River water
- Thread starter FF MkII
- Start date
Good Question ive been thinking about this for a while myself, i tested river water not long ago, amonia 0 PH 6 and TDS 6 ovously it will change slightly but seems a good alternative to RO
Hi would seem a logical possibility, as long as you check the water parameters and test for diseases and parasites, wouldnt see why not able to use. cheers jk
all depends on what contaminants have entered the river, farmers spraying pesticides and soaking through the ground, fuel spills etc that get washed down, basically everything that goes down a storm drain enters the rivers, there is no direct control or testing of what enters our rivers
Yeah maybe your right, what about pond water then? That has the same parameters ive checkd
Looking at it, a pond has usually a plastic layer for the water. Normally fish and other aquatic life live through this including over winter. It would be a possibility, however it also depends in my view on how much water you will need and how large your pond is and if your pond has a filter or pump. Although tempting to use river or pond water, I use rain water tanks for my water which is a little better controlled. Also the logistics of transfering pond water to your tanks with pumpe etc seems expensive. Just my view. cheers jk
Hi all,
If you had a clean source of spring water it would be all right, a problem is that often the aquifers are limestone, so the water ends up very hard.
The problems for streams and rivers are the ones everyones stated, fertilisers, pesticides, lead from car tyres, salt after the roads have been salted etc. I think it is only an option if you have access to a trout stream flowing over rocks that aren't limestone.
Rain-water is usually a much better option, it is naturally distilled, so it only contains any pollutants it picks up on the whilst falling throught he atmosphere or from dust on the collection surface.
I've used rain-water for years (I live in the SW in an area without any heavy industry), and particularly in the winter, after it has rained a lot it is very pure water indeed. I use Daphnia as my "Guinea Pigs", I seed the water butts with them, and I draw the water I need before I use it (usually to let it warm up). Before I change any water I look for the Daphnia in the water butt water, asuming there are some and they are swimming around I'm good to go.
These are 3 of my water butts (I've got 2 at the front house as well)
cheers Darrel
If you had a clean source of spring water it would be all right, a problem is that often the aquifers are limestone, so the water ends up very hard.
The problems for streams and rivers are the ones everyones stated, fertilisers, pesticides, lead from car tyres, salt after the roads have been salted etc. I think it is only an option if you have access to a trout stream flowing over rocks that aren't limestone.
Rain-water is usually a much better option, it is naturally distilled, so it only contains any pollutants it picks up on the whilst falling throught he atmosphere or from dust on the collection surface.
I've used rain-water for years (I live in the SW in an area without any heavy industry), and particularly in the winter, after it has rained a lot it is very pure water indeed. I use Daphnia as my "Guinea Pigs", I seed the water butts with them, and I draw the water I need before I use it (usually to let it warm up). Before I change any water I look for the Daphnia in the water butt water, asuming there are some and they are swimming around I'm good to go.
These are 3 of my water butts (I've got 2 at the front house as well)
cheers Darrel
Thanks Darrel, would you say a filterd pond water is ok? My dad has a 18ft pond that is filterd and the TDS is 30-40 so much better than tap water, thought i could try that in my tanks, he is also running UV steriliser on the filteration. Ovously the amount of rain we`ve been having the pond will be mainly rain water!
Hi all,
Mac is right that RO is the only truly pure source where we know exactly what's in it (nothing hopefully). After that it is down to guesswork and probability.
cheers Darrel
Mac is right that RO is the only truly pure source where we know exactly what's in it (nothing hopefully). After that it is down to guesswork and probability.
it is probably all right, you have a large volume of water that will dilute any pollutants. Personally I'd use it, but there is always the risk of introducing parasites etc if it has fish in it?
cheers Darrel