The main difference is between rain water and municipally treated water which many of us have. Rainwater is naturally "soft" (unlike well water), neutral in pH, contains almost no dissolved minerals or salts, is free of chemical treatment such as chlorine, free from disinfection by-products, free from other chemicals found in city water as well as natural and man-made contaminants that cause staining, pipe corrosion or smell. It is a relatively reliable source of water for households. Rainwater collected and used on site can supplement or replace other sources of household water. And for those who have to pay for their water, rainwater is free. "The difference is how far the raindrop travels before we drink it." Without chemical treatment, drinking water can be healthier. It is as much as 100 times softer than well water, with lower mineral content and total suspended solids. Think about water going down the sidewalk into the streets, then into the sewer. "Being the universal solvent, water absorbs contaminants and minerals on its travels to the reservoir. While in residence in the reservoir, the water can come in contact with all kinds of foreign materials: oil, animal and human wastes, chemical and pharmaceutical wastes, organic compounds, industrial outflows, and trash. It is the job of the water treatment plant to remove harmful contaminants and to kill pathogens. Unfortunately, when chlorine is used for disinfection, it also degrades into disinfection by- products, notably trihalomethanes, which may pose health risks." Rainwater is good for plants because it is free of salts and other minerals that harm root growth. "If youre harvesting rainwater with rain barrels to use for watering your landscaping, the rainwater can help to improve the health of your gardens, lawns, and trees. Rain is a naturally soft water and devoid of minerals, chlorine, fluoride, and other chemicals. For this reason, plants respond very well to rainwater. After all, itÂs what plants in the wild thrive on." It's easy for roots to absorb water without minerals and additives. "Rainwater harvesting can reduce the volume of storm water, thereby lessening the impact on erosion and decreasing the load on storm sewers. Decreasing storm water volume also helps keep potential storm water pollutants, such as pesticides, fertilizers, and petroleum products, out of rivers and groundwater which is causing big problems in nearly all of our natural water systems." "Since the rain water is usually collected from the roofs of houses, it picks up very little contamination when it falls. YouÂll of course want to keep your roof clean of debris and potential contaminants to maximize purity. The material your roof is made of is also important in how much contamination the water will carry (see Safe Rainwater Harvesting Catchments). The chemicals and hard water from many of our municipal water systems can produce an imbalance in the soil of your garden. Chemical fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides, and drought can also disrupt the balance and harmony of the soil. This imbalance causes trees and plants to weaken and makes them more susceptible to disease. Trees and plants have an efficient immune system that allows them to fend off diseases and other invaders as long as they have a healthy soil environment and aren't stressed by other factors such as drought. Trees and plants rely on fungus, bacteria, and nematodes to help them absorb the minerals and nutrients they need. Trees and plants depend on a fungal root system called mycorrhizae. Mycorrhizae attaches itself to tree and plant root hairs and extends the root hair system. Mycorrhizae uses some of the plant's energy, but provides the plant with minerals it can't otherwise absorb. In healthy soil, the mycorrhizae of one tree connects with mycorrhizae of other similar trees. When you look at your garden, visualize it as a vast interconnected community of trees, plants and tiny critters that live in the soil, all interacting and affecting each other. Thus, the type of water you use in your garden will affect the health of this intricate community." Rainbarrel Guide The Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting Rainwater Harvesting VIDEO: Rainwater Capture with a Rainbarrel VIDEO: Rainwater Capture on a Greenhouse (Download a free version of Quicktime to view videos.) Here is a step-by-step account of how one person built a rainwater harvesting system to beat those hot Texas summers and kept their garden green.

