# Drinking Water for Tarantulas?



## Triggerman73 (May 2, 2009)

Does it matter what type of water you use? Can it be from the tap or does it have to be purified a lot? i hope my question is easy to understand


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## Miz (May 3, 2009)

i personally just use purified bottled water from the store. i fill my spray bottle with it and use it to mist and fill water dishes. tap water has lots of....stuff in it that could be harmful. not to say that it is for sure, but just to be on the safe side. IMO, if I won't drink it, then neither should they.


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## Transylvania (May 3, 2009)

I, as well as lots of others, just use tap water. I don't believe the additives are too harmful, though I wonder if anyone's done an experiment with this...


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## Triggerman73 (May 3, 2009)

Miz said:


> i personally just use purified bottled water from the store. i fill my spray bottle with it and use it to mist and fill water dishes. tap water has lots of....stuff in it that could be harmful. not to say that it is for sure, but just to be on the safe side. IMO, if I won't drink it, then neither should they.


ok makes sense thats why i started the thread the whole "additives" part worries me but there are many different sides so its a little questionable i will probably use bottled water.

anyway, this has nothing to do with the post but how do you get from "arachnopeon" to say, "arachnoprince" and such?

Reactions: Like 1


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## Transylvania (May 3, 2009)

Triggerman73 said:


> anyway, this has nothing to do with the post but how do you get from "arachnopeon" to say, "arachnoprince" and such?


Here's a sticky from the Watering Hole that explains the ranks: Arachnoboards Ranks and Ranking System


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## Sathane (May 3, 2009)

I use tap water to fill bowls and moisten substrate.  I use purified water for misting because it leaves less deposits on the sides of the enclosures.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Helpful 2


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## kido (May 3, 2009)

i just use tap water on all my T's..

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## Transylvania (May 3, 2009)

Sathane said:


> I use purified water for misting because it leaves less deposits on the sides of the enclosures.


Hmm, never thought of doing that... Nice little tip there, I may just try that from now on.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Sathane (May 3, 2009)

Of course, if you have a water softener on your tap, you don't have to worry at all. 



Transylvania said:


> Hmm, never thought of doing that... Nice little tip there, I may just try that from now on.


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## HankyPankyRoe (May 3, 2009)

Bottled Water.  We have a well, even though it is treated, I still will not take a chance.


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## the_mask86 (May 3, 2009)

personally i don't take the chance.
i use purified water but its from the tap as well.


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## RoachGirlRen (May 3, 2009)

Tap, but treated w/Prime since we have ample chlorine and copper in our water; better safe than sorry. 

Though tap is often perfectly safe, changes in water treatment may warrant concern. Chloramine does not dissapate like chlorine and is increasingly popular in municipal water supplies. It is known to be toxic to invertebrates, so it may be worth treating tap if you live in an area that has switched over from chlorine to chloramine.


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## J Dave (May 3, 2009)

My choice is distilled water, mineral free; I use it for my Ts, reptiles and all my pets. Lost a Chihuahua due to my mineral laden well water as a contributing factor. She developed kidney problems due to calcium saturation. (stones)
My pets get the best quality food, so water is just that water....

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## Elleken (May 3, 2009)

I just use tap. Though I live in the middle of nowhere and our water is from a spring. Never run into any problems.


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## redsaw (May 3, 2009)

I use Zoo Med Reptisafe for mine.  I have it for our tortoise so I just use that for the Ts also. The bottle says good for arachnids.
 You could let tap water sit for 24 hrs and a lot of the impurities will evaporate.

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## Paramite (May 3, 2009)

I live at the center of the city, so the water isn't exactly well water, but I've never had any problems.

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## G. pulchra (May 3, 2009)

Tap water for me, it has no negative affect on the T's

Reactions: Helpful 1


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## xrickus (May 3, 2009)

*RO water*

I use purified water for few reasons:
1. the water in my area is very hard and leaves calcium deposit on the enclosure glasses and in the water dishes.
2. I 'm sure that the additive added in municipal water cannot be beneficial for any animal or human.
3. I noticed a reduction in mold formation even on wood decorations.

To purify the water I use a Reverse Osmosis system.

Rick

Reactions: Like 1


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## WelshTan (May 3, 2009)

tbh i use tap water as mine isnt treated with chloramine. . .also somehow i dont think that any T's in the wild go shopping for distilled/purified water. . .they settle for puddle water/water collected in leaves etc which could have and probably has all sorts of hidden nasty bacteria etc in it ....


