kmitch July 26, 2008 July 26, 2008 Ok obvious RO is better than tap, but curious how the tap water here shapes up? I have to fill a 34 gal and I can't say I am super stoked about the idea of hauling that many water jugs...... So the Alexandria area water (assuming it comes out of the potomac) is how gross? Anyone have a TDS reading on it?
treesprite July 26, 2008 July 26, 2008 Look at the website for your local water supplier. They should have it posted. I know the WSSC water in Montgomery County is not really bad, but DC is a whole other matter.
kmitch July 26, 2008 Author July 26, 2008 I pulled the report for my area already but didn't really know what to make of it: http://www.amwater.com/files/VA-Alexandria.pdf (last page)
jamal July 26, 2008 July 26, 2008 the tds in dc is about 300ppm. nitrates are about 5ppm which is under the legal limit for drinking. we use chloramine or at least we did last time i checked. not acceptable for reefing
YBeNormal July 26, 2008 July 26, 2008 Ok obvious RO is better than tap, but curious how the tap water here shapes up? I have to fill a 34 gal and I can't say I am super stoked about the idea of hauling that many water jugs...... So the Alexandria area water (assuming it comes out of the potomac) is how gross? Anyone have a TDS reading on it? The quality of tap water will differ from city to city, even house to house. Where the city gets their source water shouldn't make a difference though, or at least not much of difference, since all city water goes through multiple stages of filtration and chemical treatments to meet strict US water quality regulations. Meeting water quality standards and being safe to drink doesn't mean it is safe for our tanks though. Also, TDS is only an indicator of relative water quality. Your water could have very high TDS and be fine for use in reef tanks while other water with low or no TDS reading could be loaded with phosphates (does not register as TDS) and be very bad for your tank. I'd recommend using RO/DI water regardless of the TDS of your source water but that's JMHO. We have a separate area on the forums where members post items for sale or trade and several of our supporting vendors offer discounts to WAMAS members. Join us! Edit: Oops! I saw your membership application right after I hit Submit on this post. Welcome to WAMAS!
sen5241b July 28, 2008 July 28, 2008 (edited) The quality of tap water will differ from city to city, even house to house. Where the city gets their source water shouldn't make a difference though, or at least not much of difference, since all city water goes through multiple stages of filtration and chemical treatments to meet strict US water quality regulations. Meeting water quality standards and being safe to drink doesn't mean it is safe for our tanks though. Also, TDS is only an indicator of relative water quality. Your water could have very high TDS and be fine for use in reef tanks while other water with low or no TDS reading could be loaded with phosphates (does not register as TDS) and be very bad for your tank. I'd recommend using RO/DI water regardless of the TDS of your source water but that's JMHO. We have a separate area on the forums where members post items for sale or trade and several of our supporting vendors offer discounts to WAMAS members. Join us! Edit: Oops! I saw your membership application right after I hit Submit on this post. Welcome to WAMAS! I read the latest water report for Arlington CO. (same source as DC) and this water is very bad! Some radioactive toxins are at the EPA limit. Use that tap water and hey --you might get some cool mutation. Edited July 28, 2008 by sen5241b
treesprite July 28, 2008 July 28, 2008 (edited) I read the latest water report for Arlington CO. (same source as DC) and this water is very bad! Some radioactive toxins are at the EPA limit. Use that tap water and hey --you might get some cool mutation. Yikes! For the baby boomers among us, do you all remember all those pollution and radiation doomsday-type movies that were filling the movie theatres back then? Wasn't Prophecy the one about the human-baby-like creature that was in a pool of polluted radiated water? Edited July 28, 2008 by treesprite
sen5241b July 28, 2008 July 28, 2008 Yikes! For the baby boomers among us, do you all remember all those pollution and radiation doomsday-type movies that were filling the movie theatres back then? Wasn't Prophecy the one about the human-baby-like creature that was in a pool of polluted radiated water? Yeah, that was me.
Highland Reefer July 28, 2008 July 28, 2008 The report does not include the water line run from the filtration plant to your house. The water lines in DC are in many cases very old, contain lead & many other undesirables. The water lines in many of the DC houses are very old & contain the old solders with lead & tin. If you have copper pipes, then naturally, you will have levels of copper in the water.
Jon Lazar July 29, 2008 July 29, 2008 When I set up my tank earlier this year, I had several quarantine tanks running for all the fish. I couldn't figure out how the nitrite levels were always so high, despite large water changes every few days. I was using the RO/DI waste water for my QTs as I made good water for the display tank. I finally tracked it down to the tap water having nitrites of 10-15 (whatever the units are). As soon as I switched to RO/DI for the QT, the nitrites dropped to zero and stayed there. Jon
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