[weez1959]

I went out and bought a bottle of spring water today from Walmart, only for the container because I needed the jug to make up salt water for my nano.

Anyways I decided maybe I could use this water but first I tested it with my TDS meter. To my complete surprise, it gave me a 326 reading! Of course I changed my mind about using it but... what on earth is in this water? What exactly does a TDS find?

[Reefland]

Holy smokes, that is worse than tap water. Here is a good article on TDS:
What is TDS? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

[weez1959]

Hmm, interesting, but it's still disturbing to know that I PAID for water that is worse than my tap water! Is all spring water that high?

[wozza]

spring water is full of "minerals" and stuff so i think so

[kevinpo]

Hello,
Bottled water lists the additives but when it’s spring water and there are no additives just all natural spring water they don’t have to. It just has to meet the Federal and state drinking water standards. We also have spring water bottled by CCDA L.L.C. owned by Coca-Cola Company and it doesn’t list any ingredients. I found an old water bottle from Kirkland and it says Premium Drinking Water with minerals added for taste. Ingredients are listed on the label as follows:
Purified water
Potassium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate
Calcium chloride
Sodium chloride
Magnesium chloride
Sounds like many of the additives we add for stony coral growth . These salts will make the TDS jump but are good for humans and improve the taste. Very pure water is not good for us long term and doesn’t taste good.

The salt mixes we use have the salts needed in the proper ratios and amounts for most animals we keep.

Regards,
Kevin

[weez1959]

Does that make spring water ok for fish tanks?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by weez1959

Does that make spring water ok for fish tanks?

I guess that depends on the source (the spring). Of course, first off, you have to actually believe that it really came from a spring.

Why would you consider "spring" water instead of distilled water or R.O. water? I'm sure they sell it right there at the same place where you bought the "spring" water.

The reason people think they like spring water is because of the taste. If it were really pure water, it wouldn't have any taste at all. It's the dissolved minerals that give it all that taste.

As far as bottled "drinking" water is concerned, most of it is just tapwater that has been filtered. That's what CocaCola and Pepsi use for their expensive "drinking" water -- tapwater!

[weez1959]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Why would you consider "spring" water instead of distilled water or R.O. water?

I wasn't considering it at all since I have an RO/DI unit but was just curious about it since I just poured it all into smaller bottles so I could use the jug for my RO/DI water.
Either way that reading was so high it scared me!

[charlie]

Don't drink the water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[weez1959]

I used it to water my plants, I hope they don't drop dead!

[charlie]

Originally Posted by weez1959

I used it to water my plants, I hope they don't drop dead!

This lends a fine picture to one's imagination!!!

[kevinpo]

The problem in using water that has minerals in it is that we don't know how much of what mineral is in it. The challenge is not with the intial fill but rather the top-off water additions over time. If some of the minerals are not used they will build up and often lead to algae outbreaks 12-18 months down the road.
High mineral content water is not recommended for most plants either as salt buildup over time can be damaging.

Regards,
Kevin

[weez1959]

Thanks Kevin,
I wasn't actually thinking of buying bottled spring water for my plants either so they'll be safe. Although my plants seem to enjoy torture, I've had the same plants for more than 20 years now and I'm always forgeting to water them but somehow they continue to grow and grow and grow!