Quartz sand.[b said:Quote[/b] (jimscott @ Dec. 27 2003,16:52)].....what kind of sand is acceptable?
Boiling water just concentrates the disolved minerals and salts that are in it. The only thing that boiling removes is chlorine which you shouldn't have in your creek (I hope) and micro-organisms which won't affect your plants anyhow.[b said:Quote[/b] ]...... I have a creek tributary right behind my residence. Is that safe - even with boiling?
Ok. I see. I'd skip the boiling and just rinse the sand with tap water until the silt and other debree are removed, then rinse with pure water a couple times to remove minerals and chlorine left by the tap water. It might be a good idea to clean a small batch first and test some of it with vinegar before cleaning a large batch and then finding you can't use it. As Tamlin pointed out, sand quality varies from one place to the next. So while this method works for me, it may not work as well for you.[b said:Quote[/b] (jimscott @ Dec. 28 2003,06:31)]I know that boiling concentrates the salts if I wanted to use the water, but if I am rinsing out the the boiled sand / water with let's say deionized water and only using the sand - would that be a problem?