Charmeleon005
Member
Is water from the tap unhealthy? I have been using it in my dripper and mister so I wanted to know if I should stop.
p.s. If it helps I live in San Diego county CA
p.s. If it helps I live in San Diego county CA
Is tap water bad?
- Thread starter Charmeleon005
- Start date
Damicofam6
Established Member
I personally use RO water in my mister to reduce the chances of bacteria build up and it clogging but for my dripper i use tap water. I'm from Massachusetts and the water is fine. If you want to i think there are some water conditioners specifically for chameleons but I'm now 100% sure but you can also fill up buckets/jugs of water and let them sit overnight to let the chlorine come out.. In the end everybody has their own opinion on it but i think a good way to go is if you can drink it your cham can drink it.
Charmeleon005
Member
What is RO water?
Damicofam6
Established Member
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process in which water is forced through a semi-permeable membrane that removes 90-99% of tap water impurities. The result is water that is free of minerals and other contaminants. Membrane type determines the amount of dissolved solids a unit is capable of removing.
Charmeleon005
Member
Is this distilled water?I use that for my reptifogger because it contains no minerals to jack up the fogger.
Damicofam6
Established Member
Distilled water is water that has had many of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container. reverse osmosis. noun. A process by which a solvent such as water is purified of solutes by being forced through a semipermeable membrane through which the solvent, but not the solutes, can pass. reverse osmosis. got this off google
jcarlsen
Chameleon Enthusiast
I use distilled in my mister and tap treated with reptisafe for my dripper and spray bottle.
Lathis
Chameleon Enthusiast
Depending on the treatment process used by your local water treatment utility, letting water sit over night or boiling it does not necessarily remove chlorine. As more cities switch to chloramine over free chlorine, that advice is becoming an "old wives' tale".
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/free-chlorine-vs-chloramines-in-tap-water.113803/
There are also a ton of discussions about water types, treatment, and quality of you use the search function here. These are questions that come up regularly.
Rule of thumb, tap water us usually safe unless you have some reason to worry about your water: water softener installed in your house, well water, high metallic salt content, very hard water, etc.
If you are worried about the water quality, invest in a good RO system.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/free-chlorine-vs-chloramines-in-tap-water.113803/
There are also a ton of discussions about water types, treatment, and quality of you use the search function here. These are questions that come up regularly.
Rule of thumb, tap water us usually safe unless you have some reason to worry about your water: water softener installed in your house, well water, high metallic salt content, very hard water, etc.
If you are worried about the water quality, invest in a good RO system.
Nicholasdeaan
Avid Member
I buy 5 gallon jugs of Purified Water for $5 at Kroger. Doesn't clog the MistKing and it's cheap. Easy smeasy.
A decent RO system runs for a few hundred dollars. That's just the "low end" ones. And then replacing the filters costs money as well. I'm not sure how many gallons you can run through them first before them needing to be replaced though. I suppose in time in can pay for itself depending on what youre paying for the distilled water. It's all preference I guess.
A decent RO system runs for a few hundred dollars. That's just the "low end" ones. And then replacing the filters costs money as well. I'm not sure how many gallons you can run through them first before them needing to be replaced though. I suppose in time in can pay for itself depending on what youre paying for the distilled water. It's all preference I guess.
Lathis
Chameleon Enthusiast
FWIW, I use tap water with no extra treatment or reptile conditioner chemicals. I considered getting an RO system, but tabled it for the future.
My local water department still uses free chlorine (although they are planning to switch to chloramine eventually - cost and efficiency), and they use low levels of chlorine also. My water is semihard, but honestly, in three years of running a mistking, I'm still on my original nozzle. A dilute vinegar soak once a year or so when I replace the tubing seems to do the trick.
I worry about my pets less, but I do boil and treat the water before using for my aquatic frogs - not because of chlorine but because the low treatment level means there is lots of active algae in the water. It throws off the tank balance (and creates an "interesting" ecosystem in the toilet tanks, yuck).
My local water department still uses free chlorine (although they are planning to switch to chloramine eventually - cost and efficiency), and they use low levels of chlorine also. My water is semihard, but honestly, in three years of running a mistking, I'm still on my original nozzle. A dilute vinegar soak once a year or so when I replace the tubing seems to do the trick.
I worry about my pets less, but I do boil and treat the water before using for my aquatic frogs - not because of chlorine but because the low treatment level means there is lots of active algae in the water. It throws off the tank balance (and creates an "interesting" ecosystem in the toilet tanks, yuck).
