of problems with water appliances and skin and hair.

Municipal water around Knoxville, TN area can range from around 7-14 grains per gallon in hardness.

Rainwater harvesting produces 0 grains per gallon of hardness – completely soft.

Chlorine & Bacteria

Disinfectants such as chlorine are used to ensure the elimination of bacteria from municipal water sources (which is very good), but it’s better to remove that chlorine before it enters the body.

Rainwater harvesting just came from Nature’s big distiller in the sky! After going through the rainwater harvesting system process, the water is sent through a simple filtration panel that includes an ultraviolet light system that eliminates any possible bacteria without the use of chlorine.