Acceptable tap water contaminants

[rahorman]

Hi all,

 

So I got into an argument with my dad who was claiming that the tap water in our town is clean enough and suitable for my salt water tank. He then got a water report from the town:

 

Copper : .09 mg/l (ppm)

 

Tetrachloroethene : 1.5 ug/l (ppb - parts per billion)

 

Trichloroethene : 0.6 ug/l (ppb)

 

There is a footnote stating these as 'Non-Detects' - Laboratory analysis indicates that the constituent is not present, and the 90% percentile level is presented in this table,' basically meaning that its below the level that is known to cause a risk to health, I assume?

 

Then of course there are small traces of lead , nickel (in the ppb) , chloride, nitrate, sulfate, magnesium (in the ppm).

 

So would this be safe to use? They ARE present, but in extremely, extremely small amounts.

[AZDesertRat]

No.

A annual water quality report is a snapshot in time, its what that particular sample showed at that time on that date, not what could be there today or yesterday or next week. It is a guide only. A storm rolls through, treatment changes as so does water quality. A water main down the street breaks and you get a backflow incident, water really changes.

RO/DI is cheap insurance against all of that.

 

What does the water quality report list for TDS if they show it? How about hardness? Chlorine or chlroamine residuals? Source or sources like wells, strams, reservoirs, surface water impoundments or canal systems?

 

Too many variables to chance losing potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars in rock, fish and corals when a good RO/DI system is $145 complete. Don't even consider tap water.

[splinter492]

no! copper = death! im sure with all the top offs the copper levels would rise to the point where your expensive critters would die. same goes for the other heavy metals. i wouldnt use it, RO/DI or distilled is the way to go

[rahorman]

That's what I said!

 

Total Hardness under Detect. Limits = 1.0 mg/l

 

I don't see chlorine or chloramine , but I do see chloride, and all sorts of various "chloros" (chlorobenzene, chlorotoluene, chloromethane)

[Deleted User 6]

Tap water generally has phosphates that will help you to grow beautiful masses of hair algae. But the worst chemical is dihydrogen monoxide. It's usually not tested due to it being so common but is extremely dangerous in reef environments. It's the largest cause of so called "Dry water disorder."

[rahorman]

Yea, I don't see anything for dyhydrogen monoxide.

 

Also, for the Total Hardness, it reads:

 

Max. Cont. Level Detect. Limits Avg. Result for diff. wells

None 1.0 mg/l ranges from 8.8-24.1

[Deleted User 6]

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

 

Also, just get an RO/DI unit.

[rahorman]

I actually have and use one, this was just for discussion purposes (and a disagreement with my dad). As for DHMO, I do see Benzene listed, as ND (not detected) .

[AZDesertRat]

He is pulling your leg on the dihydrogen monooxide, thats H2o or water, you didn't catch on.

Who is your water provider so I can look the report up online? Its easier for me to see the report and comment on it.

[rahorman]

Wow yea I certainly didn't catch on , I feel stupid now haha. It is Locust Valley WD , in NY.

[AZDesertRat]

Its not too bad for groundwater in a municipal system but read the information on page 5 which talks about the potential for contaminated wells. Two wells have already been reporting industrial contaminants and another has a potential for microbial contamination. Those are real issues.

http://locustvalleywater.com/images/quality_10.pdf

 

I would call the utility and ask what the TDS and hardness are for additional information, I'm usre they have both numbers available.

 

Annual reports only have to contain data from samples taken that year, many things are on 3 and even as long as 9 year testing cycles so may be present but not reported for years. By law they don't have to report them until they are required to test for them. Use that report only as a guide or obtain all the reports over the last 5-10 years and combine all the data for a more accurate representation of water quality.

[davidncbrown]

Just please dont use tap water , if you absolutely have to at least run it through some kind of a filter.

[rahorman]

I have attached a more detailed data sheet, with Hardness included. What do you think? My TDS reads 0 on my water maker, here I see it is 76-110. I wonder if that is the same unit..

scan0002.pdf

[AZDesertRat]

Their spreadsheet is a little suspect. I can only guess where they show ND what it really should say is NA or Not Analyzed or Not Sampled.