Nicholasdeaan
Avid Member
Yeah see, I live in the suburbs of Indianapolis. I gave tap water a go at one time. Here's what I saw.
1. All the plants were getting covered in a white, dim residue from the chemicals and minerals in the water. Everything was starting to look dirty. I didn't want the chams lapping up the crap while drinking.
2. My nozzles started running slightly poor. As if I was losing p.s.i.
3. White residue on the end of the nozzles appeared. Quite a bit of it.
This was all less with in a week. So I started pumping purified water though my system. I'm still trying to get the white crummy stuff off of all the leaves.
So I guess really it does depend on the city you live in and how the tap water is treated. You seem to have no problems using it. Which would be nice! I had a few. But really it doesn't hurt to try. If you start to see nozzles getting clogged and etc., it's time to make a switch.
Extensionofgreen
Chameleon Enthusiast
What you were seeing was the result of minerals and salts in what is termed to be "hard water".
There are more cautions to consider, aside from what comes out of your tap, especially for keepers that house their chameleons outdoors for all or part of the year.
You've probably heard people say you shouldn't drink from a garden hose. It's not because of bacterial contamination, it's because in our infinite quest to add poison to everything we touch, lead is used in many garden hoses and the lead leaches into the water as the hose degrades from exposure to the sun and temperatures of an outdoor environment.
Be sure your hoses say safe for drinking water!
There are more cautions to consider, aside from what comes out of your tap, especially for keepers that house their chameleons outdoors for all or part of the year.
You've probably heard people say you shouldn't drink from a garden hose. It's not because of bacterial contamination, it's because in our infinite quest to add poison to everything we touch, lead is used in many garden hoses and the lead leaches into the water as the hose degrades from exposure to the sun and temperatures of an outdoor environment.
Be sure your hoses say safe for drinking water!
Lathis
Chameleon Enthusiast
You probably have a high mineral solids content - that will clog nozzles and create that white film. It doesn't hurt anything, but it's hard to get off without using vinegar or something acidic to remove the calcium salts, and it will clog nozzles - that's why I do the once-a-year vinegar soak. Our mineral solids content is on the higher side of average but not bad.
I did find our mineral content was too high for my pitcher plants, though - now I buy distilled water for them and they really bloom well since I stopped using tap water.
I did find our mineral content was too high for my pitcher plants, though - now I buy distilled water for them and they really bloom well since I stopped using tap water.
Nicholasdeaan
Avid Member
Yes I do. We must have high mineral content in our water then. That's what i stated before. That everything was getting covered in mineral dust. They were starting to clog rather quickly. Luckily water isn't to expensive. I think I'm going to try the vinegar. Just soak the cages with it using a small hand mister. Then let the mist system give it a good hour wash? It just makes some of the plants look like crap. Really dulls down their colors. Damn OCD.
Blang
Established Member
On my ro unit I have a valve that I can backflush my filters for longer life! And a TDs meter on the in & out lines that tells me my solids in my water!
Lathis
Chameleon Enthusiast
You could probably just wipe the surfaces with a wet rag dipped in dilute vinegar at attack the white spots - less to rinse off than spray, but yes, I think that would work. I spent this morning steam cleaning branches and vines, and I use a quat-based cleaner for the floor and non-porous, non-climbing surfaces. I need to do a vinegar wipe of the screen in some areas that see some overspray - those are really the only places I see that white build up from the water.
Nicholasdeaan
Avid Member
How much do your filters cost and what's the average life span after being flushed? You've got me interested!
Wiping the leaves one by one would take a long time! Lol I'm going to go with misting vinegar on the enclosure. Steam cleaning huh? That's clever.
ThomasFord
Member
i use tap water for my mister, should i switch? i mean i thought it was fine since there are minerals in tap water that you wont find in bottled water, im kinda new what do you guys recommend?
Blang
Established Member
Mine makes 100 gallons a day which is way more than I would ever use for misting or dripping! The back flushing ro unit makes the filters last longer than a unit without bflush valve! I don't know filter replacement cost yet cause I haven't had to replace them! The ro membrane costs the most but back flushing the ro unit gets rid of sediment & cleans the ro membrane!
Nicholasdeaan
Avid Member
That's a lot of H2O! Lol How long have you been running it? I'll definitely have to keep the back flush feature in mind if I ever decide to get one.
