Tap water is no good - affordable alternatives?

[robertiv]

My local well tap water is both very hard and according to my recent testing has a pretty high nitrate load (20+ ppm give or take) right out the faucet. I had previously been doing a 50-50 bottled spring water & tap water in my tank, but with those nitrates I feel the tap should be avoided altogether. However even that 50-50 got expensive quickly just with my medium sized 38g setup. A switch to full bottled water would be way too much for my budget considering weekly 50% changes for a year - over $1k ish/year just for water changes at the prices I've been paying.

Anyone else have this situation? Is there a way to get cheaper spring water (I've just been buying 5g jugs at the store)? Any other tricks to get good quality water for a reasonable price? I've only been doing this for about 18 months so feel free to share any basic options, they're all probably new to me.

Bummer is, I live 100 yards over a city line and on the other side the water quality is fantastic. Oh well.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Maybe invest in a reverse osmosis unit

 

[robertiv]

How are those typically used? A mixture of spring/tap and the RO water?

 

[Retired Viking]

I use RO water I buy at a Caligan soft water dealer for 29 cents a gallon. I buy it in 5 gallon jugs that I refill. I mix it with tap water.

 

[AbbeysDad]

If I was you, I would filter the water using API Nitra-Zorb. Now I'm using a discontinued API Tap Water Filter, but it would be easy to build one (or have one built) with PVC pipe. Then you can address the hardness (which may be fine with a slight additive)...this blog post should help:

Contact Support

Note: API Nitra-Zorb is rechargeable with ordinary non-iodized salt water. I get about 200 gallons before needing to recharge and I've put over 8000 gallons through the filter with the same resin and still going!!!

 

[AbbeysDad]

Additional Nitra-Zorb note: The product is sold in pouches intended to be used in an aquarium filter. It works, and is rechargeable several times, but the use life is limited as detritus coats the resin pellets. However, using it to pre-filter clean fresh water, the product has an amazingly long use life.

 

[Guppy10]

Ro unit is cheap enough n will solve all your problems. £50 off amazon was last I seen.

 

[Colin_T]

You can use a reverse osmosis (R/O) unit but they have a lot of waste water.
You can make a solar still and distill your own water.
You could drive or walk up the road and fill up some containers from the other county and use that water.

R/O units are like a water filter. The tap water gets pushed through plastic containers that contain various media that removes minerals and chemicals. Most units have a 2:1 ratio where they waste 2 litres of water for every 1 litre of pure water that is produced. The best units have a 1:1 ratio where they waste 1 litre of water for every 1 litre of pure water they produce.

R/O units produce water slowly so you have them running overnight and collect the water in a large holding container. When you have enough water you use it to do water changes.

-------------------
A solar still can be made from a plastic storage container, plastic bucket, and a couple of rocks.

You put the plastic storage container outside in the sun.
Half fill the container with tap water.
Put the bucket in the middle of the storage container.
Put a non porous rock in the bucket to hold it down.
Put the lid on the storage container.
Put another rock/ weight on the lid near the middle.

As the water evaporates, it condenses on the underside of the lid. The rock on the lid causes it to sag in the middle and the condensed water runs towards the middle before dripping into the bucket. When the bucket is full you take the water and put it in a storage container before replacing the bucket and topping up the storage container with more tap water.

The water that collects in the bucket is pure water with nothing in it.

You can use a number of these set ups to get more water but it is slow. It works best in the sun and if you put some black plastic over the outside of the container, it works better. You can use the same set up indoors in a warm room but outside in full sun and under black plastic is the quickest way.

-------------------
If you know someone who lives in the area with the better water, ask them if you can grab some water each week. If not, find a tap and fill up some plastic water containers and take them back home. If anyone asks, just say you are homeless and need some water. If you do this, don't wear nice clean neat clothes.

-------------------
You can have a plastic storage container full of tap water and put some floating plants in it. Give them lots of light and let them remove the nitrates. The plants won't reduce the GH but will remove the nitrates over time.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Some considerations with RO or RO/DI units:
- RO units need 50-80psi to force water through the membrane. You may need an additional pump if your well/pump system is less (Mine is on a 30/50 psi controller so I opted out).
- RO systems produce about 4 gallons of waste water for every 1 gallon of RO water.
- You will need to remineralize RO water to be suitable for fish and plants, so there's an additional cost.

@Colin_T has a point - if you don't mind hauling water, perhaps you have family or a friend not too far away with better water???

I would still opt for $10 worth of PVC & fittings and $50 worth of API Nitr-Zorb. The only tricky part is the faucet adapter.