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## RoachGirlRen (May 3, 2009)

My concern with R/O and distilled water is that it is lacking in important trace minerals. This probably is not problematic for species that obtain most to all water via their prey, but species that do drink water and require that source of trace minerals could be adversely affected. There are also some osmotic balance concerns with pure H2O being imbibed, though I'm not sure how much a tarantula would be affected as I am not under the impression that they do a large amount of drinking. Perhaps some of our board chemists could shed some light on these concerns? I am going mostly on problems seen with R/O and distilled in vertebrates.


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## WelshTan (May 3, 2009)

RoachGirlRen to be honest i have witnessed most of my T's drinkin on many occasions. . .also my A.Geniculata drinks almost daily as does one of my G.Rosea.. those particula 2 in my collection seem to drink loads more than eating for some reason, so some T's do drink quite heavily in my experience


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## scar is my t (May 3, 2009)

redsaw said:


> I use Zoo Med Reptisafe for mine.  I have it for our tortoise so I just use that for the Ts also. The bottle says good for arachnids.
> You could let tap water sit for 24 hrs and a lot of the impurities will evaporate.


the water will evaporate but the chemicals cant. they are to heavy. have u ever put salt in water and let it evaporate? the salt stays behind.


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## Triggerman73 (May 3, 2009)

xrickus said:


> To purify the water I use a Reverse Osmosis system.Rick


I see, im sorry but can you explain reverse osmosis to me please? i tried looking it up but i am 13 and have a low attention span

Reactions: Like 1


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## treeweta (May 3, 2009)

i use distilled as our tap water is from a well and very hard, i did read that hard water can cause peat to 'decay' for want of a better description.


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## Drachenjager (May 3, 2009)

Sathane said:


> Of course, if you have a water softener on your tap, you don't have to worry at all.


or if you have water with a natural hardness of less than one grain per gallon you dont need a softener lol


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## Sathane (May 3, 2009)

Here you go.  A very quick read and, at the bottom, there is a link to an animation of reverse osmosis in action!

http://www.geafiltration.com/technology/reverse_osmosis.asp

Even this should be able to keep your attention for a few minutes.  




Triggerman73 said:


> I see, im sorry but can you explain reverse osmosis to me please? i tried looking it up but i am 13 and have a low attention span


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## Triggerman73 (May 3, 2009)

Sathane said:


> Here you go.  A very quick read and, at the bottom, there is a link to an animation of reverse osmosis in action!
> 
> http://www.geafiltration.com/technology/reverse_osmosis.asp
> 
> Even this should be able to keep your attention for a few minutes.


i believe i understand now...i put a, say, a coffee filter in a cup, drop water in, and repeat for a while? if thats not right i might have to ask my science teacher tomorrow lol


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## SandyMuffinCakes94 (May 3, 2009)

Triggerman73 said:


> Does it matter what type of water you use? Can it be from the tap or does it have to be purified a lot? i hope my question is easy to understand



I use purified only with ALL my animals , our water is clean but theres icky chem and bacteria that i dont want to take the chance.


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## Sathane (May 3, 2009)

A coffee filter is way too permeable for reverse osmosis to be effective.  The 'holes' in it are simply too big.  A semi-permeable membrane will allow certain molecules through but not others.  A good example would be to create drinkable water from salt water.  The semi-permeable membrane will allow the water molecules to pass to the other side but salt molecules can't.
Here is another cool article on reverse osmosis with a slightly better explanation (and some examples) of semi-permeable membranes.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/reverse-osmosis.htm


Thin film composite membranes are used in reverse osmosis systems.  Check out this article for more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semipermeable_membrane

I hope this helps, but do speak to your science teacher.  He/she may even have some equipment to allow you to set up a quick experiment to see how it works.  



Triggerman73 said:


> i believe i understand now...i put a, say, a coffee filter in a cup, drop water in, and repeat for a while? if thats not right i might have to ask my science teacher tomorrow lol


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## Triggerman73 (May 3, 2009)

Sathane said:


> A coffee filter is way too permeable for reverse osmosis to be effective.  The 'holes' in it are simply too big.  A semi-permeable membrane will allow certain molecules through but not others.  A good example would be to create drinkable water from salt water.  The semi-permeable membrane will allow the water molecules to pass to the other side but salt molecules can't.
> Here is another cool article on reverse osmosis with a slightly better explanation (and some examples) of semi-permeable membranes.
> 
> http://science.howstuffworks.com/reverse-osmosis.htm
> ...


starting to grasp it much better, just out of curiosity, what type of semi-permeable membrane do you use?


