useable tapwater ?

[alsbeth]

Hi all, i am about to start a new fish house shortly and wanted to find out if my tapwater is suitable ? Is there a web page that gives safe limits of certain things [ i.e Heavy metals etc] or is their anybody on the board who can help, i want to know ,whats going to be my best method of purification ?and cost effective ? cheers Alsbeth

[Smokey]

Hi alsbeth; welcome to SimplyDiscus. you have come to the right place.

All the information you may need is here on SimplyDiscus.

How about giving us some information; where are you; what are the parameters of your water, etc..

Generally speaking, most municpality water is treated with chlorine, chloramine and/or ammonia.

The pH and hardness; test or get a readout from your water works personal.

Once you give the members here a bit of feed back; I am sure you will be able to deceide just how good the water is ; or what treatment may be necessary.

A wealth of wisdom and expierence lives here..

Good luck with your new setup; and don't hesitate to ask .

Read the posts on the site, for your water .parameters and more,,

[alsbeth]

Hi Smokey, and thanks for the warm welcome,i am in the UK and live in a rural area.Here are some of the results of water test done by our water company.[These are typical values]. Aluminium - 55 ug/l
chlorine - 0.26 mg/l
conductivity - 133 us/cm
Fluoride - 100 ug/l
Iron - 80 ug/l
Magnesium - less than 2 mg/l
Pesticides - 0.02 ug/l
sodium - 9 mg/l
Zinc - 15 ug/l
copper - 10 ug/l
Lead - 1 ug/l
These are test that i have done at home with tetra,hagen and salifert kits. PH - 7.0
Gh- 3.0
Kh- 1.0
Nitrite - 0 mg/l
Nitrate - 0 mg/l
Phosphate 2 -3 mg/l.
I know its abit long winded but anybodies views would be much welcome. cheers Alsbeth

[Smokey]

howdy; I'm way out west in the Canadian Rocky Mountains .
Your water sounds good: ph is ok; both you gh and kh ( dh measurement ?) reflect soft water. As for the other nasties.. well definately treat for chlorine, chlorine will "KILL" ON CONTACT; ( any ammonia?).
I see your water has fallen prey to agriculture runoff. Perhaps running your tap water through a carbon filter, before you add it to a storage barrel would be a good idea. Treat for chlorine / ammonia, aireate, match the discus water temperature, and it should be ready.

Most people would kill for your water; mine is pH-8.9; gh-> 500ppm; kh- >400ppm.

Good luck

smokey

[alsbeth]

Hi Smokey, if the water company put chloramine in the water,will this show up with a tetra ammonia test kit ? I was told the reason for the high phosphate level is not run off ,but something they put in at the treatment works ? not sure what ? Do you think i will get away with not using a Ro or DI unit then ? cheers Alsbeth

[dm]

Hi Alsbeth, and welcome.
I am one of them that would love to have your water. You can definatly get away without R/O or DI unless you plan on breeding your Discus. Smokey gave you good advice to treat for Chloramines and Chlorine, then airate and warm the water in a storage barrel, then you will be in great shape. Let us know how it goes ok?

[Smokey]

howdy alsbeth;

yup ; the tetra test kits will give you the c l. and ammonia readings.IMO good test kits.

if you in england, can you get::
Tetra AquaSafe's- N H / C L FORMULA.. GREAT STUFF it will take care of the water nasties,

No, you probely will never need a DI unit, ..
As for a r/o unit, lots of bucks; or.....you can just run your town water through a bucket of peat, to soften and lower the pH. a 20 liter bucket will treat 250 liters,...(or more in your case) . In either case you have to run carbon filters to remove the clorine( r/o hate clorine's).

stay tuned in , eh !!
Smokey
( freezing my butt of in Canada)

imo, that alluminium and flouride level is bad news.

[Smokey]

Hi J.
You have brought up an interesting point. Explain futher ??? You got my interest.

[alsbeth]

and mine, Alsbeth :o

[alsbeth]

Hi there,just wondered if phish phantasy,would be good enough to explain,about his comment on the Ali & flouride.I know the metals are more toxic in softwater.It was the high phosphate level that was worrying me. cheers Alsbeth