What is in your tap water?

[fatman]

I know many people are aware that all tap water of course must meet certain standards set by the Environmental Protection agency. However, a lot of people are not aware that the test results must be released upon request by the treatment plants/municipalities. Most of them maintain an on line site that posts at least the annual results, if not the monthly or quarterly reports. Most of these facilities also test for many more contaminants that they are required to test for. Below is a sample result posted by the company that processes the municipal water in Fairbanks, Alaska. As I have been working on a fish hatchery in Fairbanks, Alaska off and on all summer, I had an opportunity to do a walk through. It has improved vastly since the city quit operating it and sold it to a commercial venture.

Water test results for Fairbanks, Alaska.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13852&stc=1&d=1219431483

 

[BigAl07]

Our local treatment facility produces that report on a 6month schedule. Interesting to read and shocking at some of the things that are "allowed" in the water system.

 

[Limpits Reef]

Need we say more on using only RO water in our tanks!

 

[Witfull]

im on a well,,,my discus loved it.....for a reef,,NEVER!!!!!

 

[chrome91]

on my standard 55g i was a idiot and never knew i should use RO, i live in a huge city and the water gets treated like crazy, i had a fun 5 months of a tank constantly filled with cyano

 

[fatman]

Surprisingly for a water for a municipality the water in Fairbanks is almost virgin clean. Go down the highway 100 miles and the water is over 10 times the allowable levels of Radium and Alpha and Beta in the local mountain fed creeks and streams. They actually built the countries first full production nuclear power plant at Fort Greely Alaska. That is 102 miles (by road, and there are no straight highways in Alaska) from Fairbanks, where the new missle defense site is now located. The water they used to cool the reactor was drawn up from one well and pumped back through another well pipe. Also not far from there is the Gerstle River test site where the Army did chemical and biological testing. When they find barrels and drums there they usually just dig deeper holes and rebury them. ---No joke folks--- Then there is the mutated wild life. oops! You probably do not want to hear about that. There is a lake called Boleo lake on Fort Greely where they pulled dozens and dozens of barrels of chemicals out of the lake. They used to drive out on to the ice during the winter and stack them up and leave them to sink in the lake once the ice melted in the spring. It is easy to see why the environmentalists want strong laws to protect the wilderness still left in Alaska.