distilled vs bottled

Why would you cap the connections? If you have a decent system, it will have connecitons that don't alter your plumbing, other than adding a fitting and then removing it.

NEVER use a fitting that crimps into the water line. These are against code in a lot of states and are just a huge mistake for any home owner to use.

Adding a fitting similar to this is much more advisable.

IMG_1427.jpg
 
summoner12 said:
Why would you cap the connections? If you have a decent system, it will have connecitons that don't alter your plumbing, other than adding a fitting and then removing it.

NEVER use a fitting that crimps into the water line. These are against code in a lot of states and are just a huge mistake for any home owner to use.

Adding a fitting similar to this is much more advisable.

IMG_1427.jpg
Click to expand...

That fitting would be fine if it was metal. you don't want to use a plastic female fitting on a metal male fitting. The plastic is being stressed because the plastic gets stretched and it will fail. The top fitting is correct except it is cross threaded.
 
Summoner..... My set up isnt that simple. The copper water line from the wall has a clamp on 1/4" on-off valve that feeds the fridge, then goes a bit farther to the faucet line on -off valve. That stupid "OLD" valve to the fridge is froze open I even broke the shut off little knob off:mad: I had no choice but to cap it off at the point where the feed line went to the fridge. I had to tap into the RO water line near the RO faucet at the sink to re-hook up the fridge line...... It was only "so" long. Even though its a T fitting my options were limited without replacenig an already very long fridge supply line:eek:. It is what it is and I have no leaks & everything is working hunky dorry! The T Fitting is all metal with the plastic, nylon RO lines and the copper fridge line;)
 
Zen Reptiles said:
You'll be amazed how clear your ice is LOL. The first comment we get from customers is about their coffee, so it's funny you say that.


19 TDS is great, if it is a new system, most of that is probably from the filters and harmless carbon particles. Over a month or so it should go down to 5-12.

TDS and PPM and mg/L are all generally the same things. Just different ways of saying it - like meters and inches.

TDS = Total Dissolved Solids. This is everything solid in the water. Without a proper analysis it could be anything. Carbon, Uranium. Who knows. Odds are it is carbon since RO uses 2 or more carbon & charcoal filters. Especially new systems where the filters are getting 'activated' and giving off some particles as water runs through them.

PPM and mg/L = is a more scientific measurement of each individual item in the water. You could say that each ppm combined is TDS.

ps. they are easy to uninstall and take with you when you go. You just cap the connections to the cold water and drain, and take the system with you.


Edit: Do you know the TDS of your tap water? City Hall or your Municipal Water Treatment Facility will be able to tell you. A good RO will take 70% of the stuff out, whereas a great RO will take over 90%, the best take 97%-99% of everything out.

From experience, if it is reading 19 TDS after going through the RO, it has been running for over a month, and has been flushed properly, your tap TDS is probably over 300.

However, if it is a new system and hasn't been completely flushed (drained completely at once, two times) if it is reading 19 TDS new your tap TDS could be anywhere from 70-150.

It REALLY depends on your system, and the source water. Finding the TDS of your tap water will give you the answer of how good a system you got.
Click to expand...

I didnt test my water......I was going off what other people who have this system said they were getting:eek:........ So all in all I think I got a pretty good system for a very good price....:) I had to drill a 1/2" hole in the stainless steel sink for the faucet.If I took the system with me I will have to find a cap cover or something. Thanks for shareing all your water knowledge with us!:D
 
Todnedo said:
That fitting would be fine if it was metal. you don't want to use a plastic female fitting on a metal male fitting. The plastic is being stressed because the plastic gets stretched and it will fail. The top fitting is correct except it is cross threaded.
Click to expand...

You must not be familiar with the fitting in the photo. It isn't a compression fitting, in the traditional sense. It has an O-ring in the female side. This takes the strain of 'compression' off of expanding the plastic fitting. The rubber ring can make a nice seal without the typical tapered receiving end you find in metal compression fittings. I am not so sure the fitting is cross threaded. It does seem so in the picture but I took it off and the threads were not crossed threaded, so I am not really sure what happened there. :0

I have an extra laying around if you'd like me to post a picture of the inside?
 
