Drinking Water - Tap Filter

Hello All,

Was wondering if anyone has some advice on what is a good filter method\system to use at home to filter tap water for drinking.

Thanks,

 

All I can afford is a Bita water filter I fill up and keep in the fridge....tested it once and gets rid of the chlorine @ least....

 

I don't know if you guys in Gauteng are aware of the increasing levels of sulfate in your water, are you? This in general has come from run-off from the mine dumps into the Vaal River, but this is increasing due to the acid mine water seeping into river systems. The levels are getting to the point where they should be taken notice of for human consumption, but they pose a serious problem for aquarium water as well. With high sulfate levels you can have sulfurous black deposits in your filters if you have anaerobic areas and this can be toxic to your fishes.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

@Dirk Bellstedt, can you explain more about the sulfurous black deposits? Would this also effect the tank itself by leaving black marks on the glass & decor like algae would?

 

Ive had this black sulphurous stuff in my hood filters before. You can actually smell the sulphur, but I havent had it for a while now.

Sent from my Tablet using Tapatalk

 

Hmmm, reason I ask is because recently I haven't been happy with my Aquaclear 300 filter, also seemed kinda not good every time I opened the top!!!

 

Hi Guys,

If you go to the following website you can see that Rand Water is aiming at below 400 mg/litre for water going into the water supply of Gauteng. They in my opinion purposely do not give you the actual levels, all they do is they say that it is below 400 mg/litres which is made out to be acceptable for human consumption.

http://www.reservoir.co.za/local_authorities/12_month_average/johannesburg_12month.pdf

Now, if you have a look at the following scientific article as to why fishes and crocs are dying in the Olifants River you will see that they state that levels for aquatic ecosystems are maximum 100 mg/l and in actual fact the South African Department of Water Affairs (DWAF) recommends below 200 mg/l for human consumption. Why is the Rand Water level higher? Because of the acid mine water run-off!

http://www.ajol.info/index.php/wsa/article/viewFile/49193/35536

From the 3rd page of this article (page 673)

"According to the South African Water Quality guidelines (DWAF, 1996a), the target water quality range (TWQR) for dissolved sulphate is below 200 mg/ℓ for human consumption. This is similar to the maximum contaminant levels prescribed by the Environmental Protection Agency in the USA and the European Union (WHO, 2004). There is no prescribed TWQR value available for aquatic ecosystems in the South African water quality guidelines (DWAF, 1996b). However, aquatic ecosystems are almost without excep- tion more sensitive than humans to environmental pollutants and as a result TWQR values, where available, are usually lower. Maximum dissolved sulphate levels of 100 mg/ℓ have been proposed for aquatic ecosystems in for example Canada (Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Province of British Columbia, 2000)."

From the conclusions of this article

"It is true that there are ‘uncertainties regarding the relation- ship between concentrations of the substances in the water and their health effects’ (Kempster et al., 2007). It is also true that most South African water quality guideline values are not as stringent as those adopted by developed countries. It can be argued that water quality guidelines in developing countries such as South Africa should in fact be more stringent, to safeguard the well-being of generally poorer and less healthy human populations. Are the relevant authorities carrying out research to reduce these ‘uncertainties’ (Kempster et al., 2007), and on which side of these uncertainties do we choose to err? It is true that improved water quality monitoring programmes will have significant cost implications, both in ‘instrumenta- tion needed for monitoring and analysis’, ‘as well as trained operators’ (Kempster et al., 2007). It is also true that the cost implications of environmental remediation will be even more substantial, and the cost to ecosystem and human health, immeasurable."

So you see I do not think that the authorities are telling us the whole story and as far as fishes and humans are concerned the water is already over the acceptable levels. Such high sulphate levels are toxic to fishes and cause problems in aquatic filters, so I think that this has become a problem and the problem will become worse as I have said.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

@Dirk Bellstedt, so what does one do to counter these harmfull effects to both ourselves and our fish?

Is water filters in the home sufficient? (normal types that we can purchase as normal home users)

 

No, normal filters will only remove toxins such insecticides and herbicides. You would have to use Reverse osmosis in order to remove this. As far as I am concerned these levels are too high for most softwater fishes coming from South America and Asia, and it means that sensitive fishes such as altum angels definitely cannot be kept in Gauteng tap water, and that discus and dwarf cichlids are also heavily influenced. Fishes such cardinals and neons and many other tetras will also be negatively influenced.

