# Simple, cheap solution to water problem.



## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

MIT supports system for rainwater capture
A 200-peso capture and filtration system in Oaxaca uses plastic pipe, recycled PET

Mexico News Daily | Friday, December 22, 2017
It’s a long way from Boston to Oaxaca but that didn’t stop the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from assisting a group of local entrepreneurs to create an innovative prototype of a rainwater capture and filtration system.
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https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/mit-supports-system-for-rainwater-capture/


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## Stevenjb (Dec 10, 2017)

The picture of the device looks more something found on the International Space Station. Interesting. 

Posted from Android using Tapatalk


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

Stevenjb said:


> The picture of the device looks more something found on the International Space Station. Interesting.
> 
> Posted from Android using Tapatalk


I would mount the bottles upright to allow the air to escape if I built one but they must have their reasons. This could be a real life saver, literally.


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## CasaColibri (Jul 5, 2017)

Um. Converts rainwater to drinking water. I must be missing something. Why not just drink the clean rainwater?


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

CasaColibri said:


> Um. Converts rainwater to drinking water. I must be missing something. Why not just drink the clean rainwater?


I am also bamboozled- all summer during the rainy season, I never buy bottled water- I just put my garafons under the rain spout that comes off my roof. I wait until it has been raining hard for an hour or so, to ensure that there is no dirt in it. 
That water stays sparkly clear, tastes great, and has certainly never made me sick.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Didn't we just have a thread on here where someone talked about all the bad things that would leech into water if you repeatedly used plastic bottles like that?

It says UV filtration, so I guess the bottles are mounted horizontally so they all get maximum sunlight. But that same sunlight is going to exacerbate the plastic breaking down and chemicals leeching into the water from the bottles, isn't it? 

I guess they're probably not that worried about carcinogens as long as they kill all the more immediately dangerous stuff.

But I think I'll wait for v2.0.


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

I did a search on it before I posted it. Rain is essentially distilled water, very pure. But rainwater collected from rooftops can carry bird droppings and dead insects. Even after an initial flush of clean rain, the bacteria eating these deposits and other nasty things that settle on a roof during times of no rain are still carried down from this large collection surface. 

Right now in particular is the harvest of the cane and the air is filled with smoke as they burn it. Some farmers burn their fields before cutting to make the harvest easier by burning away the dead leaves, others pile the cut cane in rows, then burn the dead leaves away. In either case, huge amounts of ash are released into the air and settle everywhere. We can sweep our porch twice a day and still have a lot of black ash. This also settles on the rooftops.

In areas of high air pollution, the rain absorbs contaminates on the way down as it falls.

The picture didn't show the actual collector that routes the water into the bottles but I'd imagine it is a funnel design of some type. Keeping it clean during the times of no rain would be important, not leaving it exposed to dust, dirt, bird droppings and insects along with their "deposits."

Plastic does break down over time but the use of the plastic drink bottles was to make it cheap and available to the poor at 200 pesos. I'm sure they recommend periodic changing of the bottles. UV filtering has long been deployed in Koi ponds to kill algae that grows from sunlight hitting the water but a bulb is used as the water is routed through a clear tube.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

yes I had UV on the koi pond and they would still get sick as water ran from the roof druring the rainy season and they would get bacterial infection from the bird dropping and other thigs contaminating the water..Bacterias are a real problem in fish ponds and can kill many fish very quickly.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

The system I made started with a collection barrel and it then goes into the food saver vacuum bags that come in rolls (all of these are 5 ply vacuum bags are made from poly nylon plastic. The bags are a polyethylene/nylon blend and all bags are BPA-free. And they are made without PVC and phthalates as well. ) and then standing water is kept in the sun for 8 hours for germs are killed.. from there to a storage tank then it went to a double stage filter for particles and a filter of charcoal and to a faucet for drinking...never got sick....


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

citlali said:


> yes I had UV on the koi pond and they would still get sick as water ran from the roof druring the rainy season and they would get bacterial infection from the bird dropping and other thigs contaminating the water..Bacterias are a real problem in fish ponds and can kill many fish very quickly.


You had a Kio pond in Mexico?


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Now I have a pool no Koi pond but I know several people who have koi ponds and the Lake Chapala society has kois there are also kois in the Japanese garden in Guadalajara. I have not see any really beautiful kois here but I have seen several koi ponds . If you live near a big city there is a larger mix of people and cultures.. Bonsais are also popular in Mexico and there are bonsai clubs as well..


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