reverse osmosis vs. walmart water purifier

[Lyvea]

As I understand it, it would strip the pharmaceuticals if you had a DI unit, since that leaves only H20 molecules present...extremely oversimplifying things since I don't have time to write my usual novel not sure about just the RO though.

[platytudes]

I understand being personally wary of pharmaceuticals in the water...if that stuff spooks you, go ahead and hook yourself up to one for your drinking and cooking needs. But for fish? I don't know, you would think we would have heard something about it by now, since people have been flushing their pills down the toilet since the '70s or so.

Personally, I am much more worried about phosphate leach from lawn companies...that's our big problem, in my neck of overdeveloped, underplanned Central Florida. Soap and detergent has been phosphate free for a while I believe, but getting the P out of N-P-K fertilizer is still a challenge as we try to educate consumers that our soil is already phosphorous rich because of our phosphorous mines. Adding extra means a bunch ends up in the aquifer.

[Lyvea]

There are a lot of articles out there about the effects of pharmaceuticals on fish. When I get to my laptop, I'll throw some links your way Nicole.

[Lyvea]

As promised:
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/86/8608cover.html
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/11/14/coolsc.frogs.fish/index.html

[platytudes]

Wow Thanks for those links - I guess what I was thinking was how come TFH or Aquarium Fish International hadn't covered this issue, but maybe they have...

[platytudes]

Very interesting articles, thank you!

It looks like chlorination and activated carbon seem to work well - so maybe because most people have sanitized tap water and run carbon in their systems, the effect is minimized in the closed loop of an aquarium vs. a natural body of water. Could be why the aquarium hobby does not seem to be especially alarmed about this.

[Lyvea]

Yep. I just got a notice in the mail, too, about how the city is doing some extra chlorination in the next couple weeks to deal with some problem or other..so definitely remembering to use dechlorinator for the goldie tank this month! Would be interesting to see if people who use straight tap water notice any differences in their fishes' behavior and/or reproduction capabilities.

[Enginnerd]

I understand being personally wary of pharmaceuticals in the water...if that stuff spooks you, go ahead and hook yourself up to one for your drinking and cooking needs. But for fish? I don't know, you would think we would have heard something about it by now, since people have been flushing their pills down the toilet since the '70s or so.

Personally, I am much more worried about phosphate leach from lawn companies...that's our big problem, in my neck of overdeveloped, underplanned Central Florida. Soap and detergent has been phosphate free for a while I believe, but getting the P out of N-P-K fertilizer is still a challenge as we try to educate consumers that our soil is already phosphorous rich because of our phosphorous mines. Adding extra means a bunch ends up in the aquifer.

I'm sure that you are aware of this since you live in Florida, but they mine Phosphate in Florida for fertilizer production. Florida provides 75 percent of the phosphorous used by U.S. farmers and about 25 percent of world production. Four Corners, the world's largest phosphate mine - so named because it is located at the crossroads of Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee and Hardee counties. This maybe why you have Phosphate issues, especially considering the water table in Florida is very close to the surface. They mine Phosphate from about 15' to 50' below ground level.

[platytudes]

Thanks Mark! I knew they mined phosphorous here and that Florida is a major source of P for fertilizer...didn't know about the Four Corners, that's interesting.

[Enginnerd]

Thanks Mark! I knew they mined phosphorous here and that Florida is a major source of P for fertilizer...didn't know about the Four Corners, that's interesting.

Anytime Nicole,

My in-laws are seed farmers and have visited the Four Corners mine. That's how I became aware of it.