What information would like to know about the water supplied to your house?

[spryde]

Greetings!

My name is Shawn Pryde and I am the webmaster of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority. We are revamping our website and would like to include information about the water we provide and how it affects the Aquarium community.

Question:

What would you like to see on a water authority/water provider website in regards how it affects the water that goes into your aquarium? Water Quality Parameters? Tips? What else?

I do appreciate any advice you might have. We have many categories we have to report to the EPA every month and would like to know which categories would apply most to those in the Aquarium/Reefing community.

SP

 

[boxfishpooalot]

Some of the most important parameters in saltwater fish tanks imo are:

-copper
-ammonia
-nitrate
-nitrite
-carbonate hardness
-iron
-phosphate,organic, and inorganic.
-silicate
-Co2 concentration(because are tap water purifiers do not remove it. Wich can lower tank ph.
-average ph of tap water.
-average bacteria count
-Specific gravity/salinity of the tap water.
-iodine
-zink
-iodide
-stontium
-magnesium
-alkalinity(if possible)
-calcium
-bicarbonate,carbonate
-borate

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

IMO, the most important issues to marine aquarists are:

first priority:

chloramine and chlorine
copper

second priority:

phosphate
silicate
heavy metals

I discuss my tap water concerns in this article:

Tap Water in Reef Aquaria
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2004/chem.htm

 

[spryde]

I apprecaite your help and the article link.

Would the average concentration for the month work for you? What I plan to do is have a general information page and a link to our monthly reporting stats. Our monthly reporting stats show the last 12 months of the year and the average for each month. I know I can get pH, Total Chlorine, Copper, and Phosphates (Orthophosphate /Phosphoric Acid).

I don't think I can get the silicates and heavy metals as I don't think we test for those on a regular basis (we do test but not a monthly basis). We do include heavy metals in our Water Quality Report so I think a link to that would work best.

Anything else? With your permission, could I link to that article on tap water? I will have to get permission from our management but I think that would be a wonderful addtion to the page.

SP

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think it would be great if you could put a section on aquarists concerns on the web site. A link to the article is certainly fine.

Peak concentrations might be of interest as well as average. That way folks might know how bad it gets.

A specific mention of whether you use chloramine (or not) is very useful.

 

[spryde]

Thanks!

I can put that we use chloramines in the water for the entire year sans a few weeks. Most utilities are switching to as it is less dangerous for the workers and more stable when stored.

We plan on having a graph of each chemical for a certai period with the high and low concentration along with the average. Thanks for the advice!

SP

 

[mmmmsushi]

Randy, What impact does the addition of Floride have? Or are the concentrations not high enough to impact aquariums.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I usually recommend that folks use RO/DI, and fluoride would be taken out, but the fluoride levels in tap water are not a concern. There is fluoride in NSW, and it may become depleted anyway:

The Halogens ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Â Part II: Fluoride
http://web.archive.org/web/20030626...twork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/nov/bio/default.asp

Fluoride Depletion In Four Reef Aquariums
http://web.archive.org/web/20030315...twork.com/fish2/aqfm/2000/jan/bio/default.asp

 

[BtheReef]

Spryde,

I don't think there's a very bright future for you in DC. You would be appreciated much more if you worked for the water company in my town.

Seriously, I wish I could get this information for my tap water. It's a great idea to have that available for the hobbyist.

Good Luck!