Tap Water

[Dubge]

Now from what everyone says tap water is very bad for the most part.
Now to be honest I havn't gotten any type of special water filters (I do have one on my faucet that has been there since we redid the kitchen, 5 years) and all I have used is tap water. I have been told that we have great water in Peabody, we do have our own water supply and treatment plant witch is at the end of my street. Now my tank has never had a real algee problem (knock on wood) I did get the brown stuff for like a week and it cleared up. Is there a test kit I can buy to test my tap water to see if I will ever have a problem? I am wondering if I have to buy other type of filters or am I already getting good enough water for my tank

thanks
Ray

 

[PeeJ]

I believe the only test for water quality is TDS, as far as how pure it is. Maybe somebody close will let you borrow one...??

 

[Dubge]

What is TDS?

Ray

 

[Dubge]

Ah found it! I will have to look into TDS

Ray

 

[PeeJ]

Did you ask the treatment plant if they have a print out of your water contents? Your water source is required by law to give one to you if you ask.

 

[Anonymous]

And (I think) they're also required to test every other year, so the report shouldn't be older than that...

 

[PeeJ]

I don't know about your area, but I did a yahoo search for my city and "water test" I was able to find information about my water quality, which wasn't very appealing.

 

[hdtran]

Once a year, your water utility department is supposed to send you a report with a fairly detailed analysis of your tap water. In Lexington (where we used to live; Peabody's a lovely town!), our report was pretty sparse. Where we are now, we get an analysis which includes details of the water from each city well in the aquifer, plus samples taken outside residences, etc. Our analysis not only includes the usual reef suspects (nitrates, phosphates) but also metals (arsenic, etc), etc. and comparison with EPA limits.

Based on that, I use tap water (we do have higher silicates which RO would take out), and consider the resulting diatoms to be snail food :wink:

 

[Jolieve]

Yeah... here our irrigation district sends out a report letting us know what is in our tap water along with our water bill. Just keep in mind that something like 1% of the water supply in the United States is suitable for use in reef aquaria without some kind of water filter. Odds are, yours isn't.

Good luck!
J.

 

[shr00m]

usually most places have there water tables online. i use tapwater and have for 5 years with wonderful results. BUT my tapwater is very good. there are no metals in it its PH is neutral and there is only a very small amount of phosphates in it. the water only has chlorine added and no chloramine so i just let the water sit overnight then add salt..... i would like to get a ro to remove the small amount of phosphate but i dont have algae problems and my tank has always been very healthy. but a RO wouldnt hurt. i would recomend you look at your cities water table and decide from then on what will be best for you.