Rainwater is unfit to drink

Rainwater, our governments tell us, is not potable water.

It is unfit to drink!

Toilet flushing, washing machine filling, watering the garden and washing the car is about it!

With the average daily demand for these uses, a tank of less than 50,000 litres may be enough for two people, who are supplementing their consumption with town water.

It will depend on frequency and volume of rainfall and a catchment of at least 10 squares of roof area.

Backflow prevention devices must be checked annually for compliance, which can cost $80 dollars.

Certainly the relatively small tanks being promoted by green groups and subsidised by government are not at all worth the trouble and real cost of making these commitments, simply because you can't store the complete rainfall for a year in these small tanks.

I accept as a guide the figures of Mr John Wiggin of the Central Coast branch of the Australian Conservation Foundation, reported on December 9 in the Peninsula News.

While his point is valid that many tanks are just too small to do what homeowners may be expecting, he overlooks the fact that Gosford Council tells us the rainwater is not potable.

Edward James Umina