There s just a short list of rooftop surfaces that rainwater harvesters should avoid.
Rainwater collection shingle roof.
Tar asphalt shingles yup they make the water nasty.
Rainwater harvesting or rainwater collection is the process of collecting the run off water from a structure in order to store it for later use.
Tin tin is one of the best rainwater harvesting roof materials to have on a project there is very little water loss with tin around 5 and no.
The good news is most roofing materials are suitable for rainwater harvesting.
If there s lead chromium or cadmium in the roof materials soldering flashings paint or any other part of the roof you shouldn t collect rainwater from the roof.
For the majority of rainwater collection a roof acts as the primary catchment area.
Collecting the rainwater that runs off your roof is a great way to conserve an important natural resource.
But hey that s still something.
According to a local rainwater catchment group that water should be used only at base of trees shrubs and not in the veggie garden.
2 1 roof and gutters.
But when it came to responding to residents questions about which roof collection surfaces are best suited for rainwater harvesting twdb didn t have a good science based answer to give.
Water the garden flower and food beds flush one utility toilet and do all our laundry during the wet winter time.
Greenhouse roof has the highest collection efficiency most surfaces are a ok.
Puget sound is the perfect test bed for rainwater collection bone dry in the summer and soaking wet in the winter.
Selection and consequences of roofing and gutter materials for rainwater harvesting.
Roof types for rainwater harvesting.
Here is a list of the most common roof types and if they can be used for rainwater harvesting.
While metal roofing or plastic sheeting e g.
On the other hand other websites veto shingles for rainwater collection even if the water is only being used on your garden.
Rainwater can also react with uncoated metal roofs so any metal roof should be painted using a roof paint that is labelled suitable for potable water supply before rainwater is collected.
Rainwater is the cleanest source of water that is available in nature today.
As it falls from the sky it is safe to drink anywhere in the world.
I have been collecting rainwater off our roof here in seattle for 25 years and using it to.
Included are some of the effects of using these types of roofing for rainwater harvesting according to arcsa.