Help me understand my City's water report (going to Prime or Safe instead of RO)

[Jer]

So I had another thread here about going to a different water change process than I currently have and have been doing for decades now. After much research I think I've decided I'm going to go to water treatment with Prime or Safe. After some searching I finally found our city's water report for 2010 (pdf). Keep in mind this is almost 2yrs ago now that we're nearing the end of 2011 but I think our water here is pretty good and pretty stable from what I've heard from others in the fish hobby. I was hoping that some of those who really understand this stuff could take a look and tell me if anything is missing or present that I should be concerned about. Looks like they treat it using chlorine as opposed to chrloramine so that is a bonus as I should be able to use 1/5 as much Prime/Safe to properly treat.

I would love as much input as you're willing to give me now that I've got an idea what the perimeters are of the tap water here.

 

[12 Volt Man]

looks like pretty a pretty standard water treatment process is used.

any normal water conditioner will do the trick.

just drain your tank, add the dechlorinator to the tank, and add the new water on top.

thats the easiest way. the new water will mix almost instantly with the old water + conditioner and work right away.

no more jugs.

if you have any specific questions let me know. I work in the industry (on the wastewater side) but the treatment process is identical except we have a biological step that drinking water treament doesn't have. we also disinfect with UV light as opposed to chlorine now.

 

[Gervahlt]

The only thing I'd add to what 12 Volt Man said is that whatever conditioner you choose should bind heavy metals. Your water's within normal tolerances, but definitely has a decent amount of both lead and copper. Also, as I said in the previous thread, I really don't think it makes much of a difference if the conditioner is added before the new water, during refill, or even just after. I would NOT let chlorinated water just sit in my tank for a long time before adding conditioner, however.

 

[Jer]

looks like pretty a pretty standard water treatment process is used.

any normal water conditioner will do the trick.

just drain your tank, add the dechlorinator to the tank, and add the new water on top.

thats the easiest way. the new water will mix almost instantly with the old water + conditioner and work right away.

no more jugs.

if you have any specific questions let me know. I work in the industry (on the wastewater side) but the treatment process is identical except we have a biological step that drinking water treament doesn't have. we also disinfect with UV light as opposed to chlorine now.

Thanks for the info. Appreciate it.

The only thing I'd add to what 12 Volt Man said is that whatever conditioner you choose should bind heavy metals. Your water's within normal tolerances, but definitely has a decent amount of both lead and copper. Also, as I said in the previous thread, I really don't think it makes much of a difference if the conditioner is added before the new water, during refill, or even just after. I would NOT let chlorinated water just sit in my tank for a long time before adding conditioner, however.

I plan to use either Prime (picked up a bottle yesterday) or Safe (powdered version that is cheaper to use than Prime) so I think they both bind metals. I think I should be good to use the normal dosage. I have a 75gal tank and usually drain about 1/2 the water and planned to use a cap full (or similar dosage of Safe) of Prime in the tank right before I added tap water back to tank. I'm thinking after reading all the posts and researching I will be fine with this approach.

 

[Warlock]

What does RO mean?

 

[Jer]

So I made my own Python/Aqueon and used it last night w/decent results. I would have liked more suction power but it was STILL far easier than my previous method. I added some Prime after I removed about 30gal and then filled it back up after taking a fair amount of time to get a temperature close enough that was safe to add back into the tank. The fish seem fine and if anything, more active & spritely so that's a good thing. There was an odd smell to the water this morning when I opened the lids to feed them but it wasn't too bad. I assume this is just the addition of minerals and possibly some byproduct of the chlorine conversion. I have a nose like a bloodhound though so I'm pretty sure it's nothing. Here's to hoping this continues working well and all the fish are healthy because I'm liking how well things went. It took a while and I made a mess with water a couple times due to getting the right order of opening/closing valves and faucets but I made far less mess than I have with all the years of carrying buckets and filling jugs w/RO water so it can only get better from here.

What does RO mean?

Reverse Osmosis.

 

[Warlock]

Oh ok what are the advantages/ disadvantages of RO water in relation to aquarium use?

 

[Jer]

Oh ok what are the advantages/ disadvantages of RO water in relation to aquarium use?

To keep this topic on track it might not be a bad idea to do a search since you're starting from ground zero on that topic. Lots of good information already on this forum and Google to answer these types of questions.

 

[Warlock]

To keep this topic on track it might not be a bad idea to do a search since you're starting from ground zero on that topic. Lots of good information already on this forum and Google to answer these types of questions.

Ok sorry didnt know and thank you