FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Clayton, North Carolina, USA (20 miles southeast of Raleigh)

Tap water: 150 PPM (pulled from the Neuse River, has a lower PPM after a heavy rain)

Rainwater collected from an asphalt-shingled roof: 8 PPM

The roof is my main source of water. I have two 80-gallon rain barrels plus 60 one-gallon jugs.

I just got my TDS meter and had to try a bunch of different waters. Here we go.

Location: Clarksville Tennessee
Tap, right after opening the faucet: 112 PPM. Not optimal, but I could use it in an emergency.
Tap, hot, after allowed to run to bring hot water to the faucet: 150 PPM. Not going to use that.
Tap, cold, allowed to run to flush the pipes: 101 PPM. I can use that if necessary.
Filtered from the fridge: 96 PPM. Better, TDS going down.
Tap, run through a Brita filter pitcher: 46 PPM. Now we're getting somewhere.
However, filtered fridge run through the Brita filter: 76 PPM. Interesting.
Rain water, collected in a bowl, 10 feet away from the house: 7 PPM. Yup, still going to use that.
Lastly, distilled: 0 PPM. Of course it is.
The initial Brita water had been sitting in the fridge a couple of days, maybe the temperature, 37°F, or time being allowed to "settle" had an effect.
I'm going to have to try some other combinations of water to see if I can reliably bring it down to make sