Getting wet in the rain takes us back to our carefree childhood days. Don’t worry if you get caught in a rainstorm and get drenched; rainwater has several health benefits. Read on to learn about rain’s amazing health benefits.
Rainwater is good to use for bathing and, in fact, also has some amazing health benefits. Rainwater has no added chemicals and is low in mineral content. Rainwater is also free of harmful toxins, like fluoride and chlorine. When taking some filter precautions, rainwater is found to be even safe enough to drink.
Let’s look at all the amazing health and environmental benefits using rainwater offers.
What Precautions to Take When Using Rainwater Inside Your Home?
To enjoy all the amazing health benefits and the refreshing feeling of a rainwater shower or bath, you don’t need to treat rainwater all that much to make it safe.
The CDC says it is not necessary to treat harvested rainwater before using it for bathing or showering if you practice safe, clean water harvesting techniques. When using rainwater, it is not only safe to use in the bath or shower, but rainwater is also beneficial for your skin and hair.
Install a filter in your rainwater catchment system. If you need further decontamination will depend on the pollution around your home or in your area.
If necessary, several additional filtering and treatment processes can be added to a rainwater harvesting system to give you high-quality drinking water.
A common addition to a rainwater system is a UV light over your tank. UV light will kill bacteria. There is no need to chlorinate rainwater before your bath or shower in it.
What Type of Roofing is Needed to Harvest Rainwater?
Galvanized roofing material is the most recommended and cleanest roof surface to harvest rainwater from. Galvanized roofing is easy to install. The cost is relatively low and lasts a very long time. Cleaning Galvanized roofing is very easy. Just use a pressure washer once a year.
This type of roofing is recommended for all water harvesting systems and is required when using the harvested rainwater water inside your home. If you do not have Galvanized metal roofing on your home, it is not recommended to use rainwater inside your home. Rainwater can still be used for outdoor use but would be contaminated and not recommended for bathing or showering.
Asphalt roofs are not recommended for rainwater harvesting as they are dirty and can leak harmful chemicals. Harvesting rainwater from a tiled roof is possible if you manage the debris. Since rainwater is harvested before it hits the ground, many common contaminants and pollutants are avoided.
Nearly all biological agents like bacteria, viruses, and even biofilms cause bad tastes or smells in the water, even if it comes from the cleanest water sources are eliminated when rainwater is harvested directly from the source.
It is always advised to contact a specialist in rainwater harvesting systems to install and choose the right size tank, filter, and gutter system for your home. It is important to have enough storage if you plan to use rainwater for drinking and bathing.
Using Rainwater Saves Money
Using a rainwater system for your home saves you money. Rainwater is free, and it makes economic sense to use rainwater for many of your water needs. With rainwater harvesting, all that is needed is enough rain, a galvanized roof and galvanized gutter, and water collection tanks.
Rainwater systems reduce water expenses significantly and allow you to use your stored water as you like. Using rainwater in your home will free you from water restrictions in drier periods. If you need an indulgent bath, have one without a worry, the water is free and fell in its purest form from the heavens.
Rainwater is Good to Your Skin
Rainwater is naturally soft; it has fewer minerals than hard water. This happens because rainwater has not flowed through rivers over rocks and did not pick up groundwater’s salts and minerals.
Rainwater has neutral pH with no heavy metals. Your skin will love the soft purity of neutral pH rainwater. Heat during the sticky summer season can cause skin rashes. Sweating is the main contributor to skin rashes during the hot summer heat. Rainwater calms and cools heat-related skin rashes. People with sensitive skins benefit as rainwater reduces symptoms associated with hard water.
The alkaline pH in rainwater helps to maintain the skin’s natural elasticity and moisture and prevents acne.
Rainwater is Good for Your Hair
Rainwater cleans your hair naturally with low PH, and it is very soft on your scalp. Using rainwater to wash your hair will turn it healthy and glossy.
Make sure to use a mild shampoo as you don’t need much of it to thoroughly clean your hair because rainwater lathers much more than hard water. Washing hair with rainwater makes our hair stronger and promotes healthy hair growth.
Rainwater Saves on Detergents
You will find that your detergents and soaps work more effectively in rainwater. It gives a great lather on your soap, no need to use as much soap or shampoo to get clean. This also goes for washing dishes or clothes, and even washing-up liquid lasts longer in rainwater.
Drinking Rainwater
Bathing in rainwater is great for you, but you can also drink rainwater that has been filtered properly. Drinking rainwater improves digestion because of its pH content. Rainwater has the same pH levels as distilled water; it helps to neutralize your blood pH levels and promote healthy digestion.
Each day we absorb free radicals and several toxins that create acidity in our blood. When our blood is acidic, it prevents our bodies from functioning optimally, but when we drink rainwater, the pH of the blood becomes more alkaline. This allows many functions in the body to function more efficiently.
In eastern cultures, rainwater is drunk to reach a peaceful state of mind. This theory originated thousands of years ago that sees natural rainwater as the source of life. Many eastern philosophy gurus only drink rainwater and claim that doing so helps them reach the consistent mental clarity they experience when meditating or participating in acupressure.
