Calgary Water

[jslaney]

I was just wondering if anyone knows how Calgary treats its water?

For my fresh water top ups I am simply letting a bucket of tapwater sit for at least 24 hours so all the chlorine evaporates. Other then that I dont treat it.

I remember hearing that if cities use Chrloramine it takes longer to dissipate.
This is my first tank and things are not progressing at the rate I would like them to. Just wondering what other people think of my system. I seem to have to replace a gallon of water a day to evap. Damn Calgary is dry.

[Delphinus]

I go through a lot of topup too, lots-o-evap. AFAIK, Calgary still doesn't use chrolamine (should be able to check calgary.ca to doublecheck though), nevertheless I use RO/DI though just to avoid seasonal fluctuations if nothing else. I did run tapwater for a long time though without ill effects, but I like using RO/DI better.

[jslaney]

RO/DI will be in the future.

[Black Phantom]

Try this link. It should help out.

http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server....Parameters.htm

[jslaney]

So it looks like its not chloramine.

That table will also be helpful when I start dosing Calc and Mag as I will know what the water generally contains allready.

Thanks,

Jon.

[AndyL]

No, not chloramines as of yet, however bearspaw currently has - and glenmore should by next year have the ability to be using chloramines.

We'd expect there would be some kind of notice if they were to start this, however it is the city... So I tend to check for ammonia (what else am I gonna use those silly freshwater ammonia test strips for? They're going to expire in 2010...) every few weeks just to be sure...

[Kryptic4L]

cant say im huge on tap water, im not sure on the condition of the pipes in my house, also they are copper and copper is bad.

[amoreira]

Has great hardness, but has in it significant Phosphate (~2 - 3 ppm), which is high enough to cause algae problems. So I run it through RO/DI to get rid of that and silicates (also causes diatom problems). Why take a chance and start with pure water. It cuts out all the variables, but the quality of your salt mix. Then if you buy the best (Reefers Choice, Reef Chrystals, H2Ocean Pro+ etc.), then you should have no water chemistry or nutrient issues.

[phreezee]

I have RO/DI and I prefer tapwater. No problems with nuissance algae, just tonnes of coralline algae (which has become a nuissance to scrap off the glass lol).

Advantages:
1) Saves time
2) Saves $ on Ca supplements

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by phreezee

I have RO/DI and I prefer tapwater. No problems with nuissance algae, just tonnes of coralline algae (which has become a nuissance to scrap off the glass lol).

Advantages:
1) Saves time
2) Saves $ on Ca supplements

Wow, one of the rare people to post something like this. How long have you been running your tank like this and what are you keeping with regard to livestock?

I don't have RO/DI at this time so I've been getting by with tap water treated for chlorine/chloramine for over two years now with no major issues. Yes, I have some hair algae but it's certainly not out of control and my livestock is doing well, including some soft coral and a hammer coral, which was added fairly recently. Coralline algae growth is also very strong and I have a BTA that's been in the tank for almost two years. Looks like I may need to start dosing calcium for the hammer coral though. I've been keeping tabs on the Greater Vernon Services site for water quality to get an idea of what's in my source water. Some of the things we keep an eye on such as calcium, magnesium, alkalinity and ph are at pretty good levels from the source:

North Kalamalka Lake Intake Water Quality 2008
Water System: Greater Vernon Water
Source: Kalamalka Lake
Facility: Kal Lake Pumpstation
Sampling Point: Kal Lake Intake
Date: 7/14/2008

INORGANIC Results (mg/L unless noted)

Aluminum <0.050
Antimony <0.0030
Arsenic <0.0050
Barium 0.027
Boron 0.021
Cadmium <0.00010
Calcium 40.6 (tap water from my kitchen faucet tested at 40 on 15 Jan 2009 using Hagen test kit)
Chloride 5.38
Chromium <0.015
Copper <0.0030
Cyanide < 0.01
Fluoride 0.24
Iron <0.20
Lead <0.001
Magnesium 19.8
Manganese <0.0050
Mercury <0.00030
Molybdenum 0.005
Nitrate (as N) 0.069
Nitrite (as N) <0.010
Potassium 5.07
Selenium <0.0050
Sodium 18.4
Sulphate 51
Uranium 0.003
Zinc 0.011

PHYSICAL Results (mg/L unless noted)

Alkalinity (as CaCO3) 152
Colour <5 TCU
Conductivity 409 microS/cm
Hardness (as CaCO3) 183
pH 7.8
Total dissolved solids 238
Turbidity 1.0 NTU
UV Transmittance @254(%) 91%

Obviously there is further treatment/filtration downstream of this source but I'm starting to rethink my requirement for a RO/DI unit. The TDS of the source water is definitely a bit high, but other than that I don't see anything to get too alarmed about. Perhaps someone with better knowledge of water chemistry can comment on the above numbers.