Do you drink from your tap?
- Thread starter Spawn234
- Start date
tallball158
New member
The TDS of my tap water is 21ppm, which is really low for tap water. My water comes from a lake reservoir, and is then treated with chloramines. I do drink my tap water, but I only use ro/di on my tanks. I don't want to take any chances on adding junk to my tanks.
Dapg8gt
New member
I agree I would still Rodi anything going in my tank.. At least for me I have "good" water also most of the year it's about 19 to 25tds..But at least here water changes depending on the season. As of now my TDS is 80ppm..But the question is 80 ppm of what? What works for one won't work for all just sayin.. Eventually something may change in the municipal system and I'm not willing to chance that with all the life/money I have in my reef. That little bit of insurance will guarantee that if I do have a random issue I'm for sure it doesn't have to do with my source water. Also look at it this way your filters and resin will last for a lot longer than most 
.. FWIW my sediment filter is as brown as anybody else's after the 4 to 6 month mark even at 19 TDS..
I also work for a water dept and have seen my fair share of mistakes when it comes to treatment of drinking water including fluoride pumps malfunctioning, hypo used in extremely high levels to "sanitize" reservoirs, water main breaks leading to muddy water and all around stupidity because of a human mistakes.. It's up to a person to make adjustments depending on tested levels to add the necessary chemicals to treat it safely. And as we all know people make mistakes and I'm not going to chance my hard work on a gamble of hope that the person did their job correctly. That's just my opinion though and I'm sure some are fine with using tap, I got over that a few years into the hobby and paid for it 10 fold in treating nuisance algae for years to follow for my mistake..
.. FWIW my sediment filter is as brown as anybody else's after the 4 to 6 month mark even at 19 TDS.. I also work for a water dept and have seen my fair share of mistakes when it comes to treatment of drinking water including fluoride pumps malfunctioning, hypo used in extremely high levels to "sanitize" reservoirs, water main breaks leading to muddy water and all around stupidity because of a human mistakes.. It's up to a person to make adjustments depending on tested levels to add the necessary chemicals to treat it safely. And as we all know people make mistakes and I'm not going to chance my hard work on a gamble of hope that the person did their job correctly. That's just my opinion though and I'm sure some are fine with using tap, I got over that a few years into the hobby and paid for it 10 fold in treating nuisance algae for years to follow for my mistake..
Diver86
New member
the way i look at it is why take the gamble? we have taken a lot of these animals out of their natural habitat for our pleasure and being a responsible person we should do our absolute best to give them the very best chances of survival. I'm not a animal activist or anything i just get frustrated when people are ok spending thousands of dollars on tanks but want to skimp out on something that could really destroy all inhabitants. I've used tap water before on previous tanks and never had any success and i know for a fact where i live the water was giving people cancer a few years back (wake forest Nc). Its not just the TDS that are found it could be a number of other things.
dkeller_nc
New member
To answer the direct question, I would never drink anything that wasn't from the tap. That includes avoiding bottled water and water that goes through my RO/DI system.
The reasoning is simple: bottled water is roughly one thousand times more expensive than municipal-treated water, and it isn't well regulated. Not only is bottled water not tested nor regulated as thoroughly as municipal water systems, it can and does absorb significant quantities of contaminants from the actual bottle. From the standpoint of "environmentally friendly", it's a disaster.
I don't drink municipal tap water that's been processed through my RODI unit because there is a potential (a high potential) that it can be contaminated with bacteria that can make someone very ill. That doesn't mean that it is contaminated, just that it could, and I don't do the sort of tests on it that would be required to ensure safety (fecal coliforms would be one such test).
Municipal systems put chlorine or chloramine in water for a reason, and it's not just for the sterility/safety of the water when it's in the city's pipes. It's also intended to keep your home plumbing from becoming contaminated and making you ill.
The reasoning is simple: bottled water is roughly one thousand times more expensive than municipal-treated water, and it isn't well regulated. Not only is bottled water not tested nor regulated as thoroughly as municipal water systems, it can and does absorb significant quantities of contaminants from the actual bottle. From the standpoint of "environmentally friendly", it's a disaster.
I don't drink municipal tap water that's been processed through my RODI unit because there is a potential (a high potential) that it can be contaminated with bacteria that can make someone very ill. That doesn't mean that it is contaminated, just that it could, and I don't do the sort of tests on it that would be required to ensure safety (fecal coliforms would be one such test).
Municipal systems put chlorine or chloramine in water for a reason, and it's not just for the sterility/safety of the water when it's in the city's pipes. It's also intended to keep your home plumbing from becoming contaminated and making you ill.
MBC2012
life gets better daily
What water is used is the first and last thing to consider. Each tank will settle on it's own "normals" be it water quality or lighting - and it will depend on what you keep in it. FOWL vs Reef (LPS vs SPS etc.) We choose to use RO/DI over our well. Having said our tank is probably "dirtier" then most but our livestock love it.
Just have to find out what works for you and hopefully before you come to the answer it won't cost you too much
Just have to find out what works for you and hopefully before you come to the answer it won't cost you too much
sleepydoc
Team RC
I just replaced the DI resin in my filter - cost $11 from BRS and 10 minutes of my time, hardly enough to blink at in this hobby. If you have clean water and low TDS, then a DI filter might not be necessary, but also costs virtually nothing to run. If you have dirty water, it becomes more necessary. Either way, I would lean on the side of using one.
Similar threads
