AJ energy consumed boiling water that may have fecal material in it is never wasted energy! Some of which is often left on rooftops by visiting birdlife, bats and possums etc. Other older examples may have lead-based paint on them or collect some of the carcinogenic pollutants of passing diesel traffic

Some filters claim to remove all of it? Bore water is usually safe as is, but not always.

And it is a rolling boil for at least three minutes. Or you could just not bother and risk nasty stomach poisoning by waterborne pathogens.

Some of which create projectile vomiting at both ends and the consequent dehydration one of the greatest killers of kids the world over!

And so simple to avoid unless you're just too bone lazy or tired to get off ass and boil water?

It's not greens so much that's the problem, albeit I rarely if ever see eye to eye with those tree-huggers, the greatest problem is half smart, smart asses who are just too ignorant to know just how ignorant they really are. And if the cap fits?
Cheers, Alan B.

if nothing else, there'll be a post-bushfire common sense crisis !

We use tank water for all our household needs, our current tanks are plastic and well worth the investment, water is drawn off about a foot from the bottom to allow plenty of room for sediment to settle, this is mostly dust from the shearing and other sheds roofs.
Our underground cisterns, which collect from the house roof aren't fit to drink from and are used for garden/fire fighting/WC flush water.
We never boil the tank water but if I go to Glen Innes, I take plenty of water with me as the town water (even though it's treated) upsets the internals, so mostly I don't trust town water through Brisbane and Sydney water don't upset me,
Inverell is OK too, but there are other towns where I avoid drinking the local offering, which is a good excuse to have a beer.

Drinking unfiltered water won't kill you, unless, like millions around the world, you have to source it from mucky ponds and stinking polluted rivers. A good rainwater tank with a first flush and a correctly placed offtake like yours works well, even in our capital cities!

I us rainwater for everything ,only using Sydney Water supply for top-up such as this recent drought (about 5-10%). I do use a multiple stage filter, due to the close proxity of a train line (covers everything in brake dust) and UV disinfection lamp due to the abundance of birds and possums that live in the trees overhanging some of our roofs (Council protects the trees). As a result, I collect 90% of my water, have lovely soft crystal clear water which also makes great tea and coffee.

Properly treated town water does taste of chlorine BUT it is safe. The chlorine is essential the water remains free of bugs as it is distributed across the city pipes from the treatment plants.

Most people from non chlorinated water supplies can detect the chlorine taste, while those used to it no longer notice. I know Glenn Innes is a small town, but it has a relatively modern (compared to many) water treatment plant. If the water upsets your stomach, ask the council water to check the chlorine levels.

Yesterday SMH highlighted another US California wildfire expert who works for an insurance company) commenting on our fires and the dangers of climate change.

Somehow I don't think you will see them, the Guardian or the ABC covering the an actual substantive "expert report" on California's last three years of fire. I haven't tracked down a copy of the report as yet, but US media reports state that:

"Climate change played a minor role in the wildfires that devastated California in the past three years, a panel of experts said yesterday, blaming most of the damage on land management and development."

and quote comments of members at a Conference yesterday who state that:.

"Both Montgomery and Stephens advocated thinning California's forests, either through prescribed burns or manual clearing. They spoke yesterday at the annual conference of the National Council for Science and the Environment".

Sounds like Climate Change ain't as big a factor as CC Cultists argue, and land management and prescribed burning is needed. Thankfully our major water utilities and planation foresters have a more sensible approach to this.

Manns here for a sabbatical in Australia (obviously has come here to lick his wounds after his legal exposure his his false 'hockey stick' diagram). So expect an increase in scar-mongering and crisis doom and gloom stuff from the ABC and The Guardian. I found the version of his Guardian article in The US AGU magazine. Here is the link if you want to see what he says (without having to subcribe to the Guardian).

http://send.agu.org/link.cfm?r=91mmZJ_UV_QRFe4CAJS4mg~~&pe=ZpomIBSvRz2gjIG__-SSpt2MCXyy5i65GhlmPC4oG_jTu4v0tyM0Dt-0ikE0kOKQP30hnBE5JESzHyaQPJP1Xw~~&t=NGRWQ5J0isMvkbjjsivpCg~~

As this is just a entrée into his spruiking things here, he has co-authored a book which he is promoting.

I bet it will become the cook book for forthcoming recipes for the Climate Change cultists and the media to feed us with more climate crisis stories this year.

Happy ' "climate change crisis" year 2020