Rain can pick up all sorts of stuff as it falls and in some situations we know it can be bad, as in acid rain. I would worry more about contaminants from whatever surface you are collecting the rain water from, like asfault shingles.

The amount of Hydrogen peroxide is probably very small, I don't think I'd worry about that particular rain water additive. If you have nice well water, then that would be fine for worm tea but if you need to treat your tap water to remove chlorine or chloramine the the rain water is a better alternative.

thanks tclynx, I've been thinking about shingle contaminants too. I have a filter on my kitchen faucet but wear and tear on the filter is last resort. Open to all suggestions.

if rainwater you collect for use is going to be a problem, what are you doing to avoid having your yard/garden rained on? do you keep your compost covered?

Bill

Squeeze, I'm questioning the actual tea making process. It's ok (I think) to use clorinated water on your plants and it won't kill the microherd once settled in containers but not ok to use in making the tea as they multiply. Just bot my deauly supplies today so I'm in gear. Now I'm worried about rainwater contaminated as it runs off roof shingles into my bucket. There must be somebody out there that has tried that method.

greengrass - I've made compost tea about any way possible using water from a rain barrel that's fed by an asphalt shingled roof as well as water right from the tap - bacteria make the world go round, if rainwater in any form prevented bacteria from breeding you wouldn't have compost, or a garden, or bacterially contaminated water that can kill you for that matter - chlorinated city water won't kill them either, it gasses off nearly as fast as it comes out of the hose, that's why you smell it

OTOH, I haven't found tea useful, with a garden that's been heavily compost fed yearly for decades, feed the soil and let it feed the plants

Bill

Thanks very much Bill. Love those answers that come from experience.

If it's really dechlorinated water that you're after (not necessarily rain water), then so long as your water utility is using ONLY chlorine for disinfection, you can quickly and easily dechlorinate it.

Method #1: On a bright summer day put the municipal water in a clear or translucent vessel out in the direct sun. The hours 10AM-2PM are best. After 4 hours the sun's UV rays eliminates all chlorine.

Method #2: Use a US$7-$10 aquarium air pump connected to a porous bubble making aerator positioned at the bottom of the vessel. After 4 hours the nitrogen content of the bubbling air will flush out every bit of the dissolved chlorine.

Note: Neither method will remove all of the chlorine if your water source is using chloramine additive instead of chlorine gas as the disinfectant. If that's the case, then an aquarium filtration system using activated charcoal can remove all of the chlorine in the vessel of water. However, it's easier and farrr quicker to simply use an activated charcoal fawcet filter at your sink; then you also get the benefit of drinking dechlorinated water on demand.

Tap water with chlorine is ok to use to make compost tea.