My water

[Barry Cooper <bjc3 at cornell_edu>]

Hi all,

Some of you have suffered through my previous messages wondering about my 
water, which I already know to be very soft and very alkaline, with 
significant buffering capacity. Recently I had speculated on the 
possibility that it had a lot of silicates. It seems I was right. Here is 
the full analysis, for which I just got results:

Ph 10.4; conductivity 172 us/cm; alkalinity 69.3; Phosphate P 0.01 ppm; 
Total Kjeldahl N <0.1 ppm; NH4-N 0.01 ppm; NO3-N 0.03 ppm; Ca 1.2 ppm; K 
1.43 ppm; Mg 0.023 ppm; Na 34.6 (units not given, I suppose ppm); Zn 0.006 
ppm; Pb <0.008 ppm; Si 15.2 ppm; Cl 1.5 ppm; Mn <0.002 ppm; Fe 0.002 ppm; 
Cu <0.002 ppm; As <0.01 ppm; Se <0.01 ppm; Cr <0.002

It seems like this water is essentially a solution of sodium silicates 
without much of anything else useful. The alkalinity in this case can be 
attributed to the sodium silicates.

I would like to be able to remove the silicates and would appreciate it if 
anyone knows of a method to do this. I know that RO units quickly lose 
their ability to remove silicates. Of course, that would leave me with 
something near distilled water. I will have to add something like RO Rite. 
Does anyone know of a cheap alternative, including homemade versions? RO 
Rite is expensive considering that the ingredients are cheap. Currently I 
add some CaCl2 and MgSO4. Some of that probably precipitates out as 
insoluble silicates.

I have also mentioned recently that I have no luck in growing java moss, 
which used to grow like a weed in my water in NY. I am wondering if this is 
simply due to nutrient deprivation. The Fe in this water is very low. 
Anyone know of a recommended Fe content in the water for non-rooted plants 
like java moss?

Barry

Barry J. Cooper, Prof. Emeritus, Dept. Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University
Adjunct faculty, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University
Home address: 27505 Riggs Hill Rd., Sweet Home, OR 97386 (bjc3 at cornell_edu)


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