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## Sathane (May 3, 2009)

I live in the city so my water is good.  I use regular tap water for water bowls and moistening substrate.  
I use store bought purified water to mist enclosures purely to avoid the deposits and the scale on the glass and plastic.  Saves me having to wipe down the sides of the enclosures more often. 

If I was to use a reverse osmosis system I would just purchase a small unit which would have the film composite membrane built into it.

On a related note, most large jugs (18L/4.73 Gallons) of water used for office water coolers are purified using reverse osmosis and cost only $7.50 (in Canadian dollars).



Triggerman73 said:


> starting to grasp it much better, just out of curiosity, what type of semi-permeable membrane do you use?


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## Triggerman73 (May 3, 2009)

Sathane said:


> On a related note, most large jugs (18L/4.73 Gallons) of water used for office water coolers are purified using reverse osmosis and cost only $7.50 (in Canadian dollars).


wow, thats only $6.35 plus tax in USD not bad...thanks for the info


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## Sathane (May 3, 2009)

No problem. 



Triggerman73 said:


> wow, thats only $6.35 plus tax in USD not bad...thanks for the info


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## Nerri1029 (May 4, 2009)

I've used distilled only for a long while now with no problems. 

Successful sacs etc,

As for the osmotic balance issues:

It was explained to me this way:

- Tap water is closer to pure than it is to the levels inside a cells.
For us it's 0.89% - is Isotonic

Fresh Water < 1500mg/L  or 0.15%

So even "fresh Water" would have a similar pressure difference.

As for "Nutrients" and trace elements I can't say for sure.
But I'd also assume that the T's get most of those from the food they eat, more than the water.  I gut load my crix with veggies, so maybe that helps?


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## Triggerman73 (May 4, 2009)

Sathane said:


> No problem.


oh btw i spoke to my teacher and she said just to get a Brita Filter


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## wedge07 (May 4, 2009)

Filtered tap is what I use.


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## Triggerman73 (May 4, 2009)

wedge07 said:


> Filtered tap is what I use.


i think i will just buy a 11 dollar brita pitcher


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## WS6Lethal (May 4, 2009)

Mine like the 10 calorie Vitamin Water.


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## Triggerman73 (May 4, 2009)

WS6Lethal said:


> Mine like the 10 calorie Vitamin Water.


vitamin water? shouldn't they just have regular wate rand not that flavored stuff?


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## Sathane (May 4, 2009)

Brita isn't a reverse osmosis system (I thought this is water you were going for) but it will clean the water nonetheless. 



Triggerman73 said:


> oh btw i spoke to my teacher and she said just to get a Brita Filter


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## Kirk (May 4, 2009)

RoachGirlRen said:


> My concern with R/O and distilled water is that it is lacking in important trace minerals. This probably is not problematic for species that obtain most to all water via their prey, but species that do drink water and require that source of trace minerals could be adversely affected. There are also some osmotic balance concerns with pure H2O being imbibed, though I'm not sure how much a tarantula would be affected as I am not under the impression that they do a large amount of drinking. Perhaps some of our board chemists could shed some light on these concerns? I am going mostly on problems seen with R/O and distilled in vertebrates.


Assuming that most tarantulas in the wild that are drinking water derived from rain or dew, then it's essentially the same as distilled water. Trace minerals are inconsequential.

If tarantulas are like most terrestrial animals with a digestive system, they're not going to incur osmotic stress from consuming distilled water, since the gut wall is well adept at controlling the absorption of water. Hypotonicity is probably not an issue.


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## Triggerman73 (May 4, 2009)

chone1 said:


> Assuming that most tarantulas in the wild that are drinking water derived from rain or dew, then it's essentially the same as distilled water. Trace minerals are inconsequential.
> 
> If tarantulas are like most terrestrial animals with a digestive system, they're not going to incur osmotic stress from consuming distilled water, since the gut wall is well adept at controlling the absorption of water. Hypotonicity is probably not an issue.


funny, just learned about hypotonic and isotonic solutions this year...so are you saying that tap water won't affect it?


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## Kirk (May 4, 2009)

Triggerman73 said:


> funny, just learned about hypotonic and isotonic solutions this year...so are you saying that tap water won't affect it?


Re tap water, I never use it. I prefer not to take chances with high mineral content.


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## xrickus (May 5, 2009)

A Reverse Osmosis system does not eliminate all minerals from the water, it just reduce them. It also reduces the levels of lead, nitrates, cysts (cryptosporidium, giardia), arsenic and other contaminants commonly found in unfiltered tap water.


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## WS6Lethal (May 5, 2009)

Triggerman73 said:


> vitamin water? shouldn't they just have regular wate rand not that flavored stuff?


I was joking, though I like to drink the stuff myself.


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## Imbrium (May 5, 2009)

scar is my t said:


> the water will evaporate but the chemicals cant. they are to heavy. have u ever put salt in water and let it evaporate? the salt stays behind.


Some chemicals, like chlorine, do evaporate.  Others like salt and ammonia do not.


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## LurkingUnderground (Sep 26, 2018)

Transylvania said:


> I, as well as lots of others, just use tap water. I don't believe the additives are too harmful, though I wonder if anyone's done an experiment with this...


Well like for fish. You have to change the ph level and stuff. some like to just let water sit for a day to get rid of the chlorine instead of using a chem. So the chlorine would be my own worry. Although i have not been doing anything about it. I just filled it right from the tap.


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## Teal (Sep 26, 2018)

Psssst... look at the date on this thread lol



LurkingUnderground said:


> Well like for fish. You have to change the ph level and stuff. some like to just let water sit for a day to get rid of the chlorine instead of using a chem. So the chlorine would be my own worry. Although i have not been doing anything about it. I just filled it right from the tap.


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## bathsheba (Sep 26, 2018)

LurkingUnderground said:


> Well like for fish. You have to change the ph level and stuff. some like to just let water sit for a day to get rid of the chlorine instead of using a chem. So the chlorine would be my own worry. Although i have not been doing anything about it. I just filled it right from the tap.





Teal said:


> Psssst... look at the date on this thread lol


His user name checks out

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Dovey (Sep 26, 2018)

Transylvania said:


> Here's a sticky from the Watering Hole that explains the ranks: Arachnoboards Ranks and Ranking System


I wish the ranks were gender dimorphic. I've always thought it would be terribly glamorous to be a baroness since I first saw The Sound of Music as a little girl!

Reactions: Funny 1


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## LurkingUnderground (Oct 15, 2018)

bathsheba said:


> His user name checks out


What? This was the first post that showed up when i was looking into watering questions. I thought it was the right thing to do by posting on posts already there instead of posting a new "thread".


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## LurkingUnderground (Oct 15, 2018)

So, what should I do. because I been just filling up a cup and using a eye dropper to fill up bottle caps for my babies. Am I supposed to let the water sit for some hours before putting it from the tap into the cages?


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## GrimMelvin (Aug 29, 2021)

Sorry to dig up this ancient thread, but I haven't seen this question here. I use 'baby' water from the store (figuring that if babies can drink it, it should be ok). It has minerals in it, however. Is there any amount of minerals in water that would be 'too much' for a T? Do minerals have any benefit for them?


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## Dorifto (Aug 29, 2021)

GrimMelvin said:


> Sorry to dig up this ancient thread, but I haven't seen this question here. I use 'baby' water from the store (figuring that if babies can drink it, it should be ok). It has minerals in it, however. Is there any amount of minerals in water that would be 'too much' for a T? Do minerals have any benefit for them?


I believe that baby water usually it's demineralized water, to use it with baby formulas, like milk in powder etc, not for drinking it directly.

If you tap water is soft, and doesn't have huge amounts of chlorine, you can use it without any problem. To get rid of chlorine, leaving the misting bottle open will do the job, and the chlorine will evaporate quickly.
Check that your water doesn't have chloramine. Usually you can find your tap water chemical composition on line, at least here.

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## VaporRyder (Aug 29, 2021)

Good thread to revive!

I live in a hard water area and really struggle with limescale deposits. I have always used tap water for myself and my animals, and am not aware of any issues.

Might get a water purifying jug though - couldn’t justify the expense of buying separate bottles of water, personally.

The whole ‘mountain spring’ mineral water thing is one of the biggest rip-offs in human history, as far as I’m concerned.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Dorifto (Aug 29, 2021)

VaporRyder said:


> The whole ‘mountain spring’ mineral water thing is one of the biggest rip-offs in human history, as far as I’m concerned.


Yep, here two big companies, one of coke drinks, and the other who makes chocolates, tried to sell tap water like spring water...

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## Jumbie Spider (Aug 29, 2021)

Dorifto said:


> To get rid of chlorine, leaving the misting bottle open will do the job, and the chlorine will evaporate quickly.


This _used_ to be true before water utility companies started using _chloramines_. However most places in the US use chloramine now in the water and that won't just evaporate away.
I normally use water conditioner that I use for the aquarium, like Prime or Amquel.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Dorifto (Aug 29, 2021)

Jumbie Spider said:


> This _used_ to be true before water utility companies started using _chloramines_. However most places in the US use chloramine now in the water and that won't just evaporate away.
> I normally use water conditioner that I use for the aquarium, like Prime or Amquel.


I mentioned chloramine and to check her water composition for that same reason. Here Europe, chlorine and chloramine are highly regulated. For example in my region, chloramine is banned.

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## Jumbie Spider (Aug 29, 2021)

Dorifto said:


> I mentioned chloramine and to check her water composition for that same reason. Here Europe, chlorine and chloramine are highly regulated. For example in my region, chloramine is banned.


Lucky you! Here in my region they literally add fluoride to our water. So we get to drink it, cook with it, and bathe with it too.

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## Polenth (Aug 29, 2021)

I use an aquarium dechlorinator as well. It also deals with heavy metals in the water as well as chlorine/chloramine.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## spideyspinneret78 (Aug 29, 2021)

I use R/O water since I have a R/O unit in my kitchen. The tap water here is very hard and leaves a lot of limescale deposits behind. If I didn't have that unit I'd be using Reptisafe or something similar to treat the water beforehand. Why take any risks?


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## GrimMelvin (Aug 29, 2021)

Dorifto said:


> I believe that baby water usually it's demineralized water, to use it with baby formulas, like milk in powder etc, not for drinking it directly.
> 
> If you tap water is soft, and doesn't have huge amounts of chlorine, you can use it without any problem. To get rid of chlorine, leaving the misting bottle open will do the job, and the chlorine will evaporate quickly.
> Check that your water doesn't have chloramine. Usually you can find your tap water chemical composition on line, at least here.


Uh-- I do drink that baby water sometimes, RIP me 

Our area has pretty hard water and it has some chlorine. I let it sit in the flower-watering can for the flowers, so I used to give my T water from that can. I do drink bottled mineral water, though, so I would sometimes also give her that. Then I thought why not just give her that all the time, it really isn't much water, costs me almost nothing since I am buying it anyway.
I was just wondering if there is anything I can mess up by giving her this. I assumed since I drink it, she should also be able to. I will check the composition on the bottle though, just to see what it actually has.

(As to the scam part. Well, there are a lot of mineral water brands here (Slovakia) and they are actually legit. We have many natural springs with all sorts of different types of water around the country (both hot and cold). Many spas have those as the main attraction.)


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## YungRasputin (Aug 29, 2021)

i use distilled water and sometimes cut with a little bit of artesian water - tap water contains a lot of cleaning agents, as does some of the purified waters 

as a point of fact i live in the same city that the movie “Dark Waters” was based on so i’m p particular about only using the cleanest of water - myself, my cats, my arachnids, my betta, we all drink/use distilled water

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## The Grym Reaper (Aug 29, 2021)

I've been using tap water for 5+ years and not had any issues with it.

Literally the only thing I use any sort of specialist water for is painting and that's only because deionised water works better for thinning paints and making Lahmian medium than tap water.



VaporRyder said:


> The whole ‘mountain spring’ mineral water thing is one of the biggest rip-offs in human history, as far as I’m concerned.


Yeah, that stuff has more impurities in it than tap water IIRC (assuming they're not just selling you bottled tap water like a couple of well known corporations were caught doing).

Reactions: Like 1 | Wow 1


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## Dorifto (Aug 30, 2021)

GrimMelvin said:


> Uh-- I do drink that baby water sometimes, RIP me
> 
> Our area has pretty hard water and it has some chlorine. I let it sit in the flower-watering can for the flowers, so I used to give my T water from that can. I do drink bottled mineral water, though, so I would sometimes also give her that. Then I thought why not just give her that all the time, it really isn't much water, costs me almost nothing since I am buying it anyway.
> I was just wondering if there is anything I can mess up by giving her this. I assumed since I drink it, she should also be able to. I will check the composition on the bottle though, just to see what it actually has.
> ...


Drinking "distilled" water... 

If you can drink tap water, the T should be fine, if not give her cheapest water bottle or buy some cheap reverse osmosis filter, for you and your T, in the long run it will be cheaper.


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