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Austin Water
Steve Benz,
>> But the interesting bit was that after many many
>> months of dormancy, the reduced Ph triggered the crispus plants to
>> come back - they quickly grew leaves of about three inches before
>> settling back into the normal pattern of this tan
Just a comment, but I'm familiar with your water having lived in that area twice
before. When you added the acid to lower the pH it also creates carbon dioxide
in the water. To the point where if you use Tetra's pH down product, which is
sulphuric and hydrochloric acid, it warns you to cease CO2 injection. So maybe
there were reacting to the rare CO2 in your water.
Either way your water there is interesting, depending on where you live it may
have ammonia and phosphates in it as well. If you live in an area that gets
its water from the Edwards Aquifer then you are getting some of the best
drinking water in the world as well has some of the hardest water you can find.
Hardness 300+ppm. This stuff is filtered through a minimum of 45 years worth
of limestone. I had to revert to RO water and reconstitute it to grow a wide
range of plants when I lived there. But what you can do is go to the Parks and
Wildlife people in San Marcos or New Braunsfil and get permission to collect
some of the native plants in the San Marcos River or her sister river the Comal
(sp?) River. These are beautiful plants, including a purple one I could never
ID, that are perfectly suited for your local water, and to boot they are
healthy and free. Both rivers are periodically cut and mowed so you can also
call Aquarina Springs and find out when they are going to cut. Nobody minds
you getting a few plants before they mow them anyway.
Another excellent source for plant information as it relates to Austin water is
the Southwest Texas Aquatic Biology Department.
Besides, even if you can't grow some of the softer water plants as well as
others blessed with better water, just think, you have 6th Street.
Doug