Drinking Water Okay?

I just got in to saltwater tanks, and I have a mini 3 gal. I was wondering if (in order to keep the salinity level and adjust for evaporation) if I could, instead of using tap or store bought RO/DI water, use purified drinking water (Niagara brand). It says it is "Processed by Ozonation, Advanced Filtration, and Reverse Osmosis Technologies. Anyone?

 

Well, it is RO water, so it would be suitable IMO. There are machines which you can use to fill buckets or water jugs and that is a lot cheaper. I pay 35 cents per gallon. Now you do take a chance on how good the water quality really is. But more often than not, they are well maintained. My drinking water at home here has a TDS reading of 82ppm. The water in the garbage can that I get from the machine reads 3ppm. So while it is not zero....it is still a lot better than the alternative.

 

Certain minerals and trace elements are added back into bottled water after it has been run through an ro/di unit so I wouldn't use it.

 

THis may be your answer since you won't need alot of water. It just attaches to your kitchen sink and can be removed when you are done.

Tap Water Filter from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals

 

Typically what is added by bottlers is MgSO4, NaHCO3 and other actually beneficial compounds plus they are in such small amounts it wouldn't be of issue. At least in my eyes....

Oh, only poor cheap water sources add the sodium bicarbonate, otherwise you will see a potassium compound or a calcium compound but mostly a mag sulfate or similar compound....

 

No offense to Onjinsan or Mars candy bars but that Tap water filter is garbage, at least if you have a TDS of more than say 50ppm from your tap.
I got one free from my API rep... I was telling him it is garbage so he told me to try one out. Needless to say the freebie proved my point that it is garbage. From my tap, I got less than 10 gals of water until the water started coming out smelling absolutely AWFUL!! Granted my TDS is like 300ppm coming from the tap, it was significantly cheaper for me, even with a discount on the replacement cartridge, to buy 35 cent gallons at the store than it was to replace the tap water filter.

I say go with the store RO water or save up for you own.
Thats my 35 cents!!

Happy water making!

 

Thanks for your personal experience Dr. Frag. When I used it I never measured the TDS, and I never got more than 20 to 25 gal per unit out of the thing, but back then it was all I had available. I won't recommend it in the future.