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[AirForcePOL]

Do any of you use rain water for your OWB?  I was told that rain water is the best to use.  I have a friend that has a bunch of plastic barrels and I was thinking about making some sort of system to collect enough water to fill my wood burner.  I think I would hook it up to my gutters and then find some way to filter it before I put it in the boiler.  If any of you have a setup like this would you mind sharing information or pictures?  Thanks!

[johnybcold]

I filled mine with well water, do you emtpy it at the end of the season? I was going to leave it filled. I save rain water for my garden, I never had to drag a hose from the house again

[BoilerHouse]

Rainwater is probably "purer" than well water but I would likely only use it if I had reason to think the well water was of very poor quality, i.e.  Hardness as indicated by heavy white scale in the kettle or soap not lathering well, or iron as indicated by red deposits around the toilet.  With either well or rain water use a nitrite based treatment for your OWB and try to keep the pH around 8.5 to 9.
I would suggest that instead of the usual 45 gallon barrel you try and get a 200 gallon plastic tote in a metal cage.  Many companies are going with this style and, after dispensing the liquid, the tote has no value and is often scrapped.  Make sure it has been well flushed of course.

[AirForcePOL]

I am not sure if I will drain the water or not (this is my first season)

My well water is of very poor quality.  It has a lot of minerals and particles in it.  I won't even use my well water for cooking.  I have a 200 gal water tank that fits in my truck and my parents have city water so I just filled it up at their house but I haven't tested the quality of their water yet.  I have a Hardy so it is all stainless but they say that you want to avoid chloride in the water.  I just figured that I could use rain water and put a filter on the supply hose and not have to worry about it.  I have seen those totes that you mentioned on Craigslist from time to time.  Maybe I will try to get a hold of one of them.  Thanks!

[Scott7m]

I'd rather have rain water than most well waters I've seen

[RSI]

How deep do are your wells with the bad water? I won't drink city water around here. It is disgusting compared to well water.

[Scott7m]

How deep do are your wells with the bad water? I won't drink city water around here. It is disgusting compared to well water.

95% of well waters around here suck suck suck....  Most are full of iron water and smell like sulfur, most of them are 40-60 feet.  The deep wells around here all hit pure salt water

[RSI]

I guess I won't be moving down there. Lol.
It is real common for the wells to be over 200' deep here.
Our well water tastes pretty much the same as Ice Mountain bottled spring water. Most bottled spring water tastes worse than the well water. (I get the bottled water at the office because I am too lazy to haul water from home and the city water is nasty)

[MattyNH]

How deep do are your wells with the bad water? I won't drink city water around here. It is disgusting compared to well water.

95% of well waters around here suck suck suck....  Most are full of iron water and smell like sulfur, most of them are 40-60 feet.  The deep wells around here all hit pure salt water

My well is 265ft deep @ 5 gallons per min..Water is perfect expect the Arsenic...My neighbor is 600Ft deep and other neighbor is 210ft..My buddy 5 miles away 120ft deep @30 gallons a min.. I guess thats why New Hampshire is the "Granite State"

[Bull]

I have 2 wells on my place. The one I use is 185 feet deep and has a little sulfur smell to it so for drinking we have a 5 gallon cooler and the other well is down the hill at the little house, it is a hand dug and is 30 feet deep with 15 feet of water in it. No sulfur smell in it and it taste great.

[Chugger4030]

I used well water when i filled my stove 6 years ago. Added the tratment. Test every six months. I plan on draining it this year. I like the idea of rain water. I would probably use a pond pump to fill the stove from the rain water bin?
Also central boiler sells a in line water softner if your water is above 10 grains of hardness.

[AirForcePOL]

My well is only 40 ft deep and it is terrible.  We have a UV Light to kill the bacteria but it is not filtered or softened.  I installed an inline whole house filter and it got clogged up after a day so I just took it out.  Getting city water isn't an issue for me because I have that tank, I just figured that if I could collect rain water it would be better that way. 

[dumbodog00]

I use rain water in my Hardy.  My well water has salt it in so that is a no no.  I use a 150 gallon Rubbermaid livestock trough to catch the water that comes off my garage.  One good rain will fill the trough.
I use an electric pump to get it into the Hardy.  I should probably use a filter, but use two layers of socks to filter it through.  All is well thus far.  My dealer actually recommended rain water above all.

[AirForcePOL]

Yeah and that's what it says in the Hardy manual too is that rain water is the best choice.  That's not a bad idea with the socks.

[woodsmaster]

 Greetings new here. Rain water is neutral or acidic if you have acid rain so be sure to check the ph and adjust.  J.T.