I'm thinking about adding a rain collector to use in my garden but I have some concerns about construction materials.
One concern is that I'm not a huge fan of using a plastic container to store water. The idea of water sitting in a plastic barrel that could be exposed to heat from direct sunlight doesn't fill me with excitement. I was wondering what other materials or containers I could use that might be better for storing rain water. One idea I had was to modify a metal keg to collect water. They would be smaller but I could use multiple if I wanted.
The other concern I have is about roofing materials. Is it safe to use water collected from a roof with shingles in a garden for vegetables? I'm wondering if there might be any run off from the materials used for roofing.
Its quite easy to make rainwater harvesting tanks from so called ferrocement, which is basically chickenmesh plastered with a thin layer of cement/sand mixture.
As for the shingles: I guess you could settle out or filter any solids that get washed off the roof?