A Review of Roof Harvested Rainwater in Australia

Table 3

Trace metals found in rainwater in key Australian towns and cities (in ppm). Aesthetic only for zinc and lead (total lead).

Location	Metal concentration	Health limit	Times above the limit	Reference
Adelaide, SA	15.8 zinc	3	5.2 times higher	[50]
Port Pirie, SA	0.06 lead	0.01	0.6 times higher	[51]
Adelaide, SA	0.03 lead	0.01	3 times higher	[52]
	16.1 zinc	3	5.3 times higher
Melbourne, VIC	0.42 lead	0.01	42 times higher	[53]
	0.1 chromium	0.05	2 times higher
	0.17 nickel	0.02	8.5 times higher
Melbourne, VIC	0.5 lead	0.01	50 times higher	[54]
Newcastle, NSW	0.02 cadmium	0.002	10 times higher	[55]
	0.14 arsenic	0.01	14 times higher
	0.81 chromium	0.05	16 times higher
	15 copper	2	7.5 times higher
Newcastle, NSW	0.21 chromium	0.05	4.2 times higher	[56]
Sydney, NSW	0.55 arsenic	0.01	55 times higher	[51, 57]
	2.78 lead	0.01	278 times higher
	0.33 lead	0.01	33 times higher
Esperance, WA	0.01 lead	0.01	1.2 times higher	[58]
	0.03 nickel	0.02	1.5 times higher
Karumba, QLD	0.006 cadmium	0.002	3 times higher	[59]
	0.10 lead	0.01	10 times higher
	10.8 zinc	3	3.6 times higher
Brisbane, QLD	0.85 lead	0.01	85 times higher	[60]
	0.03 arsenic	0.01	3 times higher
	0.009 cadmium	0.002	4.5 times higher
	26 zinc	3	9 times higher