Summoner I see you live in California. They have the most strict laws for water filtration installation - when installed by a company. Lots of people were getting scammed in the 80s and there were a lot of problems with fly by night companies installing systems poorly.

If you do one thing wrong now, you can be fined 10,000$ per customer you installed wrong.

VERY strict. But this has lead to Californians being the most educated people on water in North America.

However, when doing it yourself it is not always that easy. A lot of old style plumbing doesn't allow those in-line connections you're talking about (which are by far the best option), and sometimes you have to use a saddle valve/c-clamp, in which case you can shut it off and cap the line after removal.

There is also a drain line you would have to cut off and cap as well.

As for the hole in the sink, you can put a soap dispenser in there, or buy a stainless steel (or porcelain if you're fancy) cap to fit the hole.
 
Davonat said:
Excellent article!!!! SO...... The folks at mist king know thier stuff. R.O. water has filtered out all the bad stuff & put back in what is good for the Herps health & ours, it also wont clog thier nozzels. No adding to tap water with reptisafe.... Now you can go buy a system or lug spring or R.O. water from the market. The article clearly states NO DISTILLED water for us or our pets....The Vet was corectamoondo!
Click to expand...
Davonat, R.O. Water is ultra filtered water and dose not put back anything. Depending on the type of membrane used it is 99.99% pure water. I would think with all the supplementation we give our Chams it wouldn't make a big difference health wise what water was used as long as it wasn't super contaminated or super chlorinated.
 
Zen Reptiles said:
There is also a drain line you would have to cut off and cap as well.

As for the hole in the sink, you can put a soap dispenser in there, or buy a stainless steel (or porcelain if you're fancy) cap to fit the hole.
Click to expand...

You don't need to use a drain saddle.... they are super cheap, which makes them desirable. But if you have a sink with a garbage disposal, you can tap that hose by using an insert fitting. If by chance you need to remove the RO you can easily buy a new 50 cent hose at HD.
 
Rain water, which is what arboreal chameleons have evolved on, begins life as evaporate from oceans, freshwater, and transpiration from plants. It does not contain any minerals at all. As in zero. It begins at neutral pH 7.0, but very quickly, atmospheric CO2 dissolves into it and a very, very weak carbonic acid solution brings the pH ever so slightly into "acidic" (~5.5). In our modern day atmosphere water may pick up pollutants depending on where it condensed and its contact with industrial emissions - but we are not talking about using rainwater, only "what is normal natural for chameleons during their evolution and what is closest to this that we can supply."

Deionized water is a term for water which has had nearly every trace of minerals and organic molecules removed. It is, in a properly functioning system, nearly identical to:

Distilled water is water that has been evaporated, then recondensed to its pure form. There is no difference between pure rain water and pure distilled water (although they can become different as they contact pipes, tubes, leaves, branches, dust).

Spring water varies in its profile depending on the rocks and minerals it has come in contact with. It can vary from deadly poisonous to nearly "pure"

Tap water varies so much from county to county and even from house to house, that to say that all tap water is fine to consume (by pets or people) is like saying all shellfish is always fine to eat, regardless of where it was harvested, or how it smells.

Most of what is said above and even by vets and health food fanatics is anecdotal, unscientific, and highly biased by one's personal beliefs. I do not believe blanket statements can be made about water quality from different sources.

I do know that chameleons evolved on rainwater for the most part, and I mimic that with RO water in my system. I also know that, in saltwater aquaria, the organisms are extremely sensitive to ppm quantities of lead, copper, chlorine, and other elements. Chameleons may or may not be sensitive to these, but if a study were conducted, I would place my money on the possibility that they are. With the most compelling argument being that, at the very least, chlorine would be irritating to sensitive mucous membranes of the eyes and sinuses and would possibly disrupt the balance of beneficial flora of those areas, thus increasing the possibility of infections. This effect could also result from highly mineralized, or slightly to very akaline water.

Finally, none of this is to say that high quality tap water (neutral ph, maybe filtered through a simple charcoal filter) would not be perfectly adequate for chameleons. But it is my experience that most tap water is akaline and contains significant levels of chlorine and chloramines. And while the chlorine/chloramines can be removed with charcoal, the alkalinity would remain as an irritant.

