SF Tap Water?

[georgec]

Hi all,

Just curious... still managing my little 29 these days and things have been fairly stable. I've been using the filtered water from the Safeway machines since the beginning. Anyways... after reading articles recently about how pure SF water is supposed to be, and seeming to remember one or two people saying they've used tap water in the city before.... I'm curious what people's experiences are (if any)?

So, the questions are:
- Anyone out there use SF tap water? and if yes:
- What do you do to treat it (Prime)? and in what proportion.
- Do you let the water sit for a few days?
- Any noticeable issues or disasters?

Laziness in me is hoping I can just fill my jugs from my tap.... but I'll stick to what works if it sounds like there are issues.

Thanks!

 

[sfsuphysics]

I drink the tap water, however don't use it directly into the tank

- Experiences will vary depending upon local, pipes are of various ages around the city and you can NOT expect to get the same quality of water out of every tap
- SF does treat with chloramines so using Prime, or any other dechlor* type product is a must.
- While I don't use it now I did experiment with using it on a softie tank, and I had mixed results.

 

[Rekonn]

Do you have a TDS meter? I live in SF and have seen tap water range from 20TDS to 80TDS. You should test the filtered water from the Safeway machines too just to know what you're using.

 

[sfsuphysics]

I have a TDS meter, and my SF water tests in the 180 range.

 

[georgec]

Don't have a TDS meter. May check into borrowing one from someone at some point.

 

[Raddogz]

I sometimes use tap water when it gets within range of 40 to 50 tds - otherwise I use ro/di

 

[Paradox]

My TDS in portrero area is 20-30, but I still use RODI..

 

[sfsuphysics]

Damn all you and your pristine water!

And you probably got half-assed decent pressure too! I only have 40psi up here on my mountain top

 

[Paradox]

[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=3435.msg39100#msg39100 date=1206820873]
Damn all you and your pristine water!

And you probably got half-assed decent pressure too! I only have 40psi up here on my mountain top
[/quote]


A TDS of 20 or 180 is all the same to me. If its not 0 I dont really want it in my tank. A few months ago, I lagged on changing my rodi filters and my TDS rose to 5. I had it like this for 2 months and I developed a slight amount of algae. Nothing out of control, but Im having a hard time completely getting rid of it.