RWH system and natural water filter?

[Alexshimshimhae]

I don`t remember where I saw it, but now I can`t seem to find it anywhere.

I know there are a ton of Rainwater harvesting blueprints and stuff available, but I was kind of curious if any of you guys have it setup and how you went about it.



How you deal with the initial dirty run off, how you`re filtering it and how you check to make sure your water is gooooood.



For those of you who aren`t in the know (i`m no expert btw) I believe when you use the rain water, you purposely design a mechanism, or SOMETHING to divert the first say 5-10 minutes of the rain water run off from...say your roof because usually that`s all like contaminated rain--but after that, most of the water is much safer.

To top it, people then add another means of filtering out anything that gets on by.



The BENEFITS, i think the thread i saw--was that this water left virtually no water spots because the contaminants and all that found in say hose water is not there?



I kind of want to know the intricacies of it.



I mean it`s a tad off topic, but part of the reason why I was looking into this--is because in the spirit of saving money (being eco friendly was an added benefit) I was thinking about maybe making a hyrdoponic/aquaponic system (super cool btw--make kind of a eco system with edible fish which feed plants which clean water which also all helps fish) but then I realized, once i have the water for that--then I have all that water that I`ll have and depending on how much rain, I could prolly wash all my cars with it xD

[Alexshimshimhae]

Update--For those who are looking into it, these are the sites I`ve been looking at



American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association - Gallery

for rainwater harvest systems--be warned--from what I can tell--you kind of buy these...but I`m more interested in building my own(I have a small backyard in brooklyn--so I have to customize mine--plus i figure it better suits my needs this way.)



HarvestH2O.com :filtration and purification

Currently working on getting my CPA license, so I mean I don`t have as much time as I`d like to do full research just yet--but this site seems to be really helpful for disinfection purposes/filtering. (I`m probably going to go with a simple filtration for starters--but thinking if i get enough water collected after a few years--I might think about further cleaning the water for consumption)



HarvestH2O.com :Solar Disinfection

For those of you in the sunny regions, I would probably follow something like this--or the distillation method with carbon filters to suck out the VOC`s



IN TERMS OF DIY examples..this has been my main source

DIY Water Projects -- Catching it, saving it, treating i, ...





This is sort of like a manual

http://www.rainfoundation.org/filead...2006-small.pdf



something you hotter states might want to consider to also cut down on costs to keep your houses cool at the same time

Greenroofs.com :Coupling Rainwater Collection with Living Roofs: A Water Quality Review





NOW, Where I stand is, maybe using a filter to kind of take out all the sentiment to make it safe for say car washes and the plants around the house--BUT I think I might setup a aquaponic system

this is a great video YouTube - 300 Gallon Aquaponic Garden System Part 1 (And Bell Siphon!)



With all this--my biggest issue aside from the build--is what am i ganna do during the winter? =[

Hope this helps