March 16, 2025

Dirty and Dangerous Rain is Falling in Alabama More Often

MOBILE Ala.
By Rick McCann

BlueRAMMedia.com

March 16, 2025

We’ve all heard that some people use rainwater for watering their garden, and farmers depend on it for their crops.

Nationwide, people depend on rainfall to fill reservoirs and wells and other cisterns.

But more and more people are depending on the rain to be their sole source of water, period.
As people continue moving further away from the city, and back into homesteading and living off the grid, they sometimes have no source to fresh water except the rain which is often caught in a rain catchment systems straight from the roof of their home.

Even when other water sources are available, rain is used as a backup water source.
Approximately 550 gallons of rainwater can be collected for every 1000 square feet of collection surface per inch of rain. To estimate the amount collected in one year, take the square footage of your collection surface, divide by 1000, multiply by 550 and then multiply by the average annual rainfall for your area.

It’s estimated that more than twenty thousand people in Alabama live in areas considered to be off the grid, in the hills, woods and even in coastal areas. Most do without the modern comforts of life.

But scientists, meteorologists and those off-grid folks themselves, are saying that the rain that falls across Alabama is getting dirtier.

And dirty rain is also sweeping across other parts of the country as well.

In fact, the dirty rain phenomenon affects multiple states, leaving residue on cars and surfaces.

Recent weather events have led to reports of dirty rain falling across more states than ever before including Alabama.

This phenomenon, often referred to as muddy rain, occurs when airborne dust and pollutants mix with precipitation, resulting in a dirty appearance but that’s not the worst of it.

As water is absorbed into the clouds, it brings with it pollutants, chemicals and other toxins.

Vapors can carry black carbon, soot, dust, aerosols, and chemicals that are harmful to humans.

The rain that falls in Alabama is often vaporized across Mexico where there is little environmental restrictions and Texas where chemical plants and oil refineries are abundant, producing toxins and waste that makes their way into bodies of water that are evaporated into the clouds.
The Gulf of Mexico is another place where Alabama receives much of its rainfall and there’s no telling how much polluted rain Alabama receives from this source.

In recent years, Rainwater Management Solutions which filter and purify water caught off of a roof or other catchment system have been added to homes in Alabama and elsewhere.

A recent study shows that while precipitation has become less acidic, a growing body of evidence suggests that it’s now full of many other pollutants that pose a risk to public health, including microplastics. And unlike the compounds that cause acid rain, these pollutants are almost impossible to get rid of.