An Investigation of the Water Quality of Rainwater Harvesting Systems
ISSN 2158-9429
Volume 6, Issue 1 - June 2013
Editor: Linda Chalker-Scott
Abstract
Rain barrels can be a first step in promoting water conservation and reducing stormwater runoff in communities. Many homeowners and community gardens use harvested rain barrel water to irrigate vegetable gardens, yet limited information exists about the safety of roof runoff for this purpose. In this study, roof runoff collected in plastic rain barrels was analyzed for the presence of several water quality contaminants: lead, zinc, total coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Twelve plastic food grade rain barrels were installed on homes that have asphalt shingled roofs, the dominant catchment surface on New Jersey homes. In order to investigate the effects of land use, 6 barrels were located in a suburban community and 6 were in an urban community. Rain barrel water samples were collected in 2011, 3 to 5 days after a rain event. Results showed PAHs were non-detect for all samples. Based on federal guidelines for water reuse, results for lead and zinc were all below the recommended maximum concentrations for irrigation water. Based on the proposed 2013 U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act, 4 E. coli samples exceeded recommended maximum concentrations for irrigation water. Results showed that rain barrel water may need treatment to prevent pathogen contamination if the water is to be used for irrigating a vegetable garden.
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