water good or bad?

[jj1109]

LOL @ fredg, nice question

although in these days of pollution, all sorts of stuff can end up in rain so maybe not great to use rainwater in some places!

I know that here in Melbourne, Australia that we can use regular tap water as it is incredibly soft and pure - although to be on the safe side i use water from my rain tank

[maureenbasden]

Try this. Take tap water and use a dechlorinator for fish tanks. Remember, fish live IN the water. This should not be bad for your plants. The dechlorinator takes care of not just the chlorine but some of the other trace chemicals as well.

[Aidan]

A dechlorinator will not remove dissolved solids (largely calcium and magnesium salts) from tap water, which is what is important. Reading around, these products appear to consist largely of sodium thiosulphate.

[jj1109]

absolutely right. the more expensive ones also have some extra "goodies" in them that are beneficial for the slime layer on the fish scales, so you're actually adding more unknown chemicals to the water!

[mmlr38]

I am thinking about getting a reverse osmosis system. Is there any way to be sure that it will get the water pure enough to water CPs? Will any reverse osmosis system do the job?

The one I am looking at is the WP4-V Reverse Osmosis System. Would this do a good enough job "cleansing" water to allow me to water my CPs with it?

Matt

[Aidan]

RO systems are a reliable (if wasteful) method of producing purified water. If you can, get a model with a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter attached. Water with a TDS value of 50ppm or lower is generally considered ideal for use with carnivorous plants.

[timv]

It went for 8 months without rain last year, and normally goes for about 180 days in a row without rain in our county. If you have any sort of sizeable collection, you use tap or well water, or you use a fairly expensive RO and pressure system.

[kby]

Mar 4, 2008 2:54:53 GMT Aidan said:

RO systems are a reliable (if wasteful) method of producing purified water. If you can, get a model with a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter attached. Water with a TDS value of 50ppm or lower is generally considered ideal for use with carnivorous plants.

There is one that is approved now in the US (plumbing codes) that is 'zero waste' in that it recycles the waste water into the hot water line. The "approval" is largely due to plumbing codes that are to protect from a backflush contamination if the hot water line goes higher pressure or that type of accident (i.e. I'm guessing it's check valves and/or air gaps tha "do the right thing" in the event of a failure, not some whizzy technology that doesn't produce any waste water).

However, it's mostly meant for undersink drinking water suppliers and may not be practical for a large collection—the ability to do this requires that the waste water not overwhelm the usage of hot water, I'd presume, or your hot water will end up pretty salty (or it ends up having to waste some anyway).

Since plumbing codes vary with geography, YMMV.-kby

[bowmag]

Hello everyone!
I use well water and I have not had any trouble. I have sarracenia, and nepenthes. both have been growing in my greenhouse for 2 years now, and doing great.. ;D

[Deleted]

Ok so for those of you who live in california your local walmarts and targets should carry purified water. That is where I purchase my water from now rather then worrying about what is in the rain water...

[Randy Zerr]

I have been thinking of constructing a simple solar water distiller. 10 square feet of sunny back yard ought to produce a few gallons of distilled water per day. I need it for drinking! But I've always collected rain water for plants. Using the big plastic tubs with lids available in any Wal-Mart. some of them will hold 18 gallons. Although dirt and possibly asphalt residue from the roofing tiles concerns me some so I let it rain good for awhile before placing the tubs. Pollution in the air? We are all breathing it and still walking. At least today

[gregory]

Apr 29, 2008 0:55:48 GMT Randy Zerr said:

I have been thinking of constructing a simple solar water distiller. 10 square feet of sunny back yard ought to produce a few gallons of distilled water per day. I need it for drinking! But I've always collected rain water for plants. Using the big plastic tubs with lids available in any Wal-Mart. some of them will hold 18 gallons. Although dirt and possibly asphalt residue from the roofing tiles concerns me some so I let it rain good for awhile before placing the tubs. Pollution in the air? We are all breathing it and still walking. At least today

Let me start off by saying that I use R/O water, that I have used to maintain salt water reef tanks.. Years ago I used distilled water, but that was before R/O units were readily availalble.
Then only concern I would have in using water run-off from a shingled roof, is that many of the newer roofing shingles have moss/algal retardants incorporated into them, which I would think may adversely affect our plants.
Of course, that may/may not be an issue depending on the age of the shingles, etc.
In any case if you are having good results with run-off from your roof, I wouldn't give it a second thought (that is until you replace your shingles...)
Greg

[bowmag]

I am not sure if I am using the wrong type of water, but I just use well water, with nothing added or remove, my CP seems like it.

[n2hhr]

I purchased my own water distallation system several months ago. The tech sheet on it says it is cleaner water than RO.

[kby]

May 23, 2008 0:59:25 GMT n2hhr said:

I purchased my own water distallation system several months ago. The tech sheet on it says it is cleaner water than RO.

what's the output and energy cost? Distillation should always be better than RO in terms of output quality, it's just usually energy intensive (unless this is a solar still or something like that) or low output.-kby