Post by MoonStone on Sept 18, 2004 20:06:08 GMT -5
Hello All ;D
WOW! A lot of interesting posts I’ve missed during the week :-) Too bad I can only check the postings once a week for now.
Here is what I know about hard water and why it never even occurred to me to use tap water to polish my rocks here in CA:
I know of some of the the effects and problems that hard water could cause; hard water requires more soap, synthetic detergents, polishers, etc. for simple things like doing the laundry, general washing, car polishing (pro car washers use soft water), hair care, etc, etc, etc. I’ve been in the tropical fish hobby most of my life and one of my weekly tasks involves checking the water chemistry of my tap & water tanks. One of these task involves water hardness. In order to keep aquatic plants and most “tropical” fish alive I need a medium soft to neutral water (hd from 6.2 to 7). In order to have the glass and acrylic surfaces of my tanks unstained by hard water and clean I also have the need to use soft water and special polishers. In So CA the water is usually hard, my local tap water is usually around hd: 8, so I have to modify it in lots of ways in order to use it.
My aquarium hobby studies taught me that our tap hard water is not just a simple substance, it is actually a solution composed of many dissolved substances that VARIES depending of the area of the country in which you live.
Hard water accumulates a lot of dissolved substances before it reaches our houses. It’s hardness is a measurement of the concentration of ions (an atom or group of atoms carrying an electrical charge) such as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc etc, etc, usually obtained as rain filters through the soil and rocks.
For example: in our yearly LA water quality annual report booklet my local tap water contains;
aluminum, arsenic, barium, boron, bromate, calcium, chlorate, choride, chlorine, coliform, chromium, fluoride, haloacetic acids, magnesium, nitrate, phosphate, (as phosphorous) potassium, radionuclides (alpha, beta, radium and uranium), radon, selenium, silica, sodium, sulfate, tetrachloethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCF), trihalomethanes and turbidity.
WOW isn’t that a lot of stuff!
Of course they tell us that these components are below the dangerous levels, but, they recommend that some elderly, infants, people with weakened immune systems, undergoing chemotherapy, suffer from HIV/AIDS, transplants and so on... should seek professional medical advice before drinking the water. After heavy rains, floods, natural disasters, etc. the levels of those compounds could actually rise, and it is not recommended to drink tap water!
Remember, water hardness varies from place to place. In some places you could get soft, medium, hard, or in-between water hardness. Some of you might have naturally occurring soft water and you will not find any problems at polishing and tumbling stones, unfortunately some of you will, and could spend some of your valuable grit... polishing your rocks and also the included minerals that are in the water as well! A lot of different compounds together (even if minimal) do cause chemical reactions even if hardly noticed in some instances, like for example rocks dullness after being polished.
I use distilled water (water from which all gases and minerals have been removed) for drinking, to dilute hardwater and decrease the ph of my aquariums (one of the methods) and I’m using it now in my tumbler.
I’m just a fisherWOman who keeps my fish alive, tumble rocks, and like bowling (between other things)! Ha-ha-ha!!!
Just trying to help :-)
WOW! A lot of interesting posts I’ve missed during the week :-) Too bad I can only check the postings once a week for now.
Here is what I know about hard water and why it never even occurred to me to use tap water to polish my rocks here in CA:
I know of some of the the effects and problems that hard water could cause; hard water requires more soap, synthetic detergents, polishers, etc. for simple things like doing the laundry, general washing, car polishing (pro car washers use soft water), hair care, etc, etc, etc. I’ve been in the tropical fish hobby most of my life and one of my weekly tasks involves checking the water chemistry of my tap & water tanks. One of these task involves water hardness. In order to keep aquatic plants and most “tropical” fish alive I need a medium soft to neutral water (hd from 6.2 to 7). In order to have the glass and acrylic surfaces of my tanks unstained by hard water and clean I also have the need to use soft water and special polishers. In So CA the water is usually hard, my local tap water is usually around hd: 8, so I have to modify it in lots of ways in order to use it.
My aquarium hobby studies taught me that our tap hard water is not just a simple substance, it is actually a solution composed of many dissolved substances that VARIES depending of the area of the country in which you live.
Hard water accumulates a lot of dissolved substances before it reaches our houses. It’s hardness is a measurement of the concentration of ions (an atom or group of atoms carrying an electrical charge) such as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc etc, etc, usually obtained as rain filters through the soil and rocks.
For example: in our yearly LA water quality annual report booklet my local tap water contains;
aluminum, arsenic, barium, boron, bromate, calcium, chlorate, choride, chlorine, coliform, chromium, fluoride, haloacetic acids, magnesium, nitrate, phosphate, (as phosphorous) potassium, radionuclides (alpha, beta, radium and uranium), radon, selenium, silica, sodium, sulfate, tetrachloethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCF), trihalomethanes and turbidity.
WOW isn’t that a lot of stuff!
Of course they tell us that these components are below the dangerous levels, but, they recommend that some elderly, infants, people with weakened immune systems, undergoing chemotherapy, suffer from HIV/AIDS, transplants and so on... should seek professional medical advice before drinking the water. After heavy rains, floods, natural disasters, etc. the levels of those compounds could actually rise, and it is not recommended to drink tap water!
Remember, water hardness varies from place to place. In some places you could get soft, medium, hard, or in-between water hardness. Some of you might have naturally occurring soft water and you will not find any problems at polishing and tumbling stones, unfortunately some of you will, and could spend some of your valuable grit... polishing your rocks and also the included minerals that are in the water as well! A lot of different compounds together (even if minimal) do cause chemical reactions even if hardly noticed in some instances, like for example rocks dullness after being polished.
I use distilled water (water from which all gases and minerals have been removed) for drinking, to dilute hardwater and decrease the ph of my aquariums (one of the methods) and I’m using it now in my tumbler.
I’m just a fisherWOman who keeps my fish alive, tumble rocks, and like bowling (between other things)! Ha-ha-ha!!!
Just trying to help :-)