Re:Tap water

From: John Green (HPJGREEN@ihc.com)
Date: Fri Dec 17 1999 - 08:11:52 PST


Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 09:11:52 -0700
From: "John Green" <HPJGREEN@ihc.com>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg4175$foo@default>
Subject: Re:Tap water


>>Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 13:44:31 EST
>>From: MCATALANI@aol.com
>>We've had quite a bit of activity on the watering issue,
>>and I'll throw in my 10 cents worth. I have used water
>>straight from the tap here in Memphis for more than 25
>>years to water just about every type of cp. ( i haven't
>>tried aldrovonda yet) I dont even let the water sit for a
>>few days to burn off the chlorine. I have absolutely no
>>problem with salt buildup, chlorine, or other minerals.
>>However, Memphis probably has some of the best tap
>>water in the country...

I wonder if Michael would mind checking into the details of his local
tap water (for comparison purposes). About a year and a half ago, I
called my local water dept and after a few transfers and referrals I got
in touch with the person in charge of testing the drinking water. He
said that our water here in Salt Lake City is of very good quality (most
of it comes from snow melt in the mountains that surround the valley -
"Greatest Snow on Earth" - , supplemented with deep wells in the summer)
so the chlorine content is very low - 0.5ppm. He also said the tds
averages about 221, highest around the end of summer at about 328 tds,
and lowest in late fall and winter, down close to 100 tds. I didn't
even think to ask about the alkalinity of it, unfortunately. He
suggested boiling the water, preferably in a covered glass pot, which
will dissipate the chlorine and cause most of the minerals to settle to
the bottom. The water can then be taken off the top.

Personally, I've never bothered with all that, assuming that the
infrequent times I've had to use tap water won't cause too much harm. I
try to collect rain water, although it's hard to store very much and I
usually run low around August. Utah is mostly desert, although not as
bad as Las Vegas, so we do get a bit more rain. But even a trace of
rain can amount to a gallon or two when collected from the rain
gutters.

John Green
Salt Lake City, Utah - USA <www.skiutah.com>



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:32:09 PST