boiling tap water???

baby1- · 12/19/2010, 08:21 AM

i mean can you boil all of the crap out of tap water for top off water ?i heard thats how they make holy water the priest just boils the hell out of it..lol but all kidding aside ive had 2 LFS go out of buisiness and im gonna need water soon, iknow RO/DI is the way 2 go but im laid off and until i can afford a unit what is a alternative ??????please help

MalHavoc · 12/19/2010, 08:28 AM

No. When you boil water, all you do is evaporate water. All of the impurities stay behind. If anything, you'd be concentrating them. Boiling water would kill any bacteria living in the water, but if your water is chlorinated that shouldn't be an issue anyway.

Another consequence of boiling water is that you drive off any dissolved oxygen. That would also make it less suitable for tank use, although that can be mitigated by running a powerhead or an airstone in it for a while.

Sk8r · 12/19/2010, 08:36 AM

In answer to where to get water, the kiosk that fills bottles at your grocery store is ro water. Don't get water off the shelves: it's sat in tanks too long. But straight from that filtration-machine is ok. If you do own a TDS, use it to be sure the ro water is as pure as it should be: otherwise just cross fingers---it's still going to be better than tap.

papa_dog · 12/19/2010, 08:37 AM

If I remember my high school chemistry correctly, boiling wont help, it'll actually make it worse. I believe the only thing boiling will do is remove the chlorine (and I am not sure about that). The problem is that the steam coming off the water is pure water and as you loose that pure water you are upping the concentration of the bad stuff in the water that is left behind. The only way to really utilize boiling is if you can catch the steam and use that water (can't remember the name of this process, but it's how they turn salt water into fresh water).

Myself, if you only have tap water available right now, I would simply use the tap water and add a good water conditioner like Prime to offset some of the bad stuff. Other option is to find a water store in your area that sells RO/DI cheap (there are a couple in my area) - just insure they are using the right type of membrane in their system (I believe there are a couple of different types and one is not good for fish - I think the bad one has nut shells in it?).

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
K

papa_dog · 12/19/2010, 08:41 AM

Looks like I type too slow, two people beat me - lol.

Forgot about the RO water filler at the Grocery Store - good idea if there isn't a dedicated water store in you area (the one I used here delivers, but gave you a discount if you picked it up and used your own containers).

snorvich · 12/19/2010, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk8r

In answer to where to get water, the kiosk that fills bottles at your grocery store is ro water. Don't get water off the shelves: it's sat in tanks too long. But straight from that filtration-machine is ok. If you do own a TDS, use it to be sure the ro water is as pure as it should be: otherwise just cross fingers---it's still going to be better than tap.

Good advice. In the long run an RO/DI may be less expensive and it will for sure be better. Make that your first purchase after economic recovery.

phenom5 · 12/19/2010, 11:33 AM

FWIW, I used RO water from one of the grocery front dispensers for several years. It's a crap shoot in terms of how well it's maintained, but for me it was better than my 300+TDS tap water. PITA hauling the 5g jugs, and costly over the long run, but that would be my option. A dedicated water store would be even better if you have one in your area, they typically have better maintained equipment than the store front dispensers.

rayn · 12/19/2010, 12:32 PM

If you boils and the steam is pure water, make up something like moonshiners and collect the pure water in a different container. You would just have to reoxygenate it.

bertoni · 12/19/2010, 02:25 PM

I agree that distilling water is possible, but if you're using electricity to provide the heat, I suspect it'd be very expensive. I'd go for distilled water from the grocery store in the short term, although that's pricey, too.

T Diddy · 12/19/2010, 02:27 PM

as mentioned, boiling will only concentrate impurities because the pure H2O is escaping as water vapor. If you can capture it with a distillation set up, then you'll have purified water.

Bloodritual · 12/19/2010, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by papa_dog

If I remember my high school chemistry correctly, boiling wont help, it'll actually make it worse. I believe the only thing boiling will do is remove the chlorine (and I am not sure about that). The problem is that the steam coming off the water is pure water and as you loose that pure water you are upping the concentration of the bad stuff in the water that is left behind. The only way to really utilize boiling is if you can catch the steam and use that water (can't remember the name of this process, but it's how they turn salt water into fresh water).

The collected steam is distilled water. It's much more expensive than RO/DI water though.

