Tap Water Question

Could you boil tap water to get harmful chemicals out of it, and then put it in the fridge to cool it back down, and then water the plants?

Would that be bad?
 

mistaphuck

Well-Known Member
you could filter it too boiling it would work but wouldn't it be a pain? I just use regular tap water but were hooked up to a well..
 

Crypnotic

Active Member
boiling just helps to get the chlorine out of the water faster. You can let it sit out in an open container for 24 to 48 hrs for the same effect. Make sure the water is at room temp when watering . . . some say cooler/hotter water can shock the plant. Charcol filter is the only thing I know of that get the minerals out. Might be some other type of filtration, but not area expertise lol
 

Nullis

Moderator
Lots of municipalities use chloramines as a secondary disinfectant, these chemicals are more stable than 'free chlorine' and they wont dissipate from the solution. Charcol filters help remove it. I would also be concerned about boiling water that I am about to give my plants just due to the fact that boiling removes any dissolved oxygen from the water. Plant roots like oxygen; the more that is dissolved in your irrigation water the better.

Gravity fed table top filters are a pain in the ass. I have recently been using one that even puts out super pure, wonderful tasting water. The problem is that it is very slow, and the price for replacement filters is ridiculous. At least I live in an area where my tap water comes out of the faucet around 68 ppm, so the filters last longer but it is still ridiculous. Reverse osmosis seems like it would have been a wiser investment now. Or perhaps some rain barrels.
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
Could you boil tap water to get harmful chemicals out of it, and then put it in the fridge to cool it back down, and then water the plants?

Would that be bad?
Boiling won't reduce most harmful chemicals. A charcoal filter, like a Brita, will reduce some harmful chemicals but doesn't do much to reduce hardness or minerals in water. What chemicals are you concerned about? You can always use r/o or distilled. You can buy r/o water at grocery store self serve water machines. It's much cheaper than distilled and almost as pure. Whenever using distilled or r/o water you may need a cal-mag supplement. If you want to learn more about water, click on the link in my sig. My water thread has everything you ever wanted to know about water and the various purficiation methods. Happy Growing.:weed:
 

gobbly

Well-Known Member
boiling will only remove chemicals which have a lower boiling point than water. It will not remove a lot of things. Boiling water is typically how you kill living things to make water safer to drink, it typically is not used to remove things unless you are talking about creating a distillery. You can get a breakdown on what is in your local water from your water utility. If you don't like what's in there use RO/DI or distilled water.
 
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