Date: Mon, 06 Jul 1998 11:52:36 -0600 From: John Green <HPJGREEN@ihc.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2256$foo@default> Subject: Water
I did some research on the tap water here in Salt Lake City, Utah, and
thought I'd share some of my information with the group since I've seen
questions about well water and chlorine recently.
I called the city water dept. and they put me in touch with the guy in the
lab who tests the water. He seemed real knowledgeable about plant
physiology, although not about carnivorous plants. After I gave him my
address, he was able to tell me that the average TDS (total disolved
solids) was about 221 for hardness which I guess is too high for CP
(latest readings are 273). He said that as we get to the end of summer,
the water draws more from deep wells, which have much higher mineral
content than water from the mountain reservoirs. The lowest readings
happen in late fall and winter, when it's close to 100 TDS, which would
probably be okay for CP for short periods of time.
As far as chlorine, he said we have excellent quality water here, so
chlorine is usually only 0.5 ppm, and never higher than 1 ppm. He said
that letting the water sit overnight or boiling it would let the chlorine out
regardless of the method the chlorine is introduced.
To prepare tap water for use, he recommended boiling the water
in a covered glass pot and letting it cool back to room temp. This allows
the solids in the water to separate and accumulate at the bottom of the
pot and the water taken from the top can be used for the plants. He said
using a glass pot would work best, since you can see the solids
accumluate at the bottom and it won't leach metals back into the water.
He said glass might leach Boron into the water, but that is usually good
for the plants.
One very interesting point he made was that using distilled water was
bad for plants. He said it is similar to people drinking sea water, and the
water in our tissues being drawn out by the high salt content in sea
water. Because distilled water has no minerals or solids in it, it may
draw the minerals out of the plant tissues. I explained that most of the
plants are left sitting in the water rather than flushing the water through
the soil, and he said that might be okay, but he still didn't think it was a
good idea. He said RO water should be fine, but still recommended
watching the plants closely when using either. He suggested that I get a
test kit from a local science supply store and check the water after
boiling it, and maybe compare that with my collected rain water.
I'd be interested to hear comments from anyone knowledgeable about
water regarding the above information, especially the technique of boiling
the water to separate the solids and any effects of distilled water.
Maybe I'll buy a test kit and see how well it works before I run out of rain
water.
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