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How safe is the bulk water from grocery stores?

nightsky

Lover of Mountains
I used to just buy the distilled water in the gallon jugs - but it's so dry here I'm running through water quite fast. So I recently started buying the water in bulk from the dispenser at the local wally-world. It's cheaper, and easier, plus I don't create all the plastic waste. It has several filter steps, one of which is reverse-osmosis, so I thought it would be ok.

However, I've noticed recently that a spilled drop of small amount of this water will leave a residue behind when it evaporates. Just like hard water does. So has anyone had any problems with this kind of water? Any suggestions on how I can test this stuff, ie do the aquarium water tests work ok to test hardness - and if so what is a safe level of hardness for cps?

In the past I never worried about these issues due to using pure distilled water - so this stuff is new to me. If I have to, I'll go back to buying the gallon jugs, but wow what a pain it's becoming!
 
I've been using it for probably 10 months or so. Seems fine, and its cheap.
 
Glacier has a monopoly on these in Southern California.

I've been using these for close to two years now. I've been testing the water with a TDS meter. The average from the machines I was using was 3 ppm TDS with the highest of 5 ppm. I switched to a machine in a different location because some of the homeless were using the others as urinals. The machine I switched to averages 8 ppm with the highest of 10 ppm.

Your mileage (TDS) will vary depending on the water supply and how good the service tech is at setting the machine.

Certainly a lot cheaper at 25 cents per gallon.
 
I used to just buy the distilled water in the gallon jugs - but it's so dry here I'm running through water quite fast. So I recently started buying the water in bulk from the dispenser at the local wally-world. It's cheaper, and easier, plus I don't create all the plastic waste. It has several filter steps, one of which is reverse-osmosis, so I thought it would be ok.

However, I've noticed recently that a spilled drop of small amount of this water will leave a residue behind when it evaporates. Just like hard water does. So has anyone had any problems with this kind of water? Any suggestions on how I can test this stuff, ie do the aquarium water tests work ok to test hardness - and if so what is a safe level of hardness for cps?

In the past I never worried about these issues due to using pure distilled water - so this stuff is new to me. If I have to, I'll go back to buying the gallon jugs, but wow what a pain it's becoming!

They are generally safe, though you will want the total dissolved solids to be well below 100 ppm. I switched to using them after the particularly hard water in my immediate area required far too frequent maintenance / replacement of RO membranes and filters. Glacier is also the commercial brand of water machines dominant in Northern CA; and, at least they claim frequent servicing -- and I haven't run into TDS ratings higher than 5 ppm lately. Considering that my kitchen tap registered 535 ppm the other day, I can live with that. A five-gallon jug of RO in the SF Bay Area runs 1.75.

It is important to verify though, since I have heard from Peter D'Amato that a few of the machines he tested in his area had been off the charts. An inexpensive TDS meter should run about 20.00 and are available through larger pet and scientific supply houses . . .
 
there was time when i didnt know about these machines, spent about 5$ in 2 weeks.... now its 50cent per week.
 
They are generally safe, though you will want the total dissolved solutes to be well below 100 ppm. I switched to using them after the particularly hard water in my immediate area required far too frequent maintenance / replacement of RO membranes and filters. Glacier is also the commercial brand of water machines dominant in Northern CA; and, at least they claim frequent servicing -- and I haven't run into TDS ratings higher than 5 ppm lately. A five-gallon jug in the SF Bay Area runs 1.75.

It is important to verify though, since I have heard from Peter D'Amato that a few of the machines he tested in his area had been off the charts. An inexpensive TDS meter should run about 20.00 and are available at pet stores and through scientific catalogues . . .

Good to hear that you've all had good results with the water.

Round here it's a Culligan dispenser, and I know nothing of their reputation, but nearly every store that has a bulk dispenser is of that brand. I do know that faucet filters such as brita clog very quickly here, so I'd assume those water dispenser would need very regular filter maintenance. Our local tapwater, the water source, iss very hard (as high as 1040 ppm!), and generally is of low quality, probably a result of living within a couple miles of the enormous Bingham Copper Mine. A lot of the runoff from there becomes our ground water source eventually. So I really hope they are maintaining the filter. Looks like I'll be off to a pet store for a TDS meter this week just to be safe.
 
Culligan has been around for years. We had one of their water softeners in our house in Colo. Springs when I was a kid. The Wal Mart here has a Culligan brand dispencer also, and I've been using water from it for a couple years now with no problems. Quality of the water you get will depend on how bad the water is to start with and how good the maintenance on the machine is.
 
