Tap water?

[Mike4284m]

What does everybody use to water their palms?  Here in the Lauderdale area the water is a lovely shade of yellow so I'm hesitant to use it on any of the "good" plants.  I get RO water for my aquarium and have been using this instead.  Is that really necessary?

[DoomsDave]

Yellow water?

Hmm.  Obvious comparisons with, well, you know, but why's it yellow?  Might not matter.

dave

[Mike4284m]

I'm not exactly sure yet.  I drink it when desperate and haven't grown any additional appendages, eyes, etc.

[Dave-Vero]

Ours in Vero Beach is also quite yellowish, and it leaves yellow stains where it dries.

[Neofolis]

I would find yellow very off putting.  Our water is very hard and, as a result, causes white deposits on leaves, but I try to avoid tap water whenever possible.

I would be inclined to contact the local water authority and ask why it is yellow, it may be a totally harmless additive, but equally, maybe it's not supposed to be yellow and you have a problem that needs sorting.

[Mike4284m]

I guess I would be more concerned if it was just at my house.  The water at work and every other place is the same.

[edbrown_3]

Most south Florida water is very high in Iron.   Unoxidized form is yellow, oxidized form is reddish brown.

Tastes like *#@% but not toxic.  A cloth filter under the sink will take this out but has to be changed a bunch. Utilities have a produce a quarterly report where they check water for 129 pollutants of drinking water. Most of them publish this on there web sites.

Best regards,

Ed

[Mike4284m]

Iron should be good for plants . . right?  

So do you think its safe, or a good idea for that matter, to water my palms with it?

[edbrown_3]

The fact they have to report it and test for all the chemicals that poison humans means it safe but tastes like @#$% but this is largely dueto the iron.

Bottled water they usually get from a ground water source in the deep aquifer that tastes better but they dont treat it or test .

South FLorida the deep aquifer is salty so they get it from the shallow aquifer which has high conc. of iron

Iron wont hurt plants.

Ed

[Mike4284m]

Thanks.  I just didn't want anything to build up in the soil.

[Dypsisdean]

I agree with Ed. We have trouble with iron staining swimming pools all the time. As he mentions, it can be both yellowish and brown. It also comes from old galvanized water lines and other outdated iron pipes.