Can You Drink Rainwater?

You see the rain falling from the sky and you might want to stick out your tongue and drink in some of its goodness, however, is it safe to do so? The short answer to this question is: sometimes. While rainwater in and of itself is the purest form of water on the planet, there are stipulations in which you may want to consider before setting a bucket outside and collecting it for your own consumption. As such, learning what the best practices for drinking rainwater will ensure that the rainwater you end up drinking will provide more benefit to your body than harm. After gaining awareness around safe rainwater harvesting techniques, then you will be better equipped to indulge in what this pure and delicious tasting beverage can offer you.

Can You Drink Rainwater?

While most rainwater is perfectly safe to drink, even cleaner than most public water supply, it is important to understand that all water can have potential hazards associated with it if it is not run through a proper decontamination process. As such, take caution before you decide that you want to collect rainwater to drink. If you place rainwater in a container that is dirty or if you collect it after it touches plants or buildings, you can have a potentially hazardous situation on your hands. Rainwater that falls off these surfaces are especially susceptible to picking up toxic chemicals from these surfaces. Furthermore, because rain passes through the atmosphere before making its way to the ground, it is subject to collecting any air pollution or contaminants. Therefore, although rainwater is substantially purer than any form groundwater, as groundwater absorbs all chemicals from the ground, it’s not the best idea to drink rainwater before it’s run through a proper filtration system. This is especially true if the rainwater you are thinking about drinking has fallen near chemical plants, power plants, paper mills, etc. as these can easily pollute the water.

While rainwater has much lower levels of pollution, pollen, mold and other contaminants, even lower than your public water supply, rainwater can pick up low levels of bacteria or dust. As such, it would be in your best interest to drink rainwater that has been run through proper harvesting and filtration before drinking it.

How Can You Safely Drink Rainwater?

The best way you can ensure that the rainwater you drink is of highest quality is to purchase it directly from a company that takes the appropriate preventative measures in decontaminating your water. To do this, make sure the rainwater you are purchasing has a clear harvesting process laid out for you, which you can typically find on the company’s website. Some of the best filtration processes include a multi-pronged approach, incorporating various high-tech modalities in order to ensure the water you drink is in the purest and healthiest form. One of the best harvesting methods includes features, such as:

• Capturing the rain water through a gravity-based collection method and then monitoring the rainwater for optimal clarity and pH.
• Protecting and shielding the rainwater from any potential harmful contaminants and chemical coagulants. This means that while most water companies use chemicals to kill bacteria, a company that wants to create the healthiest, purest water on the planet will not. Any chemicals added to the water only ends up in the user’s body and, as research is showing, consuming chemicals can damage the human body.
• Clarifying the rainwater with Ozone treatment. A company that utilizes the benefits of Ozone treatment to clean your water will stop at nothing else to ensure your water is the purest form of water you can drink. Exponentially more expensive than purifying water with standard chlorination, Ozone has a much greater ability to disinfect water from bacteria and viruses.
• Utilizing nano-filtration that removes any material solids and harmful bacteria. Using a purification method such as this not only helps to meet state and federal standards for what is healthy for human consumption but it far exceeds it.
• Transferring water into bottles without exposing the water to residual chemicals in the process.

Another way to ensure your rainwater is of the highest quality is to see how the rainwater is packaged. If it’s in plastic it’s no good! Drinking water from plastic bottles not only aids in the increase of environmental pollution but it can also negatively impact your health.

Therefore, your best option is to choose rainwater that is packaged in either aluminum or glass bottles. Both are environmentally friendly as they are easily reused and are safe for your health. Aluminum water bottles can even be recycled easily and decompose quickly, especially when compared to plastic which can take hundreds of years to decompose. Furthermore, aluminum gets recycled 75% of the time while plastic only gets recycled around 8% of the time. This makes aluminum water bottles the most eco-friendly and health conscious decision you can make.

The Best Way That You Can Drink Rainwater

While there are few companies that utilize the rainwater harvesting approach, there are even fewer companies that go above and beyond to provide water that exceeds all purification standards and quality of taste measures. Drinking rainwater from a company that puts care into the details will ensure the water that ends up in your mouth will serve your body to the greatest extent possible. As such, take care to find a company that utilizes the above harvesting techniques. If a company does not clearly lay out their purification methods online then it is in your best interest to stay away. Furthermore, choose a company that packages their rainwater in aluminum cans so that you will not only be helping to protect your health but you will also be contributing to the betterment of the environment as a whole.

So long story short, yes, you can drink rainwater. But let the rainwater you drink be properly harvested with a company that sets high purification standards for their water. As such, choose the purest alkaline rainwater packaged in aluminum water bottles today. Once you take a sip, you won’t turn back.