Apistos spawned!!!

[chriscoli]

It's a new roof, and we're getting a second (and third) opinion to find out if it's "degranulating". We're getting an awful lot of grit coming off the shingles....we've been told that it's both normal (from the roofing company) and not normal (from the guy that cleans our gutters). In any case, I've also heard that newer roofing materials can have chemical additives to minimize biofilm funk (i.e. that black algae) growing on your roof. I've been meaning to take some of my rainbarrel water and put a few enders in it to see how they do.

 

[leisure_man]

My new roof also got alot of grit collected in the gutter. It is normal for a new roof as it got walked on during installation. I cleaned out the grit buildup in the gutter and has been clean ever since. I got an email from the shingle manufacturer regarding its chemical composition. It is consists of all sorts of petroleum by-products. Chemical addictives like zinc and copper usually cost extra, so I wouldnt worry about those. Just make sure to filter the rainwater through a carbon block to remove any potential harmful chemicals.

You can also only collect the rainwater after the initial runoff from the roof has been diverted. You will need to know the surface area of the roof where you are collecting the rainwater to help figure out how much rain the divert before you start collecting it in the barrel.

BTW, those are some great pictures of really nice looking A. macmasteri.

 

[chriscoli]

Good to know about the extra stuff. We still get a lot of grit off the roof which is why we're possibly looking into a warranty claim. The last guy up there said we had some bare patches, even! Not good!

Definitely agree on the first flush diverter....I haven't installed one yet though since the water has been used for the yard only so far.

 

[mscichlid]

I tried to get Julio to respond, but in his text message he did say that it is very difficult to measure pure water as there are too few ions.

Corner him at the meeting to get more info.