How rainwater helps gardeners: tap water vs rainwater. Melt and rainwater

In the form of rain, a huge mass of fresh water falls on the ground. How can you use this scarce product? In what areas is this advisable, and in what areas is it dangerous and harmful? Is it possible to drink rainwater collected from the roof? There is a lot of controversy about the benefits and harms of rainwater these days. Discussions on this topic do not stop, and evidence of both its benefits and harm appears with enviable regularity.

By its nature, rainwater is droplets that are formed as a result of the melting of ice crystals and supercooled water in rain clouds. They gather into clouds, evaporating from the surface of seas, oceans, rivers and lakes into the sun and warm weather. In the process of formation and movement towards the ground, water masses collect many elements, both valuable and useful, and harmful.

The irrigation system on the ground is thought out brilliantly and works great. This manifests itself in the fact that rain falls in the form of small drops that gradually saturate the surface of the earth, rather than falling with its entire mass onto a small area. Plants gratefully receive rainwater. It shows up rapid growth and the strength of trunks, foliage and grass. Even houseplants It is better to water with rainwater collected specifically for this purpose. The reaction will be noticeable immediately, in comparison with tap water, even settled water.

Compound

Along with the benefits, there are also harms of rainwater. Its composition varies significantly depending on the place where precipitation occurs. It can be very harmful in large industrial centers and cities and useful in ecologically clean areas.

Raindrops absorb microelements contained in the air. In cities and industrial centers, as well as near hazardous industries, rain can even be acidic, which poses a health hazard. Exposure to such rain is dangerous due to hair loss and toxic poisoning of the body. Of course, you cannot wash your hair, dishes, or water plants with such a liquid, since it contains a large percentage of sulfuric and nitric acids.

As raindrops fall from a cloud, they absorb elements contained in the atmosphere, and these can be not only harmful gases, dust particles and combustion products, but also heavy metal ions and many other harmful chemical elements. When these particles enter the human body, the consequences can be very unpredictable.

Note! Based on the above information, the logical conclusion is that rainwater should not be consumed unless absolutely necessary.

Theoretically, in mountainous areas or areas far from large cities and hazardous enterprises, this would be possible, if not for the risk that clouds can travel vast distances. No one knows what composition of water falls in the form of rain even in an ecologically safe area.

If you boil rainwater, you are more likely to end up with a non-hazardous product, but heavy radioactive metals are not removed from the liquid even when boiled. So it’s not worth playing such a lottery with your health.

Is it possible to wash with rainwater?

Previously, there were beauty recipes that were used by fashionistas and those who simply wanted to look fresh and attractive. One of these recipes was washing with rainwater in the morning. Many noted the effect of such procedures in a beautiful complexion and toned skin. This liquid is, indeed, much softer in composition than its tap counterpart. Is it possible to wash with rainwater, for example, in a bathhouse these days?

IN modern world There are proven and safe cosmetic products that will definitely bring benefits and not harm. Ecology in former times did not pose such a danger as it does now. What was useful 100 years ago can be destructive for a person today. You should also not use rainwater for washing in a bathhouse.

Rainwater harvesting methods are also not very clean. When collecting it from roofs and gutters, all the dust and soot that settled before the rain ends up in tanks and mixes with water in considerable proportions.

Benefits of use

Despite the dangers, rainwater is used for some purposes. The main areas are:

laundry;
watering plants;
washing dishes;
flushing the toilet.

Many adherents traditional medicine and recipes advise using water for cosmetic purposes, but most scientists and scientific evidence refute these claims. Washing clothes is good option use of rainwater. The main use of rainwater is irrigation.

Important! Rainwater should not be collected from an asbestos tile or copper roof.

Collecting water when it rains will help save water resources and will be safe if you direct the flushing liquid into waste water drains to wash garden supplies. Rainwater can be collected using downspouts from cleared roofs.

What is the harm?

A lot of literature has been written about the dangers of acid rain, and various foundations and organizations speak about the plight of the environment on the planet every day. Harm from the use of rainwater can manifest itself in poisoning of the human body, allergic reactions, and unpredictable consequences from use. The possible benefit is not balanced by the danger.

An option for using rainwater is a laboratory analysis that will show whether this particular one can be used. collected material for specific stated purposes. But this analysis will need to be carried out every time after the harvest.

It is optimal to use rainwater for indoor or garden plants. It is dangerous for a person to use rainwater for any purpose without prior investigation. The benefits of uncontrolled use are questionable, but the harm that can be caused is real and obvious. Modern reality dictates its own conditions for existence, which should not be ignored.

How can you use thawed and rainwater? What properties and qualities of these liquids give them healing qualities and such popularity. Features of the composition of the melt water environment. The benefits of drinking this type of liquid. How to obtain melt water at home. What properties does rainwater have? Benefits of rainwater environment. Since ancient times, it was believed that melt and rainwater have healing properties. What properties and quality do they have? modern varieties these aquatic environments? And are they as useful as they used to be? You will learn all this from our article.

Features of the meltwater environment

The main difference between a melted water environment and a normal one is that it contains practically no impurities, as well as the type of water called “heavy” (it contains a deuterium isotope instead of a hydrogen atom).

The properties of melt water are a cross between ordinary drinking liquid and a distilled aqueous medium. It has a very beneficial effect on our body, helping to cleanse it, but does not desalt it like distilled liquid.

It is not recommended to heat melt water above 37 degrees, otherwise it will lose its biological activity. It must be stored refrigerated. At room temperature After a few hours, the melted water environment loses half of its beneficial qualities.

Melt water is essentially the same melted snow. Only nowadays it is very difficult to find clean snow. You can prepare melt water at home from ordinary ice.

How is melt water useful?

Proper melt water has many useful qualities:

This aquatic environment accelerates the recovery process of our body.
Thanks to melt water, it is possible to increase immunity.
The tone of the bronchopulmonary system is normalized.
Water increases the activity of the body, increases strength, endurance, adds energy and vigor.
If you regularly drink melt water, mental activity increases and labor productivity increases.
The need for sleep decreases due to vigor and increased energy.
Melt water can be drunk during therapeutic fasting, as well as during fasting days.
Water reduces the risk of vascular thrombosis, increases their tone, and reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Water is useful for thrombosis and varicose veins. It helps you heal faster.
Regular drinking of melt water lowers cholesterol levels and improves metabolic processes.

How to make melt water?

The quality of melt water is so beneficial that many people decide to drink it regularly, especially since preparing such a healing liquid is not difficult. The basic principle of obtaining a melted water medium is based on the fact that when freezing, a pure liquid freezes first, and a composition with a high salt content and a high concentration of impurities freezes at the end.

To prepare melt water at home, you can use traditional tap water:

Water is poured into a clean glass or plastic container with a wide top (a saucepan, for example) to 85% of the total volume, so that the dishes do not burst when frozen.
Then the container is closed with a lid and placed in freezer on a layer of cardboard so that the bottom does not freeze immediately.
As soon as it forms on the surface of the water thin layer ice, it must be removed and thrown away, since heavy components of the aquatic environment freeze there.
We put the rest of the liquid in the refrigerator again and freeze it by half its volume.
We drain the unfrozen water and melt the ice - this is the same useful melted water environment. Melt water has no color, that is, it is a transparent, clean liquid.

Properties of rainwater environment

The rainwater environment was considered beneficial because it contains a minimum amount of impurities that negatively affect human body. But if we consider that this water evaporates from the earth’s surface and is constantly moving, then it gets into the cloud different water, including those that are collected in regions with unfavorable environmental conditions. Therefore, now it is impossible to say that there are no harmful impurities in rainwater, rather the opposite.

That is why it can be argued that natural melt and rain waters in their composition depend on the environmental situation at the place of cloud formation. We all know the so-called acid rain, which is formed when rainwater reacts with nitrogen or sulfur.

In this regard, we can say that ancient advice about the benefits of rainwater is outdated in our time. Now you can not only drink such water, but also wash your face and wash clothes in it. Even if your region has a favorable environmental situation, you can never predict over what area of the earth a cloud has formed that will rain over you. If it is a large industrial metropolis, then rainwater can cause harm.

Benefits of rainwater

It was not by chance that rain water, like melt water from glaciers, was previously considered useful. She had the following positive properties:

By washing with rainwater, women were able to rejuvenate their skin.
If you wash your hair with this water, you can restore the structure and improve the quality of your hair.
Thanks to rainwater, it is possible to restore the body's water balance and eliminate excessive dryness and tightness of the skin.
With regular washing, you can smooth out small wrinkles.
It was recommended to collect water in a non-metallic container and wash it in the morning and evening.

Of course, to judge the purity of rainwater, you can analyze such water. You can order this test from our independent laboratory. To do this, you need to contact us at the indicated telephone numbers. The cost of the inspection will be clarified when you call the manager.

Rainwater

Rainwater is believed to be very beneficial. Indeed, clean rainwater is useful for washing hair, washing clothes, and cooking food with it. But it was clean maybe a hundred years ago, or even two hundred years ago. And then you could drink it, wash dishes with it, and cook food with it. Alas, it is not advisable to do all this in our time.

The composition of rainwater depends on the area in which the clouds formed, on air pollution where precipitation falls, on the direction of the wind and other circumstances. The air, and therefore rainwater, is polluted primarily by transport, industrial and agricultural enterprises.

Experts note that now almost any rain is “acidic” to one degree or another, and therefore it is better not to use this water for personal purposes.

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Research

Firsov Artyom Gennadievich

Natural-technical lyceum

Saransk 2004

Introduction

Rainwater is well absorbed by the body and contains a minimal amount of harmful impurities. It promotes better digestion and absorption of food. Retains skin moisture and keeps it in balance. But all this applies to clean rainwater. Under current conditions, the composition of rainwater depends on the area over which the cloud formed and how polluted the atmosphere there is. For example, sulfur and nitrogen compounds, reacting with water in the atmosphere, turn into acids and fall to the ground in the form of so-called “acid” rain. Given the current environmental problems, almost every rain can be called “acidic.” Therefore, now you can’t not only drink rainwater, but even wash your hair and wash clothes in it.

The body's response to acid rain depends on the concentration of harmful impurities in rainwater and the time of its exposure. Reactions can be of two types - immediate and delayed. Immediate symptoms include skin redness and itching. Delayed - hair loss, disruption of biochemical processes.

In connection with this problem, I decided to study the chemical composition of the rain that falls in the area of my house and determine its effect on the human body. Also, the purpose of my work is to identify the reasons for the change chemical composition rain water.

1. Ecology in human life.

Factors influencing human health.

Acid rain is rain with a pH less than 5. The acidic nature of rain is given by many chemical compounds, but the main ones are SO2, SO42- and NO.

There is a close relationship between the mortality rate and the degree of pollution in the area. When SO2 concentrations are around 1 mg/m3, which occurs in winter in Budapest, the number of deaths increases, especially among older people and people suffering from respiratory diseases. Statistics have shown that such a serious disease as false croup, which requires immediate medical attention and is common among children, occurs for the same reason. The same can be said for early neonatal mortality in Europe and North America, which annually amounts to several tens of thousands.

In addition to sulfur and nitrogen oxides, aerosol particles of an acidic nature containing sulfates or sulfuric acid. The degree of their danger depends on their size. Thus, dust and larger aerosol particles are retained in the upper respiratory tract, and small (less than 1 micron) drops of sulfuric acid or sulfate particles can penetrate into the farthest corners of the lungs.

Physiological studies have shown that the degree of exposure is directly proportional to the concentration of pollutants. However, there is a threshold value below which even the most sensitive people do not show any abnormalities. For example, for sulfur dioxide, the average daily threshold concentration for healthy people is approximately 400 μg/m3.

In protected areas, the standards are correspondingly stricter. At the same time, it is expected that even lower regulatory values will be set in the future. However, the dangerous concentration may be even lower if different acidic pollutants enhance each other's effects, i.e., synergism occurs. In Hungary, a relationship has also been established between sulfur dioxide pollution and various respiratory diseases (flu, sore throat, bronchitis, etc.). In some contaminated areas of Hungary, the number of diseases was several times higher than in control areas.

In addition to the primary direct effect, of course, acidification also indirectly affects humans. environment. First of all, it leads to corrosion and destruction of metals, buildings and monuments (especially those built of sandstone and limestone and located in the open air).

1.2.Negative impact of human activities on the environment.

As a result of human activity, significant amounts of sulfur compounds enter the atmosphere, mainly in the form of sulfur dioxide. Among the sources of these compounds, the first place is coal burned in buildings and power plants, which produces 70% of anthropogenic emissions. The sulfur content (several percent) in coal is quite high (especially in brown coal). During the combustion process, sulfur turns into sulfur dioxide, and some of the sulfur remains in the ash in a solid state.

Sources of sulfur dioxide formation can also be certain industries, mainly metallurgical, as well as enterprises producing sulfuric acid and oil refining. In transport, pollution by sulfur compounds is relatively insignificant; there, first of all, it is necessary to take into account nitrogen oxides.

Thus, every year, as a result of human activity, 60-70 million tons of sulfur enters the atmosphere in the form of sulfur dioxide. A comparison of natural and anthropogenic emissions of sulfur compounds shows that humans pollute the atmosphere with gaseous sulfur compounds twice as much as occurs in nature.

In addition, these compounds are concentrated in areas with developed industry, where anthropogenic emissions are several times higher than natural ones, i.e. mainly in Europe and North America.

Among the anthropogenic sources of the formation of nitrogen oxides, the first place is occupied by the combustion of fossil fuels (Coal, oil, gas, etc.). During combustion, as a result of the high temperature, nitrogen and oxygen in the air combine. The amount of nitrogen oxide NO formed is proportional to the combustion temperature. In addition, nitrogen oxides are formed as a result of combustion of nitrogen-containing substances present in the fuel. By burning fuel, people annually emit 12 million tons of nitrogen oxides into the air. Slightly less nitrogen oxide (8 million tons per year) comes from engines internal combustion. Industry, which emits 1 million tons of nitrogen oxide into the air annually, is not a serious source of pollution compared to heating and transport. Thus, at least 37% of the nearly 56 million tons of annual nitrogen oxide emissions come from anthropogenic sources. This percentage, however, will be higher if we add biomass combustion products to this. Consequently, in general, the amounts of natural and artificial emissions are approximately the same, but the latter, like emissions of sulfur compounds, are concentrated in limited areas of the Earth.

