Is Rain Water Safe to Use in Organic Gardening
Using collected rain water is often thought to be the most sustainable way to water your garden. Some of you however have expressed concerns that rain water might contain contaminants and using it in the garden could harm your plants and soil.
On this month’s installment of the Testing Garden Assumptions Series we are going to take a look at both the potential risks and benefit of using collected rain water in your garden.
Today’s hypothesis is that rain water is not harmful to use in the garden but does not have any added benefit either.
It is important to note today’s video is only addressing the use of rain water in your garden not for drinking water. If you are interested to see if Tap water is harmful in the garden make sure to check out the link at the end of this video or in the description below.
The simplest method to test out hypothesis is to analyze samples from my rain water collection system. The analysis will let us know if the rain water I have collected has acquired any contaminants from coming in contact with the building materials like asphalt shingles, aluminium troughs or plastic rain barrel.
Related Videos:
Does the Chlorine in Tap Water Harm Beneficial Bacteria?
How I Conserve Water While Gardening Through a Drought.
References:
[1] Air Quality Article CBC:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-on-track-to-have-worst-air-quality-in-canada-1.3221336
[2] CCME description of F1-F4
http://www.ccme.ca/en/resources/contaminated_site_management/phc_cws_in_soil.html
[3] Rainwater harvesting, quality assessment and utilization in Kefalonia Island Greece
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135407000759
[4] Contamination of potable roof-collected rainwater in Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135407000759
[5] World Health Organization Known Carcinogens
http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/latest_classif.php
[6] CCME water quality guidelines
http://www.ccme.ca/en/resources/canadian_environmental_quality_guidelines/
[7] Alberta Environment and Parks Water Quality Guidelines
http://aep.alberta.ca/water/education-guidelines/surface-water-quality-guidelines-and-objectives.aspx
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