MalHavoc · 12/19/2010, 03:46 PM

You also need to be careful about *how* you collect the steam distilled water. Many distillers use copper tubing to collect the steam in order to re-condense it. Steam is very reactive and can easily pick up quite a bit of copper this way, which would be brutal for a reef tank.

Red_Blenny · 12/19/2010, 06:30 PM

Good idea on supermarket distilled water machines... where I live, some machines charge $1 for 5 gallons...

I get tap water and run it though chemi-pure elite for 2-3 days but that's not cost efficient.

weezyfella · 12/19/2010, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red_Blenny

Good idea on supermarket distilled water machines... where I live, some machines charge $1 for 5 gallons...

I get tap water and run it though chemi-pure elite for 2-3 days but that's not cost efficient.

$1 for 5 gallons is cheap. Here lfs sells it for .60-$1.50 per gallon. I would test the TDS from supermarket water

MalHavoc · 12/19/2010, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weezyfella

$1 for 5 gallons is cheap. Here lfs sells it for .60-$1.50 per gallon. I would test the TDS from supermarket water

I would test the TDS from anywhere.

Mr.Mcgibblets · 12/19/2010, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MalHavoc

I would test the TDS from anywhere.

A quick question sorry for the thread creep. I have been buying water from a RO machine at the grocery store, yesterday I got a TDS tester and the water registered 007. I know 0 is the goal but how high can the number get before you run into problems? Thanks.

bertoni · 12/19/2010, 11:53 PM

There's no limit that we can promise is safe. Copper is toxic at very low levels. If the TDS stays at the same level over time, it's a reasonable guess that the quality isn't dropping, but that's not necessarily true.

jeff@zina.com · 12/20/2010, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Mcgibblets

A quick question sorry for the thread creep. I have been buying water from a RO machine at the grocery store, yesterday I got a TDS tester and the water registered 007. I know 0 is the goal but how high can the number get before you run into problems? Thanks.

Seven is fine. Lowest is best, but you take the best you can get. At seven, it indicates the machine is RO without DI, and probably working well within parameters. What you're shooting for is a small percentage of the local tap water, and seven is better than 300.

Jeff

Bloodritual · 12/21/2010, 12:04 AM

As far as TDS goes I think it depends on what is dissolved in the water as far as tds. You can have calcium dissolved and tds can be a bit high and it wouldn't matter. If it was heavy metals then even at low levels it might be a problem. only way to find out is to test it. but then it can become pretty expensive that way, that's why we aim for as low TDS as possible cause we really are unsure what is in the water sometimes.

12/19/2010, 08:21 AM	#1
baby1- Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: st.louis, Mo. Posts: 378	boiling tap water??? i mean can you boil all of the crap out of tap water for top off water ?i heard thats how they make holy water the priest just boils the hell out of it..lol but all kidding aside ive had 2 LFS go out of buisiness and im gonna need water soon, iknow RO/DI is the way 2 go but im laid off and until i can afford a unit what is a alternative ??????please help

12/19/2010, 08:28 AM	#2
MalHavoc Infinitely Prolonged Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 10,850	No. When you boil water, all you do is evaporate water. All of the impurities stay behind. If anything, you'd be concentrating them. Boiling water would kill any bacteria living in the water, but if your water is chlorinated that shouldn't be an issue anyway. Another consequence of boiling water is that you drive off any dissolved oxygen. That would also make it less suitable for tank use, although that can be mitigated by running a powerhead or an airstone in it for a while. __________________ Jason "Empathy, he once had decided, must be limited to herbivores or anyhow omnivores who could depart from a meat diet. Because, ultimately, the empathic gift blurred the boundaries between hunter and victim, between the successful and the defeated." -- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K Dick

12/19/2010, 08:36 AM	#3
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	In answer to where to get water, the kiosk that fills bottles at your grocery store is ro water. Don't get water off the shelves: it's sat in tanks too long. But straight from that filtration-machine is ok. If you do own a TDS, use it to be sure the ro water is as pure as it should be: otherwise just cross fingers---it's still going to be better than tap. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

12/19/2010, 12:32 PM	#8
rayn Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Pekin, Il Posts: 2,864	If you boils and the steam is pure water, make up something like moonshiners and collect the pure water in a different container. You would just have to reoxygenate it. __________________ Currently changing, stay tuned for new details...

