I'm in the southern US and a friend taught me that where he grew up the first
rain is called "The waters of the birth of the earth." and they are considered
very healing. So I caught the first sprig rain in pots I set out that I made
sure were especially well washed and when I had enough I filtered it through a
couple of coffee filters and put it in another well washed container and into
the refrigerator. Several months later I noticed there was something growing
in the container.
I guess my point is, it is not only chemicals you need to look out for from
rain water. I had never thought about it before that but when I made my own
sourdough starter for bread one time I just set out some flour, water and a
little sugar with a piece of cheesecloth on it and 'caught' yeast... so they
are everywhere and unless filtered out could end up in the water you are using.
I have also lived on an island that used large cisterns for water collection.
It was amazing what was found in the cisterns when they were cleaned out. Made
me not even want to shower in the water much less drink it!
PT
----- Original Message -----
From: Rowena
To: silver-list@eskimo.com
Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2010 2:48 AM
Subject: Re: CS>Fw: Lest We Forget - rain water for CS?
What is the current thinking on using rain water for making CS?
I seem to recall that in the past the general opinion was that one should
only use distilled.
I have to buy my distilled water, and although here in Western Australia that
is at least possible, it is expensive and inconvenient.
This Australian winter, I expect to have access to fresh rain water, and have
been thinking of bringing it home in big clear water fountain bottles and using
that for drinking water (we do have reverse osmosis, but I am gathering from
what I read that some of the worst chemicals are not actually completely
filtered out by the filters) and also perhaps for CS unless there is some
overwhelming reason why it should not be so used. I would upend the bottles on
our ceramic water dispenser and use it for general consumption also.
This water would be gathered on a huge metal roof and stored in metal
rainwater tanks. I suspect this might engender some potential objection, but I
don't know. I would go and fill the bottle for a charitable donation, and
bring them home for use. The first rains of the season would be allowed to run
away to flush dust off the roof before it was directed via simple filters to
the new tanks. It would be collected in the country from clouds probably blown
up from Antarctica, anyway from the Indian or Southern Oceans.
Why I like this idea is that the bottles would not come from a factory that
is forced by law to "protect" the inside of the storage bottle with chemicals
for "hygiene". It would also not contain echoes or particles or suggestions of
water treatment chemicals; although our water here is basically of high
quality, it does have standard chemicals added to it.
Rowena Down Under
Grow medicinal herbs,forage for wild foods, catch and filter your own
water, make your own colloidal silver, explore alternative methods of
healthcare and develop a wellness support network wherever you are
sharing remedies and information.
