Alternative to RO/DI water?

[Cinderoo]

I live on an island, and our drinking water comes from a small lake at the top of the mountain. It passes through a few filters, the main one being a UV filter before it is put into a storage tank. No chemicals of any kind are added.

Could I use this instead of your conventional RO/DI water usually used in top-offs and salt mixes? IT would save me huge amounts of money if I could.

Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Marines_Wife]

You shop somewhere....I am sure they have distilled water for you to buy? I would invest in a Ro/di system if I were you, buying it will be expensive and on an island even more expensive I am sure

 

[texreefer]

+1 to using distilled. If you do not have or do not plan on getting an RO/DI unit , then that is your best option. I used it forever and never had an issue

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

Although it goes through a few filter and a UV lights its not going to remove the major things in that tap water that cause problems in our tanks, namely nitrates and phosphates

 

[active]

being i am setting up a new system myself i was poised with the same question - is there a way around, do i need this, buy from a store, i mean i have well water its good stuff why bother. well my research has shown me that there is no way around an ro/di system at all. well water or lake water has minerals and metals in it thats what we dont want in our tanks. here is one that made me say umm yeah no way around that. copper in water well duh all the pipes in my houses are copper i need that out copper is nasty stuff for a reef tank - now think of a buck a gallon for water - well 90 bucks to fill my tank and 30 a month for water changes just went past the cost of a ro/di system from bulkreefsupply.com - take a look at all it filters out and you will be amazed - so save the headache it may cost you now but later you'll like knowing that you have it and never have to worry about having a fresh supply of good water.
just my .02 cents from a noob that just went thru this decision

 

[Slimkasey]

Active is right get the RODI system from BulkReefSupplies, for $190ish, you'll be set. If you take in account this unit can produce 75 gallons per day, that's 15 5 gallon jugs of distilled water @ $3/jug, the unit would pay itself off in less than a week. It's an amazing system, it comes with everything

 

[Northstar24]

You should be able to call the municipality that provides the water and get a water report. Take a look at this and see what kind of stuff is in the water, you're interested in any sort of metal, silicates, phosphates, and total solids. Those are all going to have to be 0 or incredibly close to it. If they are not - you will need to either get your own RO/DI setup or find a place that sells it (such as a fish store or a super market)