Rainwater is soft and easily ionized, making it easily absorbable for the body. This means you will get refreshed and oxygenates the body more quickly when drinking rainwater. Drinking ionized water with its antioxidant properties act on free radicals.
Rainwater VS Treated Water
There are many benefits that your body gains from rainwater versus water from municipal sources. In almost all parts of the world, city or municipal water is treated with chemicals like chlorine or fluorine to kill germs, pathogens, viruses, and bacteria.
These added chemicals and treatments can cause health issues in many people, and that’s a problem. Treatment of the water supply happens in nearly all municipalities or city water facilities. While it is extremely common and widely used, treating water with chemicals is not completely safe.
Many people experience significant side effects from chemically treated water. Health problems like gastritis, chronic headaches, damage to the internal organs, and reproductive systems are common side effects in people drinking chemically treated water.
This does not mean all treated water is bad but only states that water treated with chemicals can cause side effects in some people sensitive to these chemicals.
How Using Rainwater Benefits the Planet
Using rainwater in your home is one of the most beneficial ways to consume the planet’s water. When we harvest rainwater water directly from the source, less stress is placed on the earth’s water table itself.
Local springs, aquifers, and wells remain untouched. While it might seem that it may not look like much on the individual scale, it can have a great impact when it is calculated on companies producing bottled water.
Rainwater collection can be utilized in regions with consistent heavy rain for most of the year, meaning more water can be harvested with a proportionally smaller carbon footprint.
Bottled Water Companies
Most bottled water companies that produce and sell bottled water don’t give much thought to their impact on the environment and have shown in some cases that they simply don’t care in the face of substantial profit margins.
Companies that use municipal water as bottled water products will usually not make any changes to that water. Bottled water companies only act as bottlers.
This leads to water being used for bottled water that has chlorine or fluorine in it and several other contaminants used in city water treatment facilities. These include heavy metals and pharmaceuticals that could have been discarded and leaked into the earth’s water table.
Many bottled water companies exploit private springs and wells as their source of water supply. This creates several problems for the environment. These bottled water companies construct extraction and pumping equipment to get large amounts of water out of the ground.
The amount of water they extract leave a devastating effect on the local water table. Suppose these companies switched to rainwater as the source for their product if would create a much smaller impact on the world’s water table.
Sustainable Water Source
This draining of the water table can damage water features in sensitive areas and result in wildlife impact. When local water sources for fauna dry up, then animals relocate, which causes encroachment on human habitat, thus endangering the animals.
Using rainwater as a sustainable water source reduces the impact on the environment and reduces the need for investment in the pumping and extraction infrastructure.
Rainwater harvesting can be collected in areas that suffer from too much rainfall and are subject to flooding. Rainwater harvesting can also contribute by removing some of the water’s capacity to over saturate the ground and facilitate runoff and flooding. By reducing stormwater runoff, rainwater harvesting can reduce a storm’s peak flow volume and velocity in local streams, creeks, and rivers, thereby reducing the potential for streambank erosion.
While prevention isn’t completely possible, it can be lessened to the point where the ground drainage can keep up with the rainfall amounts.
The Emotional Value of Rain
Not only is bathing in rainwater good for your body, but it is also good for your mind. Playing and dancing in the rain is a childhood memory that we all cherish. Walking in the rain on a hot summer night and feeling the rainwater on your skin is an emotional experience.
Feeling the water droplets on your face has emotional value. Who doesn’t love the sound of pouring rain? It instantly calms our minds.
Getting wet or showering in rainwater makes us happy. Rainwater releases happy hormones, endorphins, and serotonin. These hormones relieve tension and make us happy instantaneously. Taking a shower or a bath in seasonal rainwater is a must to give yourself a break from the worries of the world.
Conclusion
Rainwater has many wonderful properties. Using it to bath and shower and in your home not only benefits your health but is good for the environment too. Rainwater is soft because of the near-zero, dissolved minerals, and salt content, making it perfect for taking a shower and bath.
Bathing in rainwater promotes healthy skin and hair. The low mineral content of rainwater is very mild and does not strip your hair and skin of its natural oils and moisture. Drinking rainwater has health benefits, too, as it is free from radical chemicals and contaminants. The low pH of rainwater gives a detoxifying effect as well as promoting healthy digestion.
Harvesting and using rainwater is good for our planet and environmentally friendly. Using rainwater saves you money and greatly reduces your water bills. You will also be less affected by water restrictions that are put in place due to drought. Not only is rainwater good to take a shower or bath in it also calms your mind, body, and soul.
Sources
- https://www.teampoly.com.au/2018/06/15/is-your-rainwater-safe-to-bath-and-shower-in/
- https://www.drinkheartwater.com/rainwater-benefits/
- https://rainharvesting.com.au/field-notes/articles/rain-harvesting/reasons-for-using-rainwater-the-benefits-of-rain-harvesting/
- https://heritagetanks.com.au/health-benefits-of-rainwater/
