WC#7 – Thinking Differently About Water: German engineering (pg. 191)

The Germans have been engineering and designing to catcht rainwater to use it as a main source of water, since the 70s. They have installed many prototypes in Germany and have proved that rain water can provide for up to 51% of household water usage. Although many worry it may not be a great source for drinking water, this 51% is for toilets, washing clothes, and smaller uses of water at home.
I’ve thought about catching rainwater since I was a child, and though, today, it seams plausible I do see some problems that may occur. Rainwater is not as clean today as it has been, then again…65 million years ago it was black. Nevertheless it isn’t completely safe to drink without major filtration. Furthermore we’re going to take water from the water cycle and displace it to a different location, like into the sewer? Unless everyone has a septic tank that filters the water back into the cycle, which I assume almost no one in the city does. I think there are many possibilities with this idea but it needs much more development and as of now it is not very eco-friendly do to the disturbance in the water cycle.