Polar wrote:

On Thu, 06 Mar 2003 00:38:34 GMT, Zeuspaul
wrote:

Bottled water that has been processed with reverse osmosis is mineral free
unless minerals have been added back for flavor. I get RO water at the
local water store for 25 cents per gallon.

Is this for drinking or watering gard en?

If for drinking, and you get it from a dispenser, caveat! The filters
and general cleanliness at supermarket dispensers leave much to be
desired.



--
Polar

Agreed. I don't buy water from the water vending machines anymore as the
filters may not well maintained. One smelly fill and that was the end of that.

We have a lot of water stores here in SoCal with multi-stage water processing.
One still has to be careful with the water stores as some do not change their
filters at proper intervals. If I detect any odor whatsoever I don't go back.
I also make ice with the water. If the ice is not clear then I don't use the
water either. Clear ice is a good indication that the RO process is working.
Cloudy ice is an indication of gas or minerals in the water.

Zeuspaul

On Fri, 07 Mar 2003 00:37:56 GMT, Zeuspaul
wrote:



Polar wrote:

On Thu, 06 Mar 2003 00:38:34 GMT, Zeuspaul
wrote:

Bottled water that has been processed with reverse osmosis is mineral free
unless minerals have been added back for flavor. I get RO water at the
local water store for 25 cents per gallon.

Is this for drinking or watering gard en?

If for drinking, and you get it from a dispenser, caveat! The filters
and general cleanliness at supermarket dispensers leave much to be
desired.



--
Polar

Agreed. I don't buy water from the water vending machines anymore as the
filters may not well maintained. One smelly fill and that was the end of that.

We have a lot of water stores here in SoCal with multi-stage water processing.
One still has to be careful with the water stores as some do not change their
filters at proper intervals. If I detect any odor whatsoever I don't go back.
I also make ice with the water. If the ice is not clear then I don't use the
water either. Clear ice is a good indication that the RO process is working.
Cloudy ice is an indication of gas or minerals in the water.

Question: Why not just filter your drinking water at home -- whether
with a free-standing, or attached filter device?

That way you can monitor the filter-changing interval.



--
Polar

jammer wrote:
: My striped dracaena is said to need distilled water. Can i boil and
: cool water and use it? This is kind of an emergency as the leaves have
: to be cut off now as it is. I want to repot it but have no water. Can
: i boil and cool water and use that?

As others pointed out, go for rainwater or distilled water. Dracaena and
others, for example, spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum), are sensitive
to salts in the soil and will show browning at the tips in response.

Using tapwater in areas where water is treated can lead to problems since
it can be fairly high in pH as well. In our area, the tapwater is at a pH
of 8.4 and that's not unusual.

I have always found that indoor plants do MUCH better on rainwater than
tapwater. In addition to being free of mineral salts, rainwater is also
naturally acidic and carries a little bonus of dissolved nitrogen.
Unpolluted rainwater is at about 5.6. Many container plants benefit from
this. Potting soil can become alkaline over a period of time from buildup
of mineral salts.

Virginia Tech has an excellent set of factsheets on houseplants:
http://www.ext.vt.edu/cgi-bin/WebObj...at=ir-ln-ig-pp

-- Karen

The Garden Gate http://garden-gate.prairienet.org
================================================== =================
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
^and cats -- Cicero
================================================== =================
On the Web since 1994 Forbes Best of Web 2002

Polar wrote:

On Fri, 07 Mar 2003 00:37:56 GMT, Zeuspaul
wrote:



Polar wrote:

On Thu, 06 Mar 2003 00:38:34 GMT, Zeuspaul
wrote:

Bottled water that has been processed with reverse osmosis is mineral free
unless minerals have been added back for flavor. I get RO water at the
local water store for 25 cents per gallon.

Is this for drinking or watering gard en?

If for drinking, and you get it from a dispenser, caveat! The filters
and general cleanliness at supermarket dispensers leave much to be
desired.



--
Polar

Agreed. I don't buy water from the water vending machines anymore as the
filters may not well maintained. One smelly fill and that was the end of that.

We have a lot of water stores here in SoCal with multi-stage water processing.
One still has to be careful with the water stores as some do not change their
filters at proper intervals. If I detect any odor whatsoever I don't go back.
I also make ice with the water. If the ice is not clear then I don't use the
water either. Clear ice is a good indication that the RO process is working.
Cloudy ice is an indication of gas or minerals in the water.

Question: Why not just filter your drinking water at home -- whether
with a free-standing, or attached filter device?

That way you can monitor the filter-changing interval.

--
Polar

I used to filter my own water. However I believe the water store can do a better
job. They use a dual pass RO process. They also use UV to sterilize. I believe
they use about seven filters. If I were to try and duplicate their process it would
take up a lot of real estate in my garage not to mention the maintenance.

I wouldn't save very much either as RO filters have to be replaced as well as the
other filters. 25 cents a gallon for properly filtered water is a good price. I
use a store on the way to work so it is also convenient.

If there were not a quality water store near by at a reasonable price I would filter
my own.

Regards

Zeuspaul