12/19/2010, 02:25 PM	#9
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	I agree that distilling water is possible, but if you're using electricity to provide the heat, I suspect it'd be very expensive. I'd go for distilled water from the grocery store in the short term, although that's pricey, too. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

12/19/2010, 08:37 AM	#4
papa_dog Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Toronto Posts: 65	If I remember my high school chemistry correctly, boiling wont help, it'll actually make it worse. I believe the only thing boiling will do is remove the chlorine (and I am not sure about that). The problem is that the steam coming off the water is pure water and as you loose that pure water you are upping the concentration of the bad stuff in the water that is left behind. The only way to really utilize boiling is if you can catch the steam and use that water (can't remember the name of this process, but it's how they turn salt water into fresh water). Myself, if you only have tap water available right now, I would simply use the tap water and add a good water conditioner like Prime to offset some of the bad stuff. Other option is to find a water store in your area that sells RO/DI cheap (there are a couple in my area) - just insure they are using the right type of membrane in their system (I believe there are a couple of different types and one is not good for fish - I think the bad one has nut shells in it?). Hope this helps. Cheers, K

12/19/2010, 08:41 AM	#5
papa_dog Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Toronto Posts: 65	Looks like I type too slow, two people beat me - lol. Forgot about the RO water filler at the Grocery Store - good idea if there isn't a dedicated water store in you area (the one I used here delivers, but gave you a discount if you picked it up and used your own containers).

12/19/2010, 11:33 AM	#7
phenom5 Unregistered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,096	FWIW, I used RO water from one of the grocery front dispensers for several years. It's a crap shoot in terms of how well it's maintained, but for me it was better than my 300+TDS tap water. PITA hauling the 5g jugs, and costly over the long run, but that would be my option. A dedicated water store would be even better if you have one in your area, they typically have better maintained equipment than the store front dispensers.

12/19/2010, 02:27 PM	#10
T Diddy Slayer of Mice Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Augusta, Ga Posts: 1,338	as mentioned, boiling will only concentrate impurities because the pure H2O is escaping as water vapor. If you can capture it with a distillation set up, then you'll have purified water. __________________ America's best are not in America. Current Tank Info: 140 Gallon DSA in-wall, foam/rock wall, DIY LED, 40g sump, Precision Marine Skimmer, 100 gallon refugium, NO3, PO4,NH3/4 undetectable, Mg, Ca, KH...eeehhhhhh?

12/19/2010, 03:46 PM	#12
MalHavoc Infinitely Prolonged Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 10,850	You also need to be careful about how you collect the steam distilled water. Many distillers use copper tubing to collect the steam in order to re-condense it. Steam is very reactive and can easily pick up quite a bit of copper this way, which would be brutal for a reef tank. __________________ Jason "Empathy, he once had decided, must be limited to herbivores or anyhow omnivores who could depart from a meat diet. Because, ultimately, the empathic gift blurred the boundaries between hunter and victim, between the successful and the defeated." -- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K Dick

12/19/2010, 06:30 PM	#13
Red_Blenny Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 345	Good idea on supermarket distilled water machines... where I live, some machines charge $1 for 5 gallons... I get tap water and run it though chemi-pure elite for 2-3 days but that's not cost efficient.

12/19/2010, 11:53 PM	#17
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	There's no limit that we can promise is safe. Copper is toxic at very low levels. If the TDS stays at the same level over time, it's a reasonable guess that the quality isn't dropping, but that's not necessarily true. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

12/21/2010, 12:04 AM	#19
Bloodritual Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 82	As far as TDS goes I think it depends on what is dissolved in the water as far as tds. You can have calcium dissolved and tds can be a bit high and it wouldn't matter. If it was heavy metals then even at low levels it might be a problem. only way to find out is to test it. but then it can become pretty expensive that way, that's why we aim for as low TDS as possible cause we really are unsure what is in the water sometimes.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Rusty tap water?	vsco	New to the Hobby	11	11/18/2010 09:54 AM
Another Tap water thread.. oh no. Tap water + only DI?	Ben_Im	Greater San Francisco Bay Area Reef Forum	7	06/25/2010 07:04 PM
Do you have to have RO water?-HELP!	nbku3vm	Reef Discussion	14	03/02/2010 04:45 AM
tap water and anemones	breakout	Anemones & Clownfish	6	10/19/2009 08:30 PM
RO/DI vs Boiled Tap Water	Davoaldo	New to the Hobby	15	02/27/2008 07:55 AM