Rufus Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 How high can phosphate get in tap water? I'm in Hamilton and am wondering whether our algae is being contributed to by phosphate. I know people with strange water sources are at the mercy of what drains off the land their well is in but does the town supply also get high phosphate levels from time to time? I am well aware the easy way to answer this would be to actually buy an extortionately expensive phosphate testing kit but if all is well I will hardly use it will I? Are phosphate testing kits particularly useful? :-? I was wondering if there were any clever people out there who might know something about phosphate? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 How high can phosphate get in tap water? Andy Best way to know is to go into your LFS with some of this tap water and get it tested. If the levels are high (and i know absolutely nothing about the type of water in the different councils), then you could use phoszorb.. just remember to activate it before you put it in your filter - this is done by filling up the jar it comes in with water and closing it with the pouch in it. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 The local authority supplying the water is required to do regular chemical and biological analysis of the water so if you ring the local council and talk to the waterworks department they can tell you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Yeah ring your council and they can tell you. Our water has high phosphate levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Check your water, but remember a lot of phosphate gets introduced through cheap dry foods and frozen food. - thaw and drain frozen food, and look for 'phosphate reduced' fish foods, e.g. JBL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 The local authority supplying the water is required to do regular chemical and biological analysis of the water so if you ring the local council and talk to the waterworks department they can tell you. I remember calling my local council once and talking to their chief water engineer. He was delighted to talk to someone who was genuinely interested in all aspects of my local water quality, who appreciated how hard he worked to keep everything in balance, and who had a (very basic) idea of some aspects of water chemistry. I think I made his day with my phone call, and he certainly made my day more interesting. We must have talked about all aspects of town water supply for about an hour. :lol: Lovely man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 So, does high phosphates contribute to algae? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 I'm in Ham too, and yep, the tap water is pretty high in phosphate. The phosphate level in my planted tank is higher after a water change I'm getting a bit of brown algae at the moment, I think it's a combination of phosphate and the sun hitting the tank for an hour or two first thing in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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