Blue jugs

[sebnuage]

I'm having quite an issue right now with my reef...
And I'm thinking,
Does anyone ever had a bad experience using water with blue jugs? (I'm buying them commercially filled as of right now)
Furthermore , did anyone ever had good experiences?
Back 10 months ago I stopped filling them myself with R/O water.
Now how I think of it is that with all new regulations might keep large business from using certain products.. Could they revert using some aluminum, copper, else?
Feel free to add anything here

 

[Idoc]

If your problems started 10 months ago, I'd be more inclined to suspect the purchased water now vs when you used to fill them yourself with known RODI water. But, maybe the container manufacturing changed...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What "blue jugs" are we talking about?

 

[sebnuage]

What "blue jugs" are we talking about?

 

[sebnuage]

Aren't those available worldwide?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Those are typical drinking water containers in many locations. Whether the water in them is good or not depends on what was added to them, not likely the plastic itself. Put in good water and it should be fine.

They are not suitable for storing limewater (kalkwasser) as they are typically made of polycarbonate, which will eventually fail at that high of pH.

 

[sebnuage]

Thanks for the input, I do not however store salwater for very long in it and I do not really reuse them since the company brings me new ones all the time (I do rinse them thoroughly).
II really need to find a full spectrum test to see what's in it and / or at least what's in excess / lacking in my aquarium.
Although i still think there might be something added to the water to keep it from fouling. Maybe a bad rinse after cleaning them with an industrial product.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

Actually, most commercial water jugs that are distributed by companies like Culligan are made of polytheylene teraphthalate ester (PET). Polycarbonate is a possibility, but PET is preferred because it offers much better shock resistance. Polytheylene teraphthalate ester has a bit better resistance to high pH solutions than polycarbonate, but Randy's comments are still spot-on: PET jugs are OK for storing RODI and mixed ASW, but would be a poor choice for kalkwasser.

From the standpoint of your original question, however, it's unlikely that your blue storage bottles would leach anything into the stored water of sufficient quantities to be of concern. It's true that PETG containers have some concerns around the leaching of phthalate esters as an environmental pollutant, especially because there's some (in my opinion, weak) evidence that phthalate esters could serve as endocrine disrupters. But the concentrations of phthalate esters in water stored in PETG water distribution bottles are miniscule - on the parts per billion level.

Bottom line, it's very unlikely that the bottle material itself would be the cause of an issue for a reefkeeper.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

There certainly may be PET jugs around, but polycarbonate is also common:

5 Gallon Water Bottle - Walmart.com

Buy 5 Gallon Water Bottle at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

 

[Dkeller_nc]

Interesting to see advertising copy that states "made of completely safe polycarbonate food-grade plastic". Apparently the scientific literature publication about phthalate esters being found even in Antarctic ice has had an effect on marketers.