1.3. Methods of protection against acid rain.

Most effective way protection should be considered a significant reduction in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. This can be achieved in several ways, including by reducing energy use and creating power plants that do not use fossil fuels. Other options for reducing emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere are removing sulfur from fuel using filters and regulating combustion processes.

It would be best to use low sulfur fuel. However, there are very few such types of fuel. Removing sulfur from fuel oil and coal is a very complex and expensive process, and as a result, only 30-50% of the sulfur is released.

The amount of nitrogen oxide that is formed during combustion depends on the combustion temperature. It has been revealed that the lower the combustion temperature, the less nitrogen oxide is produced; moreover, the amount of NO depends on the time the fuel is in the combustion zone and on the excess air. Thus, by appropriate changes in technology, the amount of pollutant emitted can be reduced.

2. Rainwater is an indicator of air pollution.

During the work, 3 water samples were examined. The collection of each of them was carried out in the area of house No. 36 on Evseviev Street in Saransk (private development) as follows: a container was installed at a distance of about 1 meter from the ground, above which there was nothing (trees, roofs of houses, etc.). The collected water was then poured into a clean container, noting the date of collection and the direction of the wind.

2.1. Determination of pH of the medium.

pH was determined using the “Universal Ionometer EV-74” device.

2.2.Qualitative analysis of rainwater.

To carry out qualitative reactions to various ions, a certain amount of rainwater under study was taken, and, creating necessary conditions, added the required reagent.

When a solution of BaCl2 in HCl was added to this sample, a slight turbidity of the solution was observed, which indicates a low content of sulfate ions in the solution under study.

The presence of NO3- ions was determined by the addition of diphenylamine (C6H5NHC6H5) in the presence of sulfuric acid. The solution was purchased Blue colour, which indicates the presence of nitrate ions.

To determine chloride ions in the water sample under study, a solution of AgNO3 in the medium was added nitric acid. The solution became slightly cloudy. This shows that chlorine ions are present in small quantities.

To determine mercury ions (Hg2+), a solution of SnCl2 was added. A white precipitate was observed, which indicates the content of mercury ions in the water.

Due to the sharp increase in the use of fresh water bodies and the decrease in their reserves, the question often arises: can you drink rainwater and use it for other needs? Fresh water considered one of the riches of our planet. It supports the life of people, animals and plants. Sources of life-giving moisture are rivers and lakes. To protect them, shallowing and loss of quality are considered alternative options. One of them was the collection of precipitation in the form of rain.

What is rainwater?

Rain is part of the cyclic movement of water masses that have gone through the stage of evaporation and condensation. As a result of these processes, drops of distilled water fall from the clouds. This liquid is suitable for drinking; the composition of the water is characterized by a minimal amount of salts, but does not harm the body. Why is its use limited?

When a drop flies to the ground, it attaches various chemical components that are in the air. The benefits and harms of precipitation depend on their quantity and type. The main danger lies in nitrogen and sulfur oxides, which form acid rain.

The level of pollution of rainwater is influenced by the general environmental situation of the territory.

Beneficial and negative properties of rain

In places where there is not a lot of industrial enterprises, catchment basins are still filled with sediment and used for personal needs. Distilled and melt water have the following beneficial properties:

ease of absorption by the body;
moisturizing and smoothing the skin;
mild formula eliminates the need to use detergents when washing;
moisture is perfectly absorbed by plants.

Is it possible to wash with rainwater? Pure liquid has a beneficial effect on the condition of hair and appearance. With a pH level of 5.5, similar to human skin, it gives a smooth and velvety feeling. Changed acidity levels have a negative impact on health, so dirty sludge with impurities of harmful chemical components cannot be used.

Sediment collection and purification

Thrifty owners have long been using the rain for technical needs:

Even at the design stage of the house, it is planned where to place the tanks and make a drain from the roof. The shape of the roof and its covering are important. The best option – gable roof made from materials that do not contain asbestos or lead. Harmful substances should not be contained in the system of gutters and pipes. Sediment removal is provided by a pipe under which a liquid collection barrel or other container is installed. The drive may have an underground installation that protects the contents from sun rays and providing low temperature. It is better to install the watering container on the surface; plants need warm water. A partial transition to free moisture will reduce financial costs.