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?tap water for pond

purplejulespurplejules Posts: 11
in Wildlife gardening
Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere. Can I use tap water that has been left standing for a few days to top up my wildlife pond? I've read various comments but would appreciate some advise from someone who has done this......or not! I've used up my supply of rainwater and rain isn't forecast for a couple of weeks. We have newts so wouldn't want to do anything that would harm them. 
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Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 17,320
    I do.
  • Singing GardenerSinging Gardener Posts: 1,229
    We top ours up with tap water and the wildlife (including newts) seem to survive ok.
  • Forester_PeteForester_Pete Posts: 163
    You can and many do. But the chemical content of tap water varies a lot. You may wish to look up your water companies website for info. The farther away from rainwater it is the less good it is, but how much difference it really makes I can't say.
  • Fran IOMFran IOM Posts: 2,560
    It was said on a programme recently (could have been GW) to let tap water stand for 24 hours before adding it to your pond which would be practical if the pond is only small but on a larger scale I can't see that being possible especially if you were using a hose.
    As said above it would be wise to check out your water company's website.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 10,895
    Tap water will be fine to top-up.
    I let the hose dribble water very slowly into my w/l pond and it takes about 1 day for a few gallons to top up, so any changes are very gradual.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • borgadrborgadr Posts: 672
    There are products you can buy to make tapwater pond safe.   I've been using this one for when I was topping up my wildlife pond: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004TOVGGU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    I couldn't tell you if it's any better than other brands, I have no benchmark for comparison.  But my pond is teeming with life, including newts.
  • purplejulespurplejules Posts: 11
    borgadr said:
    There are products you can buy to make tapwater pond safe.   I've been using this one for when I was topping up my wildlife pond: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004TOVGGU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    I couldn't tell you if it's any better than other brands, I have no benchmark for comparison.  But my pond is teeming with life, including newts.


    Thanks for this info, I'll give it a look.
  • purplejulespurplejules Posts: 11
    Thanks for all your advise. 

  • AstraeusAstraeus Posts: 335
    Use the hose on a spray setting instead of a dribble or jet. That is supposed to help oxygenate the water and some of the chlorine evaporate before it hits the water.
  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 617
    Apparently most water companies these days use chloramine rather than chlorine as it is more stable and does not evaporate, so letting water sit or spraying it would not be any help given that information.  I've used an 'aquasafe' product and always wondered that's in it. OK, searching says Sodium Hydroxymethane Sulfinate, Chelating Compounds, Polyvinylpyrollidones, Seaweed Biopolymers, Organic Hydrocolloids. Given that the product is fairly expensive, I wonder if a drop of seaweed/sequestered iron has the same effect, and whether a pond teeming with life and sediment will neutralise the chloramine all by itself anyway.
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