Alcibiades Posted August 13, 2017 Report Share Posted August 13, 2017 Hi there! Recently purchased a Sarracenia and it's on a stand on my balcony in order to get maximum sun. Nevertheless, there's a rather pressing issue. I live in Guildford, our tap water is hard, and we're not predicted to get rain until Thursday night. The sarra will probably struggle to last that long, honestly. Have given some tap water in very minuscule doses in order to keep it moist but aware it's not advised. Was wondering whether taking a bottle down to the river Wey at St Catherine's Hill would be a good idea and getting some quick emergency water there to tide over the Sarra until the rain? Thankyou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argo88 Posted August 13, 2017 Report Share Posted August 13, 2017 Honestely, I've watered vft and sundews witn River water... in my opinion it is better than tap water... of course, rain water is the best... river water must be clean, no of citiies rivers;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picavorus Posted August 13, 2017 Report Share Posted August 13, 2017 Are you able to pop into an aquarium shop? As they tend to sell r/o water pretty cheaply, which could help you out better longer term until there's some good rainfall to build up your supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carambola Posted August 13, 2017 Report Share Posted August 13, 2017 None of the TDS stuff really matters if you only resort to high TDS water in a pinch. Doing so consistently over a longer period of time is what does these plants in as the minerals in the soil pile up and become too much for the plants to handle. Either way, the TDS of the river water could be all over the place, so it might as well be tap water (or your tap water might even come straight from the river). You could get demineralised water at (nearly) any grocery store real cheap, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedog0628 Posted August 13, 2017 Report Share Posted August 13, 2017 (edited) When I was at risk of running out of rainwater earlier this year I got two 2.5 l bottles of de-ionised water from Tesco for £1.15 each (it's in the car care isle). I didn't need it in the end so just have it in the shed as a back-up. You should be able to get de-ionised water in most supermarkets/petrol stations (it's the stuff you use to top up car batteries and also in steam irons). Edited August 13, 2017 by Bluedog0628 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted August 14, 2017 Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 You should be able to look up the chemical makeup of your local river on your water company's website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcibiades Posted August 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 14 minutes ago, Alexis said: You should be able to look up the chemical makeup of your local river on your water company's website. It's the River Wey in Guildford, a place which is under the Thames Water company; this means that googling it just turns up the River Thames and not the river Wey, who's google results are all about boat trips etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted August 14, 2017 Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 (edited) Try this link: https://www.thameswater.co.uk/Help-and-Advice/Water-Quality/Check-the-water-quality-in-your-area Your water is very hard though, so I wouldn't use it on carnivorous plants to be honest. Edited August 14, 2017 by Alexis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcibiades Posted August 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 Thanks but I meant the River, not the tap water; how would you check the River Wey in Guildford's suitability? Lol. Honestly only used the tap water once just to moisten the soil and enable the plant to survive the last weekend and generate some digestive enzymes. It's not something that's done regularly. Our tap water is horrible in Guildford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted August 15, 2017 Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 United Utilities gives me the analysis of my local river if I put in the postcode on their site. I would have thought Thames would have the same thing somewhere on their site. But all water is hard in the south east because of the bedrock, so I don't see the river being any different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcibiades Posted August 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 It looks like the river is bad, sadly. http://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/sites/default/files/wey_landscape_partnership_catchment_vision_draft.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndeeUK Posted August 15, 2017 Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 You could always pick up a bottle of deionized water or pop to your local aquarium shop for RO water to keep you going until you have enough rain water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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