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Re: Subject: Who to contact at water company
Edward wrote:
>I think the most ideal way is to get a detailed water analysis
>from our local water department monthly and then custom-formulate our
>own water conditioner accordingly. Does such a service exist at all?
Sorry for the delay in replying, Edward.
I doubt that a company would have a service like that installed. My water
co. provides a water analysis report on the web (and through the mail)
which is updated once a year or so. It mostly contains data on potentially
toxic and dangerous water constituents such as E.coli, Cu, Pb, etc. and
added chemicals such as fluoride and chlorine. It doesn't contain data on
hardness, alkalinity and so on. As Wright pointed out, this is a report
required by the gov't and it runs a year or two behind, so I generally
ignore it for aquaria purposes. The only way I can get up-to-date info on
aquaria pertinent substances in useful units like ppm is by calling the lab
and asking. So, as long as the water co. is willing, I suppose you could
call the lab once a month and ask about current chlorine or chloramine, Cu,
etc. levels in the water supply and to find out if any special treatments
are being added or are planned.
I don't know enough of the chemistry involved to risk making my own
conditioner. If my water were to contain dangerously high levels of a
harmful substance that were beyond a commercial conditioner's ability to
neutralize, I'd either cut the tap water with R/O or just use reconstituted
R/O until levels returned to normal. I have chlorine in my water, so I can
avoid the current crisis by aging my tap water longer if I have to. I feel
fortunate in this respect. I second Wright's suggestion of using a
chlorine test kit. My kit tells me when my water is ready for use and it
gives me some peace of mind when I'm doing changes. I guess a Cu test
could also help if your water co. likes to use copper sulfate for
disinfection. What a rude surprise that mess in Mass must've been!
Chuck Huffine
Knoxville, Tennessee USA
mailto:grendel at usit_net