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April 15, 2008
Conserve with Rainwater Tanks, but Don't Drink From Them
With the water shortages that Australia has been going through, the use of rainwater tanks has been encouraged. A study by a joint research study by Melbourne Monash University and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) shows that lead along with other heavy metals contamination is commonly found in the rainwater tanks.
"It can be environmental or atmospheric, so you could potentially have lead associated with the dust that blows around an urban area," said Dr. Grace Mitchell, a senior research fellow at Monash University.
"Up until relatively recently we used a lot of lead in our petrol, so they're the sorts of environmental sources."
"There can be also lead flashing on roofs that haven't been properly coated, so it actually could leach lead."
"There may be lead solder associated with some of the pipes, and then you may find other environmental sources of lead - there can be some industrial processes that may be emitting lead."
"I'd encourage them to go for the other uses first that use more water, so they're going to get more savings and also it doesn't have kind of potential concerns from a health point of view," said Dr. Mitchell, as reported by ABC News, Australia.
Posted by Stephen Betheil at April 15, 2008 04:32 PM
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