tap water versus filtered water

[ChasWG]

Colorado State law just recently changed allowing home owners to collect rain water that falls on their roofs. Meaning installing a rain collection device on your down spouts is no longer illegal.

I know what you're thinking, "Collecting rain water used to be illegal in Colorado?" Water law in Colorado is very complicated and people still get shot for throwing a water pump into someone else's river. The Eastern plains of Colorado (Denver) is called a high plains desert for a reason. It's freaking dry here even though right now is our "monsoon" season. Reletive humidity is up to a whooping 38%!!!!

So I recently bought a rain collection tank and now I have a 54 gallon supply of rain water and a few bugs right outside the door of my orchid area. I have been collecting rain and snow water for a while now. I add in the fertilizer mix that I get from the local orchid supplier and the plants are really showing a great improvement with new growth in the roots and the leaves. Would I be seeing the same thing with tap water? Not sure, but I know what works for me and I'm sticking with it.

Now my mother who also raises orchids waters her's with tap water and they look great too. So there you go.

It all depends...

[natasha]

i used tap water all the time, straight from the tap. i didn't collect rainwater, since i live in industrial area and the rainwater is known to be acidic. but perhaps i'll install entry point filter someday.

in fact if it didn't rain much, i'll usually water my chids since i want to flush the acidic rain water, only if it rains real heavy i'll let it be.

[Ray]

One of the issues with reverse osmosis systems is the relatively high ratio of pure-to-flush water, which typically runs about 1:4 or 5.

Not long ago I added "permeate pumps" to my product line, as they were supposed to boost the efficiency significantly. Within a short time of stocking them, I sold one to someone in Arizona, where water conservation is key. I just received a report back, and was told that with the permeate pump, the flush water produced is estimated to be less than 20% of what it was without it!

I have two RO systems - one in the greenhouse and one used "on-demand" to replenish water in an aquarium, and I put a pump on that one. Not only is the flush water stream a lot smaller, but the time it took to replace a couple of gallons was cut to about a third of what it was without it.

I highly recommend that anyone using an RO system add one, whether they get it from me or not! (Although that would be my preference!)

[Louis_C]

I remember most of my Chinese orchid book advice to fill tap water into a container keep cap unscrew. Let it sit for 24 for letting chlorine to get out. I believe you should adjust the pH if needed.