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Rainwater Harvesting. Newbie

 
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I just started to harvest rainwater in August. I have 2) 550 gallon Norwesco tanks. I'm cleaning this water with, Leafeater, 1st flush, sediment trapper filter 30 micron, 2 stage whole house system sediment filter 5 micron and CTO Carbon filter 5 micron, and lastly a 12GPM UV whole house water purifier sterilizer. Water test shows: Total Hardness 0, Total Chlorine 0, Alkalinity 40 ppm, pH 6.0, Nitrite safe, Nitrate safe, Copper 0.3 ppm, Iron 0.0 ppm, Pesticide Neg, Lead Neg. No Coliform Bacteria.

The water still has a slight color to it. Very pale straw color. Any ideas what it could be? Am I missing a certain type filter?
 
pollinator
Posts: 5721
Location: Bendigo , Australia
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Well done.
I encourage rainfall capture and my signature has a link to some info.I come to this subject as a Civil Engineer who deals with water, not a Chemistry bloke.
Your test results are a bit odd.
pH is 6-0 but you have alkalinity of 40 ppm. Alkalinity is part of the pH area.
From; total-alkalinity-role-water-chemistry
"Total alkalinity is a measurement of the concentration of all alkaline substances dissolved in the water that can both attract and release Hydrogen ions (H+). This interference with Hydrogen is why alkalinity buffers against change in pH. Total alkalinity is primarily bicarbonate, carbonate, and hydroxide, along with a few others like cyanurate alkalinity.
 When acid is added, these alkali have the ability to neutralize some of the acid. In simpler terms, total alkalinity is a measurement of the water’s ability to resist a reduction in pH.

From;/ph-and-water
Some info pH is a measure of how acidic/basic water is.
The range goes from 0 - 14, with 7 being neutral. pHs of less than 7 indicate acidity, whereas a pH of greater than 7 indicates a base.
pH is really a measure of the relative amount of free hydrogen and hydroxyl ions in the water.

The colour is from something that is in solution, it cannot be filtered out.
- What type of roof material are you catching the rain from?
- Would leaves be staining the water?
- What amount of water do you use per day?

The larger the storage tank, [ say 5000 gal ] the more time water has to clean itself. I wonder if you are using water too fast for nature to help?
 
Mike Sesnan
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Thanks John. I have a asphalt shingle roof. I don't think I have leaves in the tank since I'm using a leafeater and also putting window screen mesh over the PVC pipe going into the tanks. The tanks are connected so it's 1050 gallons. I use between 50-100 gallons a day. Not sure about the Alkalinity. It's just part of the results from test I run on my water. Would the 6.0 pH cause my water-heater to put of sediment or color the water? Since the water heater is after the filters.
 
John C Daley
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The asphalt roof will most likely be the source of the staining.
In a separate topic I have included details of the unsuitability of an asphalt roof for capturing drinking water.
I will think about the other question.
regards
 
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