Culligan has been around for years. We had one of their water softeners in our house in Colo. Springs when I was a kid. The Wal Mart here has a Culligan brand dispencer also, and I've been using water from it for a couple years now with no problems. Quality of the water you get will depend on how bad the water is to start with and how good the maintenance on the machine is.

Culligan was or is still big in CA as well -- and they were pushing the soft-water scene for years out here; but, most softening methods involve actually adding salts. I was simply wondering whether the Culligan dispenser was offering RO or soft water. That could pose a problem . . .
 
It is my understanding that the machines here (I think they are Glacier) use RO filters and some other filters. So I have used it for years.
 
  • #10
Both the Glacier and Culligan dispensers use Reverse Osmosis. Culligan made their name selling water softening units and is one of the big names in water filtration and processing.

The only major difference I see between the dispensers is that the Glacier units have a second carbon filtration and UV treatment step following the RO filter.

When using bulk water dispensers make sure that they use RO filtration and have been serviced within 6 months.
 
  • #11
Finally got my TDS meter today, and tested some things.

My tap = 490. Ugh.

Tap after running through a "Brita Filter" on the faucet = 460. So - basically that filter is useless. But, it is one month old. So I'll put a new filter on and retest.

Bottle of "Purified Drinking Water" - 110.

And finally, the bulk water which I was so curious about in the first place

Drum roll

...
.
.
...

19! Wooohoo! It is safe indeed. Very good news!
 
  • #12
Great to hear. I bet there are machines with even lower TDS ratings around, especially after a recent servicing. The Glacier machines have a display which registers its last servicing date but I'll have to break out the old meter and check anyway.

The most recent jug registered 2.4 ppm. At .35 cents a gallon, I can well live with that, gas and all, and forego the whole RO unit maintenance drill for the time being . . .
 
  • #13
You probably won't see much difference with a new Brita filter on your faucet. That type of filter is usually a carbon filter which removes chlorine and some other chemicals but doesn't remove many dissolved minerals. Some brands, like PÜR, sell filters that add minerals back into the water.
 
  • #14
Well, it killed off much of my plant collection if that helps ya!

Actually, it was fine for a bit and would have continued to be fine had the company just kept up with it. I started getting suspicious about the high death toll on my shelf and in the yard this spring so I had it tested and came out hard. I now drive across town and fill the 5 gal jugs at a place that I trust instead of the one 30 seconds from the house.

I'd say (and I apologize if I'm repeating since I haven't read through all responses yet) to take a sample to a pet store's fish dept and get it tested. If safe, enjoy it but maybe get it tested periodically to ensure that the place is keeping up with it. I tested at first and then nothing until all sarracenia seedlings were dead as well as most sarrs coming out of dormancy.

Definitely go for it as long as you know that it is safe.
 
  • #15
Finally got my TDS meter today, and tested some things.

My tap = 490. Ugh.

Tap after running through a "Brita Filter" on the faucet = 460. So - basically that filter is useless. But, it is one month old. So I'll put a new filter on and retest.

Interesting, when I tested a "Britta Filter" it cut the TDS by about half. I don't recall the exact numbers (posted elsewhere, too lazy to search) like 360 to 180 - still too high in any case. Filter was old.

Well, it killed off much of my plant collection if that helps ya!

I'd say (and I apologize if I'm repeating since I haven't read through all responses yet) to take a sample to a pet store's fish dept and get it tested. If safe, enjoy it but maybe get it tested periodically to ensure that the place is keeping up with it. I tested at first and then nothing until all sarracenia seedlings were dead as well as most sarrs coming out of dormancy.

Definitely go for it as long as you know that it is safe.

As always caveat emptor. A TDS meter is essential. I'd prefer using the machines closer to home since there were two of them and the readings were lower than the machine I'm currently using. Just the :censor: homeless keep peeing in the other machines.
 
  • #16
Interesting, when I tested a "Britta Filter" it cut the TDS by about half. I don't recall the exact numbers (posted elsewhere, too lazy to search) like 360 to 180 - still too high in any case. Filter was old.



As always caveat emptor. A TDS meter is essential. I'd prefer using the machines closer to home since there were two of them and the readings were lower than the machine I'm currently using. Just the :censor: homeless keep peeing in the other machines.

