spring water?

[Triggreef]

I'll be using Poland spring jugs for my dosing solutions (triton), can I set them up with the Poland spring water? Or should I dump that& just use r/o water?

Just using the jugs because they are clear, cheap, & the 2.5g is perfect size.

 

[saltyphish]

ro/di imo

 

[Skydvr]

Do to mind if I add a question to this? I'll put it in another thread if you do.

If you tested the spring water and it has low to no PO4, nitrite, or nitrite, what would be the harm in using it for top off, or dosing in this case?

Seeing some other threads where people had healthy reefs running long term on tap water (until additives were put in the supply) got me thinking. As long as the water wasn't super hard, couldn't it potentially be benificial? Reduce the need for dosing Ca and Mg, add trace minerals. It needs to meet drinking water standards, so there shouldn't be heavy metals and such.

 

[saltyphish]

Silicates?

 

[hart24601]

Do to mind if I add a question to this? I'll put it in another thread if you do.

If you tested the spring water and it has low to no PO4, nitrite, or nitrite, what would be the harm in using it for top off, or dosing in this case?

Seeing some other threads where people had healthy reefs running long term on tap water (until additives were put in the supply) got me thinking. As long as the water wasn't super hard, couldn't it potentially be benificial? Reduce the need for dosing Ca and Mg, add trace minerals. It needs to meet drinking water standards, so there shouldn't be heavy metals and such.

The heavy metal limit for human consumption is much higher than what we would want in our reef tanks. Using that water is just another unknown, and with such a potential large impact I wouldn't risk it. Below is a link to the max allowable copper in drinking water, 1.3ppm. And many of these unwanted elements in a reef tank also build up over time if you are using the water to replace evaporation - adding a gallon or more of spring water a day can quickly build up many different undesirable elements that might be low enough concentration at 1st, but over a month or two can pose a problem.

Back to copper as an example, natural seawater is around 0.4 parts per billion (from a post by Randy), 0.01 ppm is getting pretty high for a reef tank and levels much above that can cause issues. Clearly 1ppm copper that is safe for drinking water would be disastrous to a reef. Not saying the water in question has any copper, but it's not safe to assume because it's ok for drinking that it's fine for the reef tank.


Basic Information about Copper in Drinking Water | Basic Information about Regulated Drinking Water Contaminants | US EPA are EPA's drinking water regulations for copper?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

While I do not disagree that drinking water is not always suitable, Poland Spring is quite pure.

I'd use Poland Spring water for making chemical solutions. Anything in it is likely far less than impurities in the dosed chemicals.

They publish their analysis here:
http://www.nestle-watersna.com/asset-library/Documents/PS_ENG.pdf#page4

 

[hart24601]

While I do not disagree that drinking water is not always suitable, Poland Spring is quite pure.

I'd use Poland Spring water for making chemical solutions. Anything in it is likely far less than impurities in the dosed chemicals.

They publish their analysis here:
http://www.nestle-watersna.com/asset-library/Documents/PS_ENG.pdf#page4

Someday I will get something correct when it comes to reef chemistry... maybe.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

:lol:


I said I didn't disagree with your premise. We just know more about this brand than some others.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Like any EPA Consumer Confidence Report or water quality analysis the published report is a "snapshot in time". By that I mean it is a historical document showing only what was analyzed and detected during that sampling event on that given day at that given time. It is representative and not real time. Use these reports as a litmus paper test or a rough guide, they are not always accurate or up to date, in fact most reports are a year old before they are published each September

I would stick with a trusted RO/DI source or distilled water if it were me so you know exactly what you are dealing with. I'm a certified weater treatment plant operator by profession and while I wouldn't hesitate to drink the water from most any regulated public drinking wate system in the country I still wouldn't put it in my reef tanks. Bottled waters are not regulated by the EPA or most state and local health authorities so you are taking a risk, granted a small one but it still an unknown.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Just keep in mind that as a base for adding calcium and alkalinity additives, people would add very little of this each day (maybe 100 times less than daily top off volume), and there are lots of impurities in the calcium and alkalinity additives that likely exceed every item that is tested for by Poland Spring.

IMO, concerns about it are unnecessary, but each person has his or her own level of worry about such things.