STORING OF SOFT WATER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 97, 26 April 1930, Page 4 (Supplement)

STORING OF SOFT WATER.

A supply of soft rain water is a boon in any household. For laundry and toilet purposes it is far superior to the hard tap water. Children' should,, if possible, always be bathed in soft water. Covered zinc and galvanised iron tanks can be obtained for . the special purpose of collecting rain water. They are supplied with convenient taps for drawing off the water, and a tank of this description may hold as much as fifty gallons or more. Some people, however, may prefer something not so large and costing less to purchase and install. : Outside every old-fashioned country cottage usually stands a large barrel into which the gutter-piping drains front the roof. But an improvement upon this time-honoured receptacle is an ordinary new galvanised iron dust-bin, the fitted cover of which serves to exclude soot an" insects. A hole can be cut in this to admit the pipe. A second-hand water cistern is often to be picked up very cheaply at a builder 3 sale, and this makes a useful tank if ll cover can be devised. "*<: Any rain-water butt or tank should be placed on bricks to raise it slightly^from the ground and permit of drainage if contents should chance to overflow.- _ ought -to be emptied and the interior thoroughly cleaned periodically, while l is important to keep it- well covers• Dirt washed in from the roof and gutter by the rain automatically."sinks to '« bottom of the tank, but at the same tune water used for domestic purposes slioii be strained through muslin. Such wa <■? is, of course, not fit for drinking or coo ing unless it is distilled. . , The possession of a rain-water . tan ', full from the winter's rainfall, nate for those who, during a dry season, are bidden to refrain n oUI using tap water for their gardens.