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Possible solution for hard water?



Hi all.

I was thinking about my open-top 55 gallon, and how it loses water pretty
fast, and how I hate to replace it with our liquid-rock tapwater.  I looked
over at my 2.5 gallon tank, and saw the evaporated water sticking to the
glass top.  The evaporated water is "clean", is it not?  I know that when
water evaporates from a puddle of hard water, the "goodies" in the water
remain stuck to the ground.  I was thinking that a good, cheap way to get
soft water without resorting to expensive RO systems might be to build an
evaporator of some sort.  I was thinking maybe something made of plexigless
filled with water and left in the sun might work.  This drawing is something
that I thought of in about 15 seconds, so if it has holes in the plan, feel
free to draw up a different one. :)  Or, if the drawing didn't survive the
translation to the list, never mind.


                                                                        ^
                                                                    /
\       <---------plexiglass
                                                                /
\
                                                            /
\
                                                        /
\
                                                      /           \__h20__/
\
                                                    /                     II
\
                                           \      /                       II
\      /
                                             \_______clean h2o___________/


  The condensation forms on the plexiglass, and drips down the sides,
collecting in the drip pan below.  Now the reason I think I could have a go
at this is because I live in florida, where the sun shines pretty much
non-stop, and the temperature never gets to the freezing point, so....  Tell
me what you think.

Matt