Well kids,
as far as the toxic shingles
and bird poop...
as my roof shingles are not brand new, and also not so old as to be decomposing,
I figured that anything "dissolvable" would leach out after the first year or two.
I began using the water in the garden and a few house plants. When no adverse effects were noticed, I started using it on my CP's. Since I don't plan on eating the plants, any real danger is limited to the life of the plants (and not me or the wife!), and as I said, everything seems a-okay! I have used rainwater for years now and haven't experienced any problems with plants dieing or even doing poorly.
As I don't plan on drinking the water
, the occasional bug or leaf that finds its way into the water is of no real concern. Also, common sense tells me that unless I begin having pigeons roosting on my roof (and I do not), the amount of bird poop that gets into the water is likely equal to or less than the amount of poop falling in an area where CP's are growing naturally. (I seriously doubt that VFT's are being killed outright every time a bird lays one on target!)
I do sometimes dump a barrel of water in the fall, when leaves or tree seeds drop heavily for a couple weeks and get into the water, and the tannin colors the water (along with some debris), but the rest of the year it is pretty clean (visibly). I did put a gutter screening on last year to help keep the few leaves out that occasionally get in, and there is some organic material that collects in the bottom of the barrel (you have heard of scraping the bottom of the barrel!). But once or twice a year I clean and hose it out, and its as good as new.
Indeed if I were planning on drinking the water
, I would concern myself with filtering it and more! (I can imagine there are a lot of things growing/living in un-chlorinated cistern water, and it would be considered "not recommended" for human consumption by today's standards.
Again, as far as chemicals leaching into the water from the shingles, I can only speak drom experience. If it were bad enough, I would assume it would at least be killing lawns at the bottom of everyone's gutter downspouts! Here again, plants in a closed system like houseplants are, we do have to be more careful of chemical buildup. However as I have mentioned, I have plants that I have grown for years using this water source, and they are still going strong.
Really, if I worried about every little thing I have read,
that is "bad" for us
(including how bad worry and stress are for us!), I would probably be dead by now!
My suggestion... Get a rain barrel, or 2 or 3!
Here's a pic of mine, with the gutter attachment removed for the winter. As I still have plenty of water, I will probably not connect it up for another couple weeks.
The green hose is for when I water the garden and the faucet is for filling jugs.
Oh yea, Exo, if money is a real issue, you can rig up a siphon tube from one barrel to the other, and they will both fill (and empty ) together. Just be sure to keep the tube ends at the bottom of each barrel, or the siphon will be broken and need to be restarted.
I have connected my barrels with an overflow bulkhead connector and another type at the bottom of one barrel to empty it with a faucet.
If I am going to use the water to "spray" or for humidification, I occasionally pour it thru an old piece of material, to filter out any bugs or crud. But usually the water is crystal clear.
Best of all, it cost very little and nothing but a little "exercise" and rain to run it!
Good luck and good growing all!
Paul