One of the greatest joys of keeping these creatures for me, is the process of refining my husbandry and recreating a "natural setting." I have so, so much to learn in this regard. But, like most of you, I am committed to becoming a better keeper and providing the healthiest parameters for my animals. To me, water quality is an important piece of the puzzle.
 
Monzon said:
Rain water, which is what arboreal chameleons have evolved on, begins life as evaporate from oceans, freshwater, and transpiration from plants. It does not contain any minerals at all. As in zero. It begins at neutral pH 7.0, but very quickly, atmospheric CO2 dissolves into it and a very, very weak carbonic acid solution brings the pH ever so slightly into "acidic" (~5.5). In our modern day atmosphere water may pick up pollutants depending on where it condensed and its contact with industrial emissions - but we are not talking about using rainwater, only "what is normal natural for chameleons during their evolution and what is closest to this that we can supply."

Deionized water is a term for water which has had nearly every trace of minerals and organic molecules removed. It is, in a properly functioning system, nearly identical to:

Distilled water is water that has been evaporated, then recondensed to its pure form. There is no difference between pure rain water and pure distilled water (although they can become different as they contact pipes, tubes, leaves, branches, dust).

Spring water varies in its profile depending on the rocks and minerals it has come in contact with. It can vary from deadly poisonous to nearly "pure"

Tap water varies so much from county to county and even from house to house, that to say that all tap water is fine to consume (by pets or people) is like saying all shellfish is always fine to eat, regardless of where it was harvested, or how it smells.

Most of what is said above and even by vets and health food fanatics is anecdotal, unscientific, and highly biased by one's personal beliefs. I do not believe blanket statements can be made about water quality from different sources.

I do know that chameleons evolved on rainwater for the most part, and I mimic that with RO water in my system. I also know that, in saltwater aquaria, the organisms are extremely sensitive to ppm quantities of lead, copper, chlorine, and other elements. Chameleons may or may not be sensitive to these, but if a study were conducted, I would place my money on the possibility that they are. With the most compelling argument being that, at the very least, chlorine would be irritating to sensitive mucous membranes of the eyes and sinuses and would possibly disrupt the balance of beneficial flora of those areas, thus increasing the possibility of infections. This effect could also result from highly mineralized, or slightly to very akaline water.

Finally, none of this is to say that high quality tap water (neutral ph, maybe filtered through a simple charcoal filter) would not be perfectly adequate for chameleons. But it is my experience that most tap water is akaline and contains significant levels of chlorine and chloramines. And while the chlorine/chloramines can be removed with charcoal, the alkalinity would remain as an irritant.

One of the greatest joys of keeping these creatures for me, is the process of refining my husbandry and recreating a "natural setting." I have so, so much to learn in this regard. But, like most of you, I am committed to becoming a better keeper and providing the healthiest parameters for my animals. To me, water quality is an important piece of the puzzle.
Click to expand...

I totally agree!! That is why when researching and looking for an RO for the house I went with one of the Reef systems that will produce normal drinking water and then send the RO back through a DI filtration system to produce PURE out. The system even has an monitoring system that gives you a read out on the pure side so you know when you need to change the filters in 0.0 TDS. Good stuff!;)
 
dlegare said:
Davonat, R.O. Water is ultra filtered water and dose not put back anything. Depending on the type of membrane used it is 99.99% pure water. I would think with all the supplementation we give our Chams it wouldn't make a big difference health wise what water was used as long as it wasn't super contaminated or super chlorinated.
Click to expand...

Yeah.. I realise now. As this thread expanded and got input from real knowlegeable water people, it showed me how water "STUPID" I was:eek: I bet alot of people here learned alot ... like me.:) My Cham and I thank all who contributed to this!
 
1 more question before I can be completely at ease about my Chams water. My 5 gallon mist bucket and spray bottle have a code stamped on the bottom. This code is a triangle with the #2 inside & the letters HDPE underneath. When I did a search I found........HDPE stands for high density polyethelene,, it went on to say this product was used in the manufacture of water bottles & food containers. Is it ok???? or should I be looking for an old fashion glass 5 gallon Sparklets Water bottle?... Dont know how I would drill a hole in that though.
 
summoner12 said:
Can someone tell me how distilled water is different from our natural rain cycle? And how minerals get into rainwater?
Click to expand...

