Boiling tap water...

[hotjeepinmomma]

My lfs told me that if you can't afford RO water to use tap water and boil it to get the impurities out of it, then do the same steps we do for a water change, she says she does it at home with her tanks...any one does this good idea bad idea?? Thanks!

 

[hotjeepinmomma]

Originally Posted by hotjeepinmomma
My lfs told me that if you can't afford RO water to use tap water and boil it to get the impurities out of it, then do the same steps we do for a water change, she says she does it at home with her tanks...any one does this good idea bad idea?? Thanks!
no body got anything to say???

 

[geridoc]

Terrible, terrible, and very terrible BS. Boiling water makes it hot, but does nothing about any impurities other than volatiles, mainly chlorine. This is a technique that is used in freshwater fishkeeping by those who don't trust chlorine remover, but no one else. Take a look at your watch - whatever time it says, it is time to find another lfs!

 

[ifirefight]

Boiling water is good if your purpose is to remove harmful bacterial. Boiling water does not remove toxic metals nor chemicals.

 

[scotts]

The ONLY way this would work is if you boiled the water and collected the steam and them condensed the steam back into water, like in a still when they made moonshine. As a matter of fact you can buy this and it is called destilled water.
Boiling water will kill any bacteria in the water, but it will not remove the impurities. To prove it do this, take a pot of water and boil it until all the water is gone. Then look at the "stuff" that is in your pot. That is the impurites that you want to remove, and that is removed with an RO unit.
You know you can buy RO or DI water at the store don't you?

 

[hotjeepinmomma]

Originally Posted by Scotts
The ONLY way this would work is if you boiled the water and collected the steam and them condensed the steam back into water, like in a still when they made moonshine. As a matter of fact you can buy this and it is called destilled water.
Boiling water will kill any bacteria in the water, but it will not remove the impurities. To prove it do this, take a pot of water and boil it until all the water is gone. Then look at the "stuff" that is in your pot. That is the impurites that you want to remove, and that is removed with an RO unit.
You know you can buy RO or DI water at the store don't you?
Huh good point i didn't know what she was talking about! Like what stores??

 

[ophiura]

Actually it does exactly the opposite. It boils of the pure water and leaves behind a concentrated soup of the impurities.
So in short, this, sad to say, would be exceedingly counterproductive...and BTW I would not trust ANY advice on ANYTHING from this LFS. THis is very basic stuff, IMO. Plain tap water would be better than doing this.

 

[big]

They must not sell RO units! LOL

Find a better LFS, boiling would kill living organisms in the water. BUT the fact of boiling would take away a percentage of only the water (the H2O that evaporated) leaving the impurities still there.... Actually a somewhat higher percentage than before boiling........... Warren

 

[big]

Originally Posted by ophiura
Actually it does exactly the opposite. It boils of the pure water and leaves behind a concentrated soup of the impurities.
So in short, this, sad to say, would be exceedingly counterproductive...and BTW I would not trust ANY advice on ANYTHING from this LFS. THis is very basic stuff, IMO. Plain tap water would be better than doing this.

Heck you all typed all that before I could finish my little one!!

 

[hotjeepinmomma]

Originally Posted by big
Heck she typed all that before I could finish my little one!!

Okay thanks all, i didn't believe her so i had to ask you guys! I would go to a another fish store but they are the only ones by me i'd have to drive an hour and a half for a another one so...but thanks i will have to check with walmart to see if they sell RO or Di water!

 

[cprdnick]

I go to the LFS's here to look, and possibly to buy stuff if the price is right. For all of my advice and lernin, I come to SWF.com. All the stuff on this site just makes sence.

 

[reefmate75]

Originally Posted by hotjeepinmomma
Okay thanks all, i didn't believe her so i had to ask you guys! I would go to a another fish store but they are the only ones by me i'd have to drive an hour and a half for a another one so...but thanks i will have to check with walmart to see if they sell RO or Di water!
LOWES, HOME DEPOT< most home inprovment stores sell RO/DIs and the filters for them...they are costly though

 

[t316]

Just another example of a lfs setting up a repeat customer. They knew you would have problems doing this, and would return for more advice, at which point they would happily sell you some chemicals to solve the problem. Good Job getting educated soon

 

[ophiura]

It is far cheaper to search online and not get them from Lowes, etc. There are many discount versions available.

 

[al mc]

Originally Posted by ophiura
It is far cheaper to search online and not get them from Lowes, etc. There are many discount versions available.

Consider googling words such as typhoon, air and water, apec and melevsreef
and you may be surprised at what type of water purification systems you can find for swf enthusiasts

'O'..I knew you could not mention these directly...just thought I would do it for you

 

[t316]

check out thefilterguys as well

 

[fatcat]

I worked for a place that installed R/O units. And boiling water would bring the TDS reading up. Even if you take your normal RO/DI which should have a TDS reading of 0-20ppm but if you boiled it the TDS would be more like 300-400. So in short the {EDIT LANGUAGE} is wrong.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by ophiura
Actually it does exactly the opposite. It boils of the pure water and leaves behind a concentrated soup of the impurities.
So in short, this, sad to say, would be exceedingly counterproductive...and BTW I would not trust ANY advice on ANYTHING from this LFS. THis is very basic stuff, IMO. Plain tap water would be better than doing this.
This is exactly what I was thinking while reading this. Boiling the water would concentrate the impurities, much as evaporation does in the tank. Buy some RO from a local store if you cannot afford a unit of your own.

 

[t316]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
This is exactly what I was thinking while reading this. Boiling the water would concentrate the impurities, much as evaporation does in the tank. Buy some RO from a local store if you cannot afford a unit of your own.

Scotts wasn't saying that this would work if you used the "boiled water". Scotts is talking about the vapors/steam that is escaping the boiling pot. All of the impurities are left in the pot. This steam is thus "distilled water". Though not as pure as RODI, it does not have the impurities, and it sure made the moonshiners feel good

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by hotjeepinmomma
My lfs told me that if you can't afford RO water to use tap water and boil it to get the impurities out of it, then do the same steps we do for a water change, she says she does it at home with her tanks...any one does this good idea bad idea?? Thanks!
As stated, you would have to collect the steam from the boiling water for this to be effective.