Will using pond liner as a sump for drinking water have a health hazard for 'microplastics' or would it be insignificant/negligible?

[user801028]

Very weak fresh water source trickling over the land.

Have made a sump to collect water however when putting in the container it will disturb the silt on the bottom making it really cloudy.

I know the water is pretty much crystal clear as I collected it before this by making an elevated point so it pours straight into the container however the stream is so slow that it would take about 30 minutes to fill that way which brought me to the sump idea.

I have some pond liner spare which was given to me. Don't ask me what 'specifications' it is as it was just what was lying around in the garage for however many years before given to me.

Would laying that down cause any added issue of the material leeching into the water?

Yes I am sterilizing or filtering the water. I use unfiltered for cooking and filter for biological and chemical substances for drinking. I am also near the top of a valley and have walked to the top and do not see what else that would contaminate it. So no arguments of 'toilet water'/chemical waste dumps or the like.

[studiot]

Just now, user801028 said:

So no arguments

Did you want an argument or a discussion ?

😀

 

Could not not stretch a filter fabric over the top of the sump, under the water ?

 

As to the sump material.

If it is bituminous I would avoid it, although in the past water tanks have been painted / lined internally with bituminous material, which is not in itself poisonous,  in the past there is a risk of cancer from the bitumen.

[TheVat]

There are toxins that can leach from plastic which would not be filtered.  And submicron nanoparticles do come off plastic, which at that size may get through filters.  Finally, open ponds can also get windborne particulates and also coming down in rain - a recent study in Colorado croplands found microplastic both in fields and also being absorbed into plant tissues.  These were not from some ground source where it was flowing into the fields - they were deposited from the air.  So I would say that you combining both physical filters and also chemical detoxing is a good idea, but you may want to look into how your filters handle submicron particles.

[John Cuthber]

As far as I'm aware, most of the uses to which we put ponds would preclude the use of plastics that leach significant amounts of toxic materials.

(Who wants a fish pond that kills fish?)
Of course, it may have become contaminated in storage.

[CharonY]

I think microplastics wouldn't be my biggest worry.

4 hours ago, John Cuthber said:

As far as I'm aware, most of the uses to which we put ponds would preclude the use of plastics that leach significant amounts of toxic materials.

(Who wants a fish pond that kills fish?)
Of course, it may have become contaminated in storage.

While I would agree that acute toxicity is likely not an issue, common materials such as PVC can leach plasticizers, such as phthalates. The immediate health impact is low, though accumulation over time is a worry here. I think typical water filters are certified to NSF 42 and 53 (and sometimes 401) which don't test for phthalates (I think).

There are PVCs sold as fish or food safe, but not sure whether they are actually compliant to any standards.

[user801028]

Thanks for the replies.

As the risks seem like they could be an issue, and unquantified, better to find an alternative since it is not a big deal just a little more thought for some more 'natural' solution.

I will try again with rocks in the bottom. I think I just didn't put enough in so far. Also think what I could use on the sides, maybe even more rocks squished into the walls, which are mostly clay anyway.

Btw a bit of clay is not harmful I guess since we evolved with it most of our history and used for pots since day dot? Also in vegetables in small amounts from garden produce. I suppose people will come with some things bad about clay to give me more to think and be concerned about but it seems like a case of 'the lesser evil'.

Actually I recall doing a quick search on this the other day and it is like a trendy thing now to buy clay pots because they release nutrients. May be rubbish but seems pretty benign in that case.

[Sensei]

On 3/23/2025 at 9:07 AM, user801028 said:

I use unfiltered for cooking

I am confused. For cooking what? Any water that is not used, for example, for washing a car, should be filtered and cooked to kill microbes.

e.g. watering flowers in the garden through water from the river carries the risk of transferring (micro and macro) organisms that are in this water to your garden.

The least problematic is rainwater, provided that it is kept in sterile conditions.

On 3/23/2025 at 9:07 AM, user801028 said:

I am also near the top of a valley and have walked to the top and do not see what else that would contaminate it. So no arguments of 'toilet water'/chemical waste dumps or the like.

Contamination may not come from human sources, but from natural sources. Animals also pee and poop and eventually die near the water they live in. Worms live in it, etc. etc.

Microbes, bacteria, fungi, algae, etc.

 

[user801028]

9 minutes ago, Sensei said:

I am confused. For cooking what? Any water that is not used, for example, for washing a car, should be filtered and cooked to kill microbes.

For cooking food.

I do cook it, but if I cook it I don't filter it because I saw it as unneeded since the cooking would get rid of stuff anyway and the filter has limited capacity and takes lots of time.

Just cooking alone to sterilize is normal practice in camping so don't see the problem.

 

Edited 13 hours ago by user801028

[iNow]

We should just let Darwin sort this one out, folks.