Monzon said:
Rain water, which is what arboreal chameleons have evolved on, begins life as evaporate from oceans, freshwater, and transpiration from plants. It does not contain any minerals at all. As in zero. It begins at neutral pH 7.0, but very quickly, atmospheric CO2 dissolves into it and a very, very weak carbonic acid solution brings the pH ever so slightly into "acidic" (~5.5). In our modern day atmosphere water may pick up pollutants depending on where it condensed and its contact with industrial emissions - but we are not talking about using rainwater, only "what is normal natural for chameleons during their evolution and what is closest to this that we can supply."

Deionized water is a term for water which has had nearly every trace of minerals and organic molecules removed. It is, in a properly functioning system, nearly identical to:

Distilled water is water that has been evaporated, then recondensed to its pure form. There is no difference between pure rain water and pure distilled water (although they can become different as they contact pipes, tubes, leaves, branches, dust).

Spring water varies in its profile depending on the rocks and minerals it has come in contact with. It can vary from deadly poisonous to nearly "pure"

Tap water varies so much from county to county and even from house to house, that to say that all tap water is fine to consume (by pets or people) is like saying all shellfish is always fine to eat, regardless of where it was harvested, or how it smells.

Most of what is said above and even by vets and health food fanatics is anecdotal, unscientific, and highly biased by one's personal beliefs. I do not believe blanket statements can be made about water quality from different sources.

I do know that chameleons evolved on rainwater for the most part, and I mimic that with RO water in my system. I also know that, in saltwater aquaria, the organisms are extremely sensitive to ppm quantities of lead, copper, chlorine, and other elements. Chameleons may or may not be sensitive to these, but if a study were conducted, I would place my money on the possibility that they are. With the most compelling argument being that, at the very least, chlorine would be irritating to sensitive mucous membranes of the eyes and sinuses and would possibly disrupt the balance of beneficial flora of those areas, thus increasing the possibility of infections. This effect could also result from highly mineralized, or slightly to very akaline water.

Finally, none of this is to say that high quality tap water (neutral ph, maybe filtered through a simple charcoal filter) would not be perfectly adequate for chameleons. But it is my experience that most tap water is akaline and contains significant levels of chlorine and chloramines. And while the chlorine/chloramines can be removed with charcoal, the alkalinity would remain as an irritant.

One of the greatest joys of keeping these creatures for me, is the process of refining my husbandry and recreating a "natural setting." I have so, so much to learn in this regard. But, like most of you, I am committed to becoming a better keeper and providing the healthiest parameters for my animals. To me, water quality is an important piece of the puzzle.
Click to expand...

Thank you for breaking this down.

I don't know how people can think that the rain cycle is different than distilled........
 
Davonat said:
1 more question before I can be completely at ease about my Chams water. My 5 gallon mist bucket and spray bottle have a code stamped on the bottom. This code is a triangle with the #2 inside & the letters HDPE underneath. When I did a search I found........HDPE stands for high density polyethelene,, it went on to say this product was used in the manufacture of water bottles & food containers. Is it ok???? or should I be looking for an old fashion glass 5 gallon Sparklets Water bottle?... Dont know how I would drill a hole in that though.
Click to expand...

Since I got no hits on this question.. My reasearch found......The FDA did extensive tests and deemed the #'s 2,4& 5 to be safe, all other #'s are to be avoided! Aluminium was deemed even worse than most plastics.PVC was outrite poisonous!
 
I thought that was a recycling code. I think all plastics have to have a recycling code. Of course, it could be that and still mean that it's not poisonous. I know that plastic marked 6 is deemed "not recyclable" and maybe the reason for that is that it's unsafe.
 
Elizadolots said:
I thought that was a recycling code. I think all plastics have to have a recycling code. Of course, it could be that and still mean that it's not poisonous. I know that plastic marked 6 is deemed "not recyclable" and maybe the reason for that is that it's unsafe.
Click to expand...

That is right what you are saying about the recycling code..... but the number identifies the type of plastic. so... some plastics aren't good for recycling and some aren't good grade product.
 
Yes it is a recycleing code.... But it also catagorises it as to what its made from. The #'s I posted wont Leach BPA into the contents of these containers;)
 
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