Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 15:30:34 -0600 From: Michael Vanecek <mike@mjv.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4147$foo@default> Subject: Re: Water for CPs
It's not just how much solids, but of what sort. If you've been watering
your houseplants for a while, you no doubt have noticed a whitening of
the soil on the surface. That's due to salts in the water. After a
while, these salts would eventually make the soil unliveable for even
the houseplants. Additionally, the chlorine in the tap water does more
harm to plants than to the bacteria they're "supposed" to kill. More
accurately, chlorine is more of a water clarifier than a killer of
bacteria - many bacteria are perfectly happy in chlorinated water. But
chlorine is lethal to plant life as a whole from algea to CP.
So, in short, water straight from the tap is not suitable for long-term
watering of CP. Water that's been allowed to sit or has been boiled to
vent off the chlorine can be used, but then you'd need to regularly
flush the plants to clear out any salts. Your spagnum will most likely
not survive the tap very well, and the CP's will tolerate it after a
fashion, but you'll have more problems with weak and disease prone
plants. Acid treated well water would be better than tap water. Maybe
someone in rain-rich areas (Seattle, you there?) could bottle rain-water
and sell it. :)
"David J. Collier, MD" wrote:
>
> To the water quality experts:
>
> According to the San Francisco Water Department, the total dissolved solids
> in our
> tap water ranges from 34-110 ppm, with an average of 72 ppm. According to
> Steve
> Hinkson's post in today's CP digest, this would mean we can use tap water
> directly
> on our CPs, with no further purification needed (assuming the water dept.
> is telling
> the truth and other dissolved solids don't mysteriously appear between the
> central
> distribution and our taps).
>
> Should I stop lugging water home from the RO machine at the local Safeway and
> not worry about filters?
>
> David Collier
> dcollier@mail.med.upenn.edu
>
> P.S. For those interested, the 1998 SF water quality report is available
> on the web at
> http://www.ci.sf.ca.us/puc/
-- Cheers, Mikehttp://dotfile.net/ mailto:info@dotfile.net <-------------------------------------------------> "My zeal to start using Linux is stronger than my fear of looking like a dummy." --Some Wise Man <-------------------------------------------------> Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I'm halfway through my fishburger and I realize, Oh my God....I could be eating a slow learner.
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