Living up in Volcano, away from civilization, we rely on catchment for our water. In our back yard is what looks like a pool with a cover on it. That’s our catchment tank, which is hooked up to the gutters on our roof. Rain comes off our roof and ends up in our catchment tank, where it’s then pumped into our house. We have three sediment filters and a UV filter to make the water safe to use.
Since we live in Volcano, the rain is acidic. Sulfur dioxide from Kilauea mixes with water in the air to give the rainwater a slight tinge of sulfuric acid. This means that the water coming into our house is slightly acidic. When that reacts with the copper pipes, we get copper sulfate, and it turns our bathtub blue.
Which brings me to today’s basic job. To counteract the acidity in the water I periodically add some baking soda to the tank. Today was three boxes mixed with hot water, dumped right into the catchment tank. See what I mean by basic?
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