There is no such thing as a raw water source that does not have anything in it. It will always contain minerals, organics, inorganics, volatiles and other contaminants.

 

Like I said earlier, they don't have to test everything every year so it looks like they were only testing those things considered "asthetic" which is a fancy way of saying the EPA does not regulate it because it is not a serious health risk such as TDS or hardness during this round of testing.

 

You also maybe misunderstand the first two columns, the Maximum Contaminant Level, MCL, is the maximum allowable by the EPA and the Detection Limits is the lowest confidence level or accuracy of their meter or analytical instrument, they really don't have anything to do with the test results in this case.

 

What I see is fairly soft water, running between 1.5 and 3 grains per gallon hardness. The TDS is lower than the national verage of about 250 but still exceeds anything considered reef safe, meaning close to 0 TDS.

What does really concern me though is the negative Langlier Index. This means your water is corrosive and can leach the copper and lead out of pipes and soldered joints. If you remember in the other report, they said they adjust the pH with Sodium Hydroxide to raise the pH and thus Langlier Index so it is not an issue as long they keep up with it. Many utilities find this is not always easy so they start feeding Polyphosphates or Orthophosphates into the distribution system for corrosion control. you might ask about Phosphates in your water..

 

As you can see tap water is often not what you think it is, we all take water for granted, myself included, we turn the faucet on and it comes out. 99.99% of the time it is safe for human consumption but that does not mean it is reef safe. I can tell you horror stories about water quality in my last 35+ years in the industry but thats another story. Suffice to say, owning a RO/DI is very cheap insurance, not only for you tanks but for drinking water too. We quit buying all those plastic bottles of water and fill our own with RO only and have been doing so for over 15 years now.

[eyou]

copper is the one of the most lethal compounds to marine invertabrates. i read somehwere they are poisonous at levels as small as ppb (parts per BILLION).

 

that said, theres only one way to really find out if your tap water is acceptable. Are you willing to risk it?

[rahorman]

I am certainly not willing to risk it, I always use RO/DI water, and always will. Thanks for the detailed response, aside from the relation to it's use for reef tanks it is very interesting for any local resident!

[johnamon]

I just changed out my RO/DI unit's filters (replacements only cost £14 GBP).

 

I have run my RO/DI unit lightly for 1 year without having changed the filters and you should have seen the brown filth that had accumulated in the particle filter (basically a really tightly packed filter floss filter). I was taken aback! The once white floss filter looked like faeces!

 

Scottish municipal water is considered to be of high quality, therefore I can only recommend that everyone operates their own RO/DI units!!!

[reefer916]

I agree with the other guys. Pick up a RO/DI unit from Bulk Reef supply. I bought the $199 with 5 chambers, TDS meter, and pressure gauge. Hooked it up to the hose in the backyard and instant RO/DI water. It took me 2 1/2 years to actually buy one rather than get water from the LFS or my buddies. Also, be careful and test the water from your LFS because more than often their media needs to be changed. It's just a lot more convenient to have your own setup. Dad's are tough, but after you have your tank setup for awhile and literally have thousands of dollars of corals in your tank $199 is small fraction to pay and the filters should last several months to a few years depending how much water your making.

[mg0465a]

I wonder what the water parameters are to tap water in new jersey

[AZDesertRat]

All public water systems must report their annual water quality by law. If you know the name of your water provider you can almost always find their report online.

[wombat]

I have attached a more detailed data sheet, with Hardness included. What do you think? My TDS reads 0 on my water maker, here I see it is 76-110. I wonder if that is the same unit..

 

I would not touch that water. Copper in surface NSW is less than 1ppb. At 0.3ppm you're getting to a level that will kill most fish.

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/10/breeder

[MitchReef]

Tap water generally has phosphates that will help you to grow beautiful masses of hair algae. But the worst chemical is dihydrogen monoxide. It's usually not tested due to it being so common but is extremely dangerous in reef environments. It's the largest cause of so called "Dry water disorder."

 

You are bad....very, very bad.....

 

I like that!.......