Couple of Water Questions

Howdy,

My water has started smelling of chlorine lately and I'm planning a brew at the weekend. Now I was thinking of boiling the water to remove the chlorine but I'm worried that boiling it will remove the oxegen too which will damage my fermentation. Which is the lesser of two evils here any ideas?

Also, I've been collecting rainwater and I'd like to use this in my brewing at some stage in the future - is this a good idea? Is there some way to treat the water to make it usable or is it as easy as boiling it? It comes off the roof of my little shed. About 60 gallons in the last week. Irish Summers......

Thanks a mill,
Steve.

Me personally I would not use rain water, how do you know what is in it. I would boil your water or use Camden tablets to remove chlorine. You should always add O2 prior to pitching your yeast so I would not worry about the boiling.

Hey. Thanks chief. So far I've been adding O2 by adding my cold water from a height (extract brewing). That seems to be working fine but not sure it is enough to combat boiled water.

Those of us that do full boils have all of our water boiled as part of the process. I personally have a diffusion stone and ad pure O2. However, others make great beer without doing anything other than splashing the wort as they transfer it from the brew kettle to their fermenter. So I wouldn't worry about boiling it causing an O2 problem.