Pure rainwater safe to drink: Study

The focus of the research was to verify whether rain water, the cleanest source of replenishing drinking water, qualified the safety norms and was fit for consumption.

Karin Leder, head of the infectious diseases unit at Monash University’s department of epidemiology and Preventive Medicine stated, "This is the first study of its kind. Until now, there has been no prospective randomised study to investigate the health effects of rainwater consumption, either in Australia or internationally.”

Study involving fake and real water filters
The study involved 300 households based in Adelaide, as the city has the highest use of rainwater tanks in Australia. All the volunteers in the study were given a filter to treat their rainwater and remove bugs from it.

Only half of the devices worked while the rest were 'sham' filters that looked real but did not work.

The families were unaware if they had a real or fake filter. They were all asked to record their health over a period of one year, after which the wellbeing of the two groups was compared.

Outcome of the study
Although the researchers found 769 cases of gastroenteritis within a year, there was no significant difference in the rates of illness in both the groups.

"The results showed that rates of gastroenteritis between both groups were very similar. People who drank untreated rainwater displayed no measurable increase in illness compared to those that consumed the filtered rainwater," Leder said.

She added, “This study confirms there is a low risk of illness … Expanded use of rainwater for many household purposes can be considered and in current times of drought, we want to encourage people to use rainwater as a resource.”

The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and Water Quality Research Australia. It will be presented at the American Public Health Association 137th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on Nov. 11.

Rainwater free of toxins
Rainwater a natural soft water has numerous health benefits since it is less polluted than well water and free of toxic chemical additives, such as chlorine and chloramines found in water provided through municipalities.

Rainwater is free from toxic additives, chemical fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides, and other industrial contaminants that leach the groundwater supply. A simple and inexpensive water filter can effectively remove any contaminants normally found in rainwater.