Rainwater Harvest

In Central Texas, rainwater harvesting has became very known. People have been becoming worried due to the fact that people are slowly running out of water in the rural areas of Central Texas. Also, the people are interested in conserving water supplies, and by doing that, it's good for the environment. No sooner, people in neighborhoods started to question about which roofing collection surfaces are best to use for rainwater harvesting. To answer this question, Cockrell School of Engineering had to come into the picture to try and answer these folks questions. They examined the effects of alternative and conventional roofing materials on the quality of harvest rainwater. After a lot of findings and searches they did, they came up with the conclusion that cool roof and concrete tile produce the highest harvested rainwater quality for indoor domestic use. The study also showed that rainwater from asphalt fiberglass shingle roofs and increasingly popular "green" roofs contain high levels of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Water with DOC is not necessarily dangerous on it's own, "but when it's mixed with chlorine, the two substances react to form byproducts that potentially cause cancer and other negative human health effects. Someone who already has a rainwater system is probably not going to change their roofing material based on this study, but this information is useful for anyone who's trying to make an informed decision about what material to use," Kirisits said.

I agree with that quote. Everyone is freaking out about what they should change and what not, but if you've been consistant with what you have and it's been working out fine, I think you will be okay. Kirisit is right, all the information is very useful to the new people moving in places trying to make a right decision, and they should take into consideration all those facts about DOC and what not.