Lake Utrics and RO water

Barry Meyers-Rice (barry@as.arizona.edu)
Wed, 28 Jun 1995 09:54:22 -0700

>This is one reason that people use RO systems; there is just the membrane
>that might be considered disposable (they do have a finite lifetime). On
>the other hand, RO systems can waste tremendous amounts of water, depending
>on how they are operated. What system you use depends on what you have in
>short supply, I guess. RO if you have lots of water, and possibly a use for
>the waste stream, DI if water is in short supply.

Carl, I rent my RO unit from Culligan for about $50/month. This provides me
with the 60--80 gallons/week of water I need, plus drinking water for my
family as well as my in-laws who come by with 5gallon water jugs for
refills. :)

Anyway, I have my unit producing water with only 5ppm TTD, and the ratio of
product to waste water is only 1:1, not bad I think. I route the waste water
into a trough by the greenhouse which serves as a small watering hole for
coyotes and javelinas (wild pigs).

>Last weekend I was at my parents' house, which happens to be located on a
>lake. I was down the row of cottages fishing off of a neighbors dock (into
>GREAT surprise it was a Utric. The depth that area is ~15 feet deep and has

Jeffrey, where did you say this lake is (what state). When you looked at the
plant were there two types of branches? What I mean is...

1)Were all the long ropy branches pretty much the same, floating free in
the water with lots of bladders on the leaves...

2)Some of the ropy branches had very few bladders, and looked just like
lakeweed, while descending from these branches were other branches which
had fewer (or no) green leafy parts but many bladders. The second kind
of branches are often anchored in the soil and are broken off if the plant
is yanked out of the water to vigorously.

Curious...

Barry