I really view this to be a serious problem, and it explains a lot of things to me because I repeatedly hear of problems from Gauteng.

Not good news.

Dirk

 

Hmmm.... doesnt sound good

 

Hi Prof (@Dirk Bellstedt) so what do we do as fishkeepers, do we switch over to RO water? The reverse osmosis process sounds very complex..

 

Hi Hein,

Well, if you want to keep sensitive sofwater fishes, such as Discus and altums, dwarf cichlids, cardinals and many more of the fishes from the Amazon, as well as sensitive killies from Africa, or things like chocolate gouramis from the east, you are going to have no alternative but to use RO water and then to use some aquarium salt mixture to harden up slightly again as you cannot keep fishes in pure RO water. For the hardwater fishes, Tangs and Malawis this is less of a problem.

I foresee that the acid runoff from the mines is going to get worse in future and in the long run the water in Gauteng is not going to be good drinking water any more, I mean you won't immediately get sick if you drink it, but the long term effects will be negative.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

This is actually a catch 22. We all know that the next world war is going to be fought over drinkable water... This is something that is going to become a big problem. Yes there will be massive sea water available, but the process to make it drinkable is very very expensive... so water will become more and more expensive.

RO units are great for cleaning up your water, I however cannot justify or accept the amount of WASTE water that is thrown away with the RO unit. I mean we are all for saving water... and advise people to use water to water their gardens with their water change water... but then go and throw literally hundreds of litres of water away because we want RO water for our tanks? Isn't that a bit backwards thinking?

Yes the water is poorer in gauteng than the rest of the country... but I have not personally SEEN evidence in anyone's tanks that there is negative effects (yet). @Marco cannot keep up with the breeding of his Discus at the moment... (in Gauteng water). I believe there are many other people on the forum who are also succesfully breeding angels. Both these fish are considered to require high quality water for fry growth. @Khalid is also breeding his BN. I believe @Slojo is going well with his breeding. @Vez has his cory's spawning continually. These are people spread all over Gauteng.

Yes, I agree, the water is not great. There are claims to their being sulphur in the water. I use to see this accumilation in the filters, but I have not seen this for months now.

So my opinion... RO water is great if needed (for softening your water), but you if you are doing it simply because of the scare that our water is unsafe, then I disagree. RO water in my honest opinion is WASTING water... and you are not showing your green / eco friendly approach to the hobby. If however the water reaches the point where we cannot use it... an alternate source will need to be found.

(I've just got off the phone with a fish breeder in our area... he claims he has not noticed any adverse effects in his breeding tanks and dams. He has not noticed any slower than normal growth, or stunted growth in his fry either.)

 

I would suggest even if you are keeping these fish that you use an RO unit because the Gauteng water is generally too hard for these fish.

 

Yes Zoom I agree with you, but I believe it is the different methods each of these forum members use to treat their water.

 

But I have seen people breeding those fish in Gauteng water.

 

Thats true...

It would be nice to know what water treatment our fellow sucessfull breeder members are using in their tanks (e.g. Prime etc...)

Guys wana give us your secrets?

 

I suppose they won't as they are trade secrets, but all I am striving for is better water quality.

BETTER WATER QUALITY = HEALTHY FISH

 

But what about fish becoming used to there water environment.

Now hear me out. I dont mean getting used to dirty water or bad water but hard\soft variations from their natural habitat water as they have been in captivity for so long and are being breed in captivity?

 

To a degree this is true, but it can take many many genrations to achieve. Having said that, there will be some species that simply wont adapt. I doubt you will ever see Aktum Angels successfully kept, yet alone bred, in hard alkaline water, whereas Apistogramma Cacatuoides are now being successfully spawned in waters upto pH8 due to many generations of breeding in slightly less than optimal conditions.

I do believe however that a fish will always spawn best when kept in water conditions it, or its genus, were found in in nature.

Also, let us remember that adapting to hardness is one thing, but adapting to sulphates/phosphates/nitrates etc in higher doses is a completely different matter.

Regards
G!