Another case in point to follow Not a Number's advice and purchase a TDS meter:

An old friend who was growing orchids and began using "soft" water in the belief that it was supposedly safer than her well-water (at around 125 ppm) and that it did wonders for her long blonde hair (it really did) had a fairly rude awakening, when all of the mosses in her baskets and pots began to die off.

We tested it the other day and it was 447 ppm -- higher in TDS than the NaCl solution often used to calibrate the meters (at 342 ppm) . . .
 
  • #17
Finally got my TDS meter today, and tested some things.

My tap = 490. Ugh.

Tap after running through a "Brita Filter" on the faucet = 460. So - basically that filter is useless. But, it is one month old. So I'll put a new filter on and retest.

Bottle of "Purified Drinking Water" - 110.

And finally, the bulk water which I was so curious about in the first place

Drum roll

...
.
.
...

19! Wooohoo! It is safe indeed. Very good news!

Quoting myself here for a reason. So, yesterday I got a new container of water from the same machine, the one I always use on a once-weekly basis. I was using it today to spray down some sphagnum I'm trying to grow. For some reason I got this feeling I needed to TDS test it...

HOLY CRAP!

350!!

So I tested the batch I got from the same machine last week. 9.

So what in the bloody hell happened in one week?! It's basically straight tap coming out of that thing right now. The maintenance record on the side shows it was last serviced 3 weeks ago. Needless to say I'm going to be making a phone call - if I can find one. :censor:

So moral of the story? TDS every batch of water!
 
  • #18
Quoting myself here for a reason. So, yesterday I got a new container of water from the same machine, the one I always use on a once-weekly basis. I was using it today to spray down some sphagnum I'm trying to grow. For some reason I got this feeling I needed to TDS test it...

HOLY CRAP!

350!!

So I tested the batch I got from the same machine last week. 9.

So what in the bloody hell happened in one week?! It's basically straight tap coming out of that thing right now. The maintenance record on the side shows it was last serviced 3 weeks ago. Needless to say I'm going to be making a phone call - if I can find one. :censor:

So moral of the story? TDS every batch of water!

If you are absolutely certain about the proper settings of your TDS meter (mine, for example, has several different modes and coefficients), then there is definitely a problem.

They are obviously not maintaining the equipment as they claim. When I had my own RO at the house, the tap water was so mineral-laden (560-620 ppm + chlorinated) that I was replacing filters left and right (there's one specifically for eliminating chlorine) -- and it became far cheaper to simply fill two five gallon jugs than deal with it. Someone is simply not replacing expensive filter components it would seem. The local machines here range from 2.5 - 3 ppm . . .

Back at the beginning of this thread, I mentioned that Peter D'Amato stressed that you should always test the water, since he had encountered machines in his area where the TDS was off the charts.

Caveat emptor.
 
  • #19
I've been testing every other batch, in my case every other week. I expected to see a ramping up of TDS, giving me a warning. But I certainly did not expect a jump from a TDS of 9 to 350 in one week.

Luckily, I was able to find a local grocery store nearby that has one of those 'Glacier' machines that were mentioned by others earlier in this thread. It tested at a TDS of 1 ppm. Also, I noticed that the text on the dispenser claims it's serviced weekly, as opposed to monthly at the old Culligan dispenser I used. Needless to say I'll stick with this new dispenser/store, and will test every single batch. Luckily, I caught that bad batch of water early - I had only begun to spray when I stopped to test it.

Problem is I'm now paying 41 cents per gallon as opposed to 25 cents from the other place, but a few cents is ok to keep things from dying.
 
  • #20
I've been testing every other batch, in my case every other week. I expected to see a ramping up of TDS, giving me a warning. But I certainly did not expect a jump from a TDS of 9 to 350 in one week.

Luckily, I was able to find a local grocery store nearby that has one of those 'Glacier' machines that were mentioned by others earlier in this thread. It tested at a TDS of 1 ppm. Also, I noticed that the text on the dispenser claims it's serviced weekly, as opposed to monthly at the old Culligan dispenser I used. Needless to say I'll stick with this new dispenser/store, and will test every single batch. Luckily, I caught that bad batch of water early - I had only begun to spray when I stopped to test it.

Problem is I'm now paying 41 cents per gallon as opposed to 25 cents from the other place, but a few cents is ok to keep things from dying.


Why would you be interested in purchasing tap water at .25 a gallon. That seems a bit steep (heh, heh)?
 
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