water butts

[Apollo]

I can understand the filter bit but surely the actual acid and other chemical content of rainwater would make it a poor choice to wash your car with?

[Tamiyoman]

I use water from teh water butts when rinsing my car off after washing, no streaks and no water marks, it has a built in filter between the downpipe and water butt, the filter needs cleaning out about once every 3 months as it does collect some sand (Live 150yds from beach) and other debris.

No worries rinsing my car with water from it at all, regards "Acid Rain" is it any worse for your car that it sitting the rain anyway?  , it wont be an issue unless your car NEVER goes out in the rain or is permanently in the garage (in which case why bother having a car) 

[gazon69]

I can understand the filter bit but surely the actual acid and other chemical content of rainwater would make it a poor choice to wash your car with?

Rain water is actully better to wash your car with as it has a p.h of around 5.5 which is rather neutral. Water that comes out of the tap has a p.h of around 6.8 and can be as high as 7.8 depending on the area you are in,which means it has a higher alkalinity content. Hope that helps.

[rich83]

I can understand the filter bit but surely the actual acid and other chemical content of rainwater would make it a poor choice to wash your car with?

But why.... rain is failing on my car right this second... is it damaging it? Nope!!

Now..... i never use rainwater to wash my car, but i would do if i had the room for a big enough BUTT!!! 

[Eccie]

I can understand the filter bit but surely the actual acid and other chemical content of rainwater would make it a poor choice to wash your car with?

But why.... rain is failing on my car right this second... is it damaging it? Nope!!

Now..... i never use rainwater to wash my car, but i would do if i had the room for a big enough BUTT!!! 

Cue the 'cheeky' photos"..........

[RedRobin]

..........what about the grit & rubbish washed off the roof/guttering & then going into the water butt?.

....And also the drowned snails and other organisms which develop in standing rainwater.

I only use my butt's water for watering my sunflowers and topping up my wildlife pond occasionally.

[DFish]

The butts should have nice lids on them to stop those pesky snails and other rubbish. The TV ad's that karcher have been running showing that they can now use water from the butts was more for the hose pipe ban, nothing more. I'm running a 2 butt system.

First from the gutter downpipe which then filters/overfills into the second. The second is used for the car as all the crap from the roof settles in the first. Only floating debris is in the second butt which doesn't get picked up.

In the second butt I have a cheap lift pump pushing water down the hose to the pressure washer out the front. This gives good pressure and also has a built in filter.

The first butt with all the crap in gets used for the plants. :)

MVB, if you're about on Sunday for the Grasshopper meet pop round before and I'll show you the setup.

Fish

[gazon69]

The butts should have nice lids on them to stop those pesky snails and other rubbish. The TV ad's that karcher have been running showing that they can now use water from the butts was more for the hose pipe ban, nothing more. I'm running a 2 butt system.

First from the gutter downpipe which then filters/overfills into the second. The second is used for the car as all the crap from the roof settles in the first. Only floating debris is in the second butt which doesn't get picked up.

In the second butt I have a cheap lift pump pushing water down the hose to the pressure washer out the front. This gives good pressure and also has a built in filter.

The first butt with all the crap in gets used for the plants. :)

MVB, if you're about on Sunday for the Grasshopper meet pop round before and I'll show you the setup.

Fish

+1.