Weve been getting some steady rain in the Ozarks, and the rain catchment has been full, Full, FULL! It's a really cool feeling being able to harvest your water from the sky for free. I like not having to depend on a utility company, and the savings has been great!

I wanted to do a followup on the video i did on water treatment and how we keep it clean and sanitary here on the homestead. You can check it out here

Collecting water like this does require its own maintenance, however, and I wanted to show some pictures on the difference in water treated with a very small about of bleach (1/4 cup in a 275 gallon tank) vs an untreated tank. These will be painted soon, as an added measure to prevent algae as well.

Untreated

This tank was left untreated for the purpose of this blog for about a week. The water has taken on an off color greenish tint and there is algae blooming around the edges.

In an environment like this, it would not take much for bacteria and mosquito to try to set up shop. A great way to combat those things is by adding 1/4 tsp : 1 gallon of regular concentrate, unscented, plain old bleach. You can learn more about treating water with bleach here.
After treatment, Ill then allow the water to sit, sealed for 24 hours. Once that is complete, to remove the chlorine taste and smell, I add about 2 cups of 3% hydrogen peroxide, and sit for another 24 hours.

Treated water

The water here has no color, and almost blends in with the tank. No blooms have formed, and its ready for use.

To catch any final debris, we use a house water filter for any solids that may have settled from the roof. Its a sediment and carbon filter, and makes everything taste like pure water, with no taste of chlorine at all.

I hope you enjoyed reading about how we keep water clean. It was a topic Heather and I discussed and researched in length and rain catchment has been proving to be a great investment for the homestead. Until next time Steemians, have a great day and thanks for stopping by!