olpea, what you say makes 100% sense. Now that you mention it I do remember on several occasions my chemical supplier offhandidly mentioning that my order comes from the specialty section. I never put much thought into it until reading your post. hman...first I want to thank you for bringing CPS to my attention. Opened an account with them today. 2 gallons of Tactic was my account opening order. Second....regarding studies and reports...I've worked for a major govt agency for 30+ years and have been involved in more studies than I can remember. Most studies are done by universities (this is what makes a study impressive and believable). Studies are very time consuming and expensive, this is where the govt comes in, the govt provides funding. The funding doesn't come out of thin air, it has to be approved or paid for by a senator or congressman (they have pork barrel slush fund accounts accounts for this), part of the funding usually is provided by a large business or business entity that has an interest in the reports outcome. As the report is being written it is sent to the reports sponsor for review, most likely the political sponsor doesn't have any knowledge of the subject matter so it is passed on to the business entity for their review and comments. At this point data is manipulated and wording is changed to favor the expected outcome. The report is then sent down the chain to the originating university where the appropriate changes are made. At this point the university has the option of rewriting the report as the reports political sponsor would like it to read or they can not change anything. Not changing anything can assure the university of not receiving any future govt funding. The report is almost 100% of the time rewritten with a specific outcome in mind. The, actual report/sponsor procedure is actually much harder to follow, I made it seem easy, it is purposely made difficult to follow. I'm telling you this from experience. Been there, done that. I didn't go back and reread the initial report mentioned here but I do remember looking at a reference on the bottom of the page that it was written by a university (Michigan??). I take university reports with a jaded grain of salt. Look at political polls and statistical studies, these are always geared toward a specific outcome by whomever is sponsoring (paying for) the poll....the way the question is asked, whom is asked, the way the numbers are presented etc... Look at the report, it took a product (Nu-Film 17) which had a good reputation but is produced by a relatively small chemical company (Miller) and basically said that Nu-Film didn't work but Tactic (a Loveland product, huge company) works much better. It would be interesting to see who was the reports sponsor...follow the money. I try to keep an open but jaded mind when it comes to reports and studies. From my own experience I have used Nu-Film for several years and can actually see it working as advertised, not saying that Tactic is better or worse just saying I'm keeping my mind open. I did purchase Tactic and will use it when I receive it. I don't have the money, time or resources to conduct a scientific study of Tactic but I will use it on about 50% of my orchard (30 trees) and do my own comparison.

Please read the link to my fertilizing recipe, and most questions will be answered. But like any recipe, if you don't follow it exactly, such as using straight cow manure, disasters can result. Please don't blame me on your mistake(s)! kyponder posted the link above. Thanks kyponder! I try to repot every year. When I don't (like the last 2 years) because of my cancer battle, I just leave them be. They do OK and bloom a bit but by Mid August they are done and looking hungry. But my health comes first. This year I have had a chance to repot most. The others that were not repotted, I made four 12" deep holes with the handle of a shovel (equidistant from each other like north, south, east, west) and added about 1/8 cup in each, then stuffed them closed with my homemade compost and stopped off with a rock. I do not use plant spikes, tabs, tomato spikes, whatver the stuff is that is NOT time/temp senstive, so it dissolves too quickly and ends up causing fertilizer burn. And besides most people do not push them in deep enough, seal them off well enough, and a lot seeps out and causes algae blooms. It's also a lot more expensive to use spikes/tabs than my once a season Osmocote application. This is why I do the once a season Osmocote method. Saves time, money and work! :) But each to his own. Do what makes you happy, what works for you. My method seems to be working for me, as you can see from my photos. I am happy with it! :)

https://www.dailynews.com/2017/02/09/for-plants-rain-has-benefits-that-tap-water-simply-cant-deliver/ Use distilled water to water plants thats what rain water is and then it contains h2o2 amonia nitrates and is acidic so that trace elements in soil are produced by the acid converting them in to bio available elements read the top link i am goin to go to distilled water and you need to wash the leaves so they work better at converting carbon dioxide into carbohydrate sugar for the food they need from photosynthesis and..................................... my dying tomato just got rained on for 5 days in a cyclone and now has started new growth got flooded in pot could not lose more water than was going into pot so i dont think rain water will kill my plant eventually if anything tap water will kill it and tap water is not underground bore or river water full of minerals its processed with all the additives mentioned and that kills the plants, but i did grow passionfruit very well once and every week used thaose microbe producing fertilizer and only used rain water from tank they grew very well and the fertilizer i did every week 3 different kinds microbe seasol powergrow or something and a very expensive one cant member it. So RW was Best on that plus the best Fertlizer you can give and manage to do every week. if i had a swimmin pool i would drain it and use it for RW and then keep that for watering instead of swimmin but if you add the chlorine and acid to keep algee away you could filll drums from that let the chlorine evaprate off for a week then use it and swim in pool and when it rains it will top the pool up.