Tap water vs. drinking or bottled water?

[bellc]

I water all my non-orchid houseplants with either unused bottles of drinking water around the house or I fill up the empty water bottles with pure bottled water from the local water store. I wait until the water reaches room temperature before using it.

My neighbor has orchids and uses tap water. I'm surprised because I believe our tap water has too much chlorine in it.

Is there a certain type of water I'm supposed to be using?

Thanks.

[Ak_Orchid]

I've heard a lot of opinions on this. They vary from rain water, tap water, bottled, even filtered. Part of it would be where you live. If the tap water you have has too much chlorine (or other chemicals), or simply hard water you orchids probably won't like it. I live in Alaska and the tap water here is very pure, so I've always used room temp. tap water. I've heard people rave over rain water though. To me, the time I save using a spray over my sink, is enough for me to not bother trying to collect rain water. However if the tap water you have available isn't suitable for plants, rainwater would be a great alternative. I doubt that bottled or filtered water harms orchids in any way, though I havn't heard much about those options.

Sean

[Orchid_lady]

Thats a good question. I have been using warm tap water on my phal and it is doing great. I never read that you need to use bottle water for orchids, Althought I could be wrong. Here is something similar that I found online.

If you use bottled water on your orchids, you need to find out if the water has been softened, and if so, what method was used, sodium or ion-exchange.

Plants watered with chemically softened water will start new growth and will grow them to two or three inches then stop growing. It can take less than six months to kill your orchids with chemically softened water.

Hope this helps.

[jerrymeola]

Chlorine is used to kill bacteria in drinking water. It can kill anything in high enough quantities. Since your neighbor is doing well with tap water it is probably not too high. When I lived in the Northeast they added ammonia to the chorine to keep in in the water longer, it was bad. In New Orleans the water was so bad it killed everything. It all depends where you are.

Keep in mind your neighbor may be using less water than you, so if you try tap water do so cautiously. You can remove the chlorine from tap water by leaving it out over night. Splash it back and forth a couple of times when you set it out and again in the morning. The chlorine will be gone. sodium Thiosulfate is a safe chemical to remove chlorine chemically if you are using large amounts of water. 4 ozs in a gallon of water for a stock solution and then use 1 drop of this solution per gallon of water that you desire to use for watering.

Some water softeners use salt to remove the hardness. Salt also can kill. I have extremely hard water and have never found hardness itself to be a problem. (1700 parts per million close to liquid rock). I have occasionally used the softened water to water an orchid indoors without harm, but I have never done this except for an occasional lazy period. I believe most if not all commercial companie use ion exchange rather than salt.

Rain water is extremely good but I believe it appears to be better than it is because it comes with spring rains and the increased temperatures just add to great growing conditions at the best time of year.

[bellc]

Thanks for all the great replies! I believe I'm going to stay away from our tap water because we personally do not even drink it....tastes of chemicals and sometimes of chlorine!

I have to chuckle with regard to the rainwater....living in the desert my orchids would surely die if I would wait for even a droplet of occasional rain It does sound beautiful, though!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Bottled water can be drinking water with minerals added to make the water taste good, or purified (RO) water to remove minerals. You need to read the label. Tap water with a charcoal filter would probably be OK if not too hard, like Jerry's water (up to 500/600 ppm would probably be OK). The harder it is, the more you have to leach as you water (use lots of water). If you use RO, rain, purified, DI, snow, or airconditioner condensation water, be prepared to do something to add back some minerals. Water occasionally with tap water, add a portion of tap water to you fertilizer water (to help buffer the sometimes very acidic result of fertilizer in pure water), or use a fertilizer made especially for RO water, not just one with trace minerals. It is macro minerals that are missing in pure water (calcium, magnesium, sulfer), not trace minerals. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[Maba]

Oh dear. This is all much more complicated than I realized. We have good water here in the mountains from a well, but it is definitely hard. I have been watering my plants at the sink with tap water (got to let it warm up since it's icy cold). I like being able to use the sprayer carefully to wet the media and not the foliage. If an orchid doesn't like your tap water, how long does it take to know and what are some symptoms?

[bellc]

Hi Cynthia,

Living in Prescott, you know my conditions down here in Scottsdale well. Your description of the water types was perfect. My neighbor did mention that my bottled water might be lacking in needed nutrients....which leads me to wonder if I should be drinking it?! I know, as humans, we get our nutrients from food as well, but I drinks LOTS of water...perhaps I should really check into the type of bottled water we have. Maybe I'm wilting?

Not all bottled water is alike. First, there is spring water which can come from any spring any where, and is not necessarily pure, and can vary considerably from brand to brand as to mineral content. Next, there is purified water, or R/O water, which has been treated by the reverse osmosis process and purified to remove most of the chemicals. This water requires a fertilizer especially formulated to put back the lost minerals that orchids or plants need. Last, there is distilled water, which is absolutely pure. The same regards to fertilizer must be considered for this water. Rain water is also relatively pure.

From what I've been hearing, chlorine does not necessarily affect plants, and it can easily be dissipated by exposing it to the air. What is more of a factor is the TDS, or total disolved solids, of the water, meaning it's mineral content. If the TDS in the water is high, and then fertilizer is added, the TDS can reach a proportion that is unhealthy for plants.

If your water has not been treated with salt and your ph is in a good range and you are using it without fertilizer, it should probably be all right for your plants. However, if the ph has been altered or your TDS is high and you are adding fertilizer, it might be wise to cut it by 50% with either purified or rain water, or use the purified or rain water alone.

[bellc]

Great explanation! I've saved all of this in my online orchid file. I truly appreciate all the help

[Mothman]

What I've been doing is to buy a gallon of distilled water and put in some fertilizer designed for orchids directly into container. I write something like "Orchid Water, Do Not Drink" in case my roomies get curious. Put jug of water in dark place and just use as needed..

I think that way works fine...unless I'm mistaken?

[Aniko]

"...add a portion of tap water to you fertilizer water (to help buffer the sometimes very acidic result of fertilizer in pure water), or use a fertilizer made especially for RO water, not just one with trace minerals. It is macro minerals that are missing in pure water (calcium, magnesium, sulfer), not trace minerals. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ"
Aniko