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Outside Faucet water, is it safe?

PostPosted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 1:10 pm
by Doc_Moore_J
I recently moved to a new place and the sinks here are all fancy dancy and I can no longer hook up my python to the sink. I was wondering if you guys knew whether or not I could use the water from my outside faucet? I dont think it is treated in the same manner as the drinking water within the house. But would it be safe? Thanks for anybody who can answer or help with this. Since I moved here I have resorted to the old fashion bucket after bucket method.

:mrgreen:

Re: Outside Faucet water, is it safe?

PostPosted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 3:18 pm
by marisa
Hi. I think I have a similar situation---the house water goes through a water softner, but the water from the tap outside the house doesn't. I don't know what your outside water looks like, but in the summer, when my turts are outside, I still use the indoor water, mainly because the water that comes from the outside tap looks and smells pretty bad. I doubt if it's harmful, I just don't like the way it looks. (I just run a hose from an indoor spigot in the basement through a window to their stock tanks).

You could test the water from the outside tap for contaminants. If you do use it, I'd let it run for a bit (about half a minute or so) to help clear the pipes, especially if it's not used very often. Do any of the indoor taps have screw on aerators? If so, you might be able to get an adaptor to be able to use a hose indoors (screw off the aerator and attach the adaptor). I do this with
the kitchen sink faucet in the winter months when my RES is indoors.

Re: Outside Faucet water, is it safe?

PostPosted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 5:39 pm
by richieboy
Interesting. I use a hose that's from in my garage. I'm pretty sure it's the same as outside. My turtle and fish seem to be doing fine.

Re: Outside Faucet water, is it safe?

PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:31 pm
by Doc_Moore_J
Just a heads up, so far so good. The only problem encountered was that the water was like 45 degrees so I had to separate the turtles and pleco in a smaller tank until I could heat the water to a decent temperature for them.

Re: Outside Faucet water, is it safe?

PostPosted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 1:46 am
by richieboy
I have the same issues but I let it sit for a day and it warms up a little. Changing 25% of the water only knocks the temp down a few degrees.

Re: Outside Faucet water, is it safe?

PostPosted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:11 pm
by mikee
Many water symtems use soft water in the house and pur the untreated raw water our through the outsice faucets. The treated water is treated and has most of the desolved solids removed. The soft water is used inside the home. It is your choice but the raw water dirtied the tank glass much more. I use RO water and disstilled mix. I have less cleaning to go.

Re: Outside Faucet water, is it safe?

PostPosted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 4:38 pm
by steve
In my area, all the water comes from the same main line, so there is no difference. I am a bit iffy with using garden hoses for refilling the tank and I let run for a minute or two beforehand.