Re: Water Softener
Post by RashmiL » 02 Oct 2021, 18:37
Minerals are a vital necessity. Initial RO filters even removed minerals.however later RO filters now allow minerals which are necessary for body (at least as claimed ) .
Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
Re: Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
Re: Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
Re: Water Softener
Post by SAMPATH S » 02 Oct 2021, 19:11
What is claimed needs to be trusted. Unfortunately, RO purifiers are in use for more than 20 years and supposed to dispense potable water. All minerals were removed and water rendered acidic. People were made to believe that RO water is the best water for drinking.
It all depends what minerals the input water contains. If the input water contains harmful substances like heavy metals and fluoride, etc., whether these will be removed or will be there in the output. There is no mention whether the output water will be alkaline or will become acidic.
For cauvery water, RO purifier is not required. Simple UV purifier to neutralize the baceria is enough. But people have been lead to believe that high priced RO purifiers only guarantee potable water. Crores are spent in publicity and this has lead the urban population to believe that without RO purifier they would not be drinking pure water.
Now, what are the minerals that are required by the body and present in the input water? If we eat balanced food, all the necessary minerals would be available in it and there is no necessity for any supplement, either through the water or by way of tablets.
The mineral in water that body needs is Calcium and in traces Magnesium and iron and this is the major content causing hardness of water. People tend to remove it by using water softeners and RO purifiers.
For those who need these minerals and which is not available in the rainwater (which the purest form of water in the water cycle, devoid of any pollutants including minerals), it is available in Lime that is used with Pan (betel leaves). A pinch of this lime may be consumed easily with curds or curd rice (for those who need it or feel they need). The issue of minerals is completely solved without spending any money.
The more important aspect is the mild acidity of RO water (pH less than 7). There is no mention anywhere that the output of the new generation RO purifier would be alkaline to the extent of pH being in the range of 8.5 to 10. Most of the food that we eat are acidic in nature, thus causing acidity in the body.
It is very much necessary to ensure that the drinking water is alkaline, which would in turn reduce the body acidity.
Rain water (which is natural RO water) can be put through an UV purifier to neutralize the bacterial content, if any and then made alkaline to the desired extent for drinking purposes.
UN has called for banning all RO purifiers.
Re: Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
Re: Water Softener
Post by SAMPATH S » 02 Oct 2021, 19:14
What is TDS control? TDS is caused by the minerals. When the water is put through RO process, it automatically removes the TDS, i.e. all minerals. Now people believe in publicity. These RO manufacturers have cheated people for more than 20 years. How can we trust them now?
Re: Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
Re: Water Softener
Post by RashmiL » 02 Oct 2021, 20:12
Very good post. Appreciate your knowledge on the subject matter
Re: Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
Re: Water Softener
Post by SAMPATH S » 02 Oct 2021, 21:21
Thank you.
Rain water is the real luxury. Highly pure. No micro plastics. Fit for every purpose.
Tap water is the polluted rain water which is purified and supplied at enormous cost, but is highly subsidized.
Ground water has very high TDS (high level of pollution).
Re: Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
Sir, appreciate your knowledge and efforts put-up for inculcating DIY RWH and also glad to know that you have received several awards for the same. Sir, I am thinking of construction of my house from next year onwards and even I have plans to do RWH. My queries are as follows
1. My site is of 1500 sqft so what is recommended water sump capacity and how should be the design of sump to cater both rain water and bore well supplied from layout.
2. In addition to RWH I have plans for terrace farming as well, is it possible that both can go hand in hand because terrace farming attracts birds and they are best pollinators for cross pollination and at the same time it would be challenging to keep the terrace clean on regular basis.
1. My site is of 1500 sqft so what is recommended water sump capacity and how should be the design of sump to cater both rain water and bore well supplied from layout.
2. In addition to RWH I have plans for terrace farming as well, is it possible that both can go hand in hand because terrace farming attracts birds and they are best pollinators for cross pollination and at the same time it would be challenging to keep the terrace clean on regular basis.
Re: Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
I would like to quote a message I received from a Rainwater Harvester using the High Efficiency Low Cost DIY Effective Filters, not from any desert region of Rajastan, but residing in our own Bangalore (to be precise – on Thalaghatpura, Kanakapura Road), just a few days ago:
“Sir, good morning. With rains in this week, we were able to collect a full sump of rainwater upto 7000 litres.
I am using this water purely for drinking purpose. And this water should be more or less be sufficient for around 10 months for us.”
I am a witness to the deterioration in BWSSB water supply over the last about three decades. Initially, the water pressure was so good as to easily reach the overhead tank about 15 feet from ground level all through the day. Next few years saw water reaching barely the ground floor taps. In the next few years, underground sump became a necessity. Even then the water supply was 24 hours and 7 days a week.
Initially people built small sumps generally of 1 to 3 thousand liters. As multi floored buildings started coming up the capacity of sumps multiplied. Water supply also became irregular and around thrice a week for a few hours. The present position is there for all to see.
It is left to one’s imagination as to where we might land in the next few years. In this context the above quoted statement needs to be kept in mind.
Already in many outskirts, particularly in north Bangalore, the ground water level has gone below 1500 feet. Imagine the level of TDS and pollution such water would have.
Hence consider yourself to be rich and lucky if you can provide an infrastructure for processing and storage of pure rainwater.
“Sir, good morning. With rains in this week, we were able to collect a full sump of rainwater upto 7000 litres.
I am using this water purely for drinking purpose. And this water should be more or less be sufficient for around 10 months for us.”
I am a witness to the deterioration in BWSSB water supply over the last about three decades. Initially, the water pressure was so good as to easily reach the overhead tank about 15 feet from ground level all through the day. Next few years saw water reaching barely the ground floor taps. In the next few years, underground sump became a necessity. Even then the water supply was 24 hours and 7 days a week.
Initially people built small sumps generally of 1 to 3 thousand liters. As multi floored buildings started coming up the capacity of sumps multiplied. Water supply also became irregular and around thrice a week for a few hours. The present position is there for all to see.
It is left to one’s imagination as to where we might land in the next few years. In this context the above quoted statement needs to be kept in mind.
Already in many outskirts, particularly in north Bangalore, the ground water level has gone below 1500 feet. Imagine the level of TDS and pollution such water would have.
Hence consider yourself to be rich and lucky if you can provide an infrastructure for processing and storage of pure rainwater.
Re: Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
These awards really do not mean much for me. Of course, awards are useful for public to come to know that the recipient has knowledge and experience over and above others. It is useful for the recipient to find the target group who might need his help.Post by manomur » 03 Oct 2021, 23:32
Sir, appreciate your knowledge and efforts put-up for inculcating DIY RWH and also glad to know that you have received several awards for the same. Sir, I am thinking of construction of my house from next year onwards and even I have plans to do RWH. My queries are as follows
1. My site is of 1500 sqft so what is recommended water sump capacity and how should be the design of sump to cater both rain water and bore well supplied from layout.
2. In addition to RWH I have plans for terrace farming as well, is it possible that both can go hand in hand because terrace farming attracts birds and they are best pollinators for cross pollination and at the same time it would be challenging to keep the terrace clean on regular basis.
Glad to know that you propose to construct your own house soon and that you are keen to incorporate RWH in the project.
It would be better to avoid terrace farming if you are considering RWH and using the rainwater particularly for drinking and cooking. While a few households are managing both by partitioning the area used for each of the purpose, the quality of water would be certainly affected by bird droppings, dead/live insects and the organic matter (leaves, soil, etc.) from the plants which are organic in nature. To reduce the process of evaporation, mulching by use of partially decomposed dry leaves is done, which would fly due to wind and land in the RWH partition. All organic matter ultimately decay and thus would affect the quality of water. Moreover, terrace garden would require a lot of water (due to the high rate of evaporation) and unless you have a good supply of water, especially in hot days and summer, the viability would be under question. It is for you to take a call on this.
In case you decide to go ahead with RWH, particularly for drinking usage, the following aspects might help you in arriving at the possible / required storage for rainwater. Partitioning the sumps into two or three portions or if not adjoining, may be nearby, would be a good practice. By inter-connecting the sumps with valves (at the top and may be at the bottom also), the available storage can be used either separately for each purpose or together for the same purpose).
1. Rooftop area available for RWH
2. Number of people residing and the propensity to use water
3. Space available for construction of underground sump/s.
4. Technical feasibility
5. Financial considerations.
1. As a thumb rule, you may think of 25 times (in liters) multiplied by the roof area in sq.ft.
2. At the rate of 100 liters per head per day for a minimum of 90 days
3. Depends on the availability of parking area / stilt floor
4. As decided by the structural engineer / architect / engineer.
5. How deep your pocket is.
Further, water conservation should be the prime motto. Avoid water guzzling bathroom fixtures. Use altered nozzles which dispense around 3 liters of water per minute. Also check in the market for closets which need minimum water for flushing.
You may send me a private message (for non-members on my email id sampaths144@gmail.com), in case you would like to see in person the arrangements at my house. A few thousand people have already visited my house.
Last edited by SAMPATH S on October 6th, 2021, 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
Thanks a lot sir for your input. Definitely I would to like to meet you in person before I start drawings of my house plan.
Re: Effective Rainwater Filter – For rooftop rainwater harvesting – Very low-cost, do-it-yourself filters
We all need water for our existence.
The main source of water for mankind is the rainwater.
This rainwater subsequently acquires different characteristics depending upon the impurities it passes through and becomes lake, river, ground water, etc.
The basic use of water is for drinking. For drinking and cooking we need pure water.
Water used for other purposes like bathing, washing, cleaning utensils, flushing, etc., may tolerate some amount of impurities, either dissolved or not dissolved or both.
For most of us, the source of water for all purposes is generally one, though there can be more than one.
For flushing toilets, even recycled water can be used and hence let us keep this purpose aside.
Keeping aside the drinking and cooking need, the water used for other purposes like bathing and washing needs soft water in order to give lather with soap (i.e. use the soap to its full potential instead of using part or whole of the potential to soften the hard water).
While water softeners can be used for softening the hard water, the softened water may not be good for drinking purposes. Water softeners (low or medium cost) generally use salt (sodium chloride) for softening, but this results in replacing the calcium and magnesium in hard water with sodium. Sodium when consumed more is injurious to health and hence for drinking and cooking purposes one has to necessarily use RO (Reverse Osmosis) purifiers. Even hard water without the process of softening also needs use of RO purifiers, which not only costs substantial, but the recurring cost of maintenance is also much on the higher side, besides generating a large quantity of reject water.
The water purified through RO loses the healthy salts like calcium, magnesium and also becomes slightly acidic, which in itself show its effect over the years.
Compare this with rain water, which is RO quality water (zero hardness) and is best suited for purposes like bathing and washing and also for cleaning utensils and soap used profusely lathers with rain water.
Now coming to the drinking and cooking purposes of water, we essentially use water purifiers, every purifier has essentially a sediment filter (or pre-filter)and then RO or UV or RO+Carbon or RO+Carbon+UV or RO+Carbon+UV+UF or RO+Carbon+UF or UV+UF+Carbon or Carbon+UF and may be many more combinations.
We, most urban dwellers generally have river water supply (potable water), but everyone has access to rainwater, whether one chooses to harness it or not.
Some knowledge about the various water purifiers would be of use to many of us. Just thought of sharing my views and experience on this subject.
The main source of water for mankind is the rainwater.
This rainwater subsequently acquires different characteristics depending upon the impurities it passes through and becomes lake, river, ground water, etc.
The basic use of water is for drinking. For drinking and cooking we need pure water.
Water used for other purposes like bathing, washing, cleaning utensils, flushing, etc., may tolerate some amount of impurities, either dissolved or not dissolved or both.
For most of us, the source of water for all purposes is generally one, though there can be more than one.
For flushing toilets, even recycled water can be used and hence let us keep this purpose aside.
Keeping aside the drinking and cooking need, the water used for other purposes like bathing and washing needs soft water in order to give lather with soap (i.e. use the soap to its full potential instead of using part or whole of the potential to soften the hard water).
While water softeners can be used for softening the hard water, the softened water may not be good for drinking purposes. Water softeners (low or medium cost) generally use salt (sodium chloride) for softening, but this results in replacing the calcium and magnesium in hard water with sodium. Sodium when consumed more is injurious to health and hence for drinking and cooking purposes one has to necessarily use RO (Reverse Osmosis) purifiers. Even hard water without the process of softening also needs use of RO purifiers, which not only costs substantial, but the recurring cost of maintenance is also much on the higher side, besides generating a large quantity of reject water.
The water purified through RO loses the healthy salts like calcium, magnesium and also becomes slightly acidic, which in itself show its effect over the years.
Compare this with rain water, which is RO quality water (zero hardness) and is best suited for purposes like bathing and washing and also for cleaning utensils and soap used profusely lathers with rain water.
Now coming to the drinking and cooking purposes of water, we essentially use water purifiers, every purifier has essentially a sediment filter (or pre-filter)and then RO or UV or RO+Carbon or RO+Carbon+UV or RO+Carbon+UV+UF or RO+Carbon+UF or UV+UF+Carbon or Carbon+UF and may be many more combinations.
We, most urban dwellers generally have river water supply (potable water), but everyone has access to rainwater, whether one chooses to harness it or not.
Some knowledge about the various water purifiers would be of use to many of us. Just thought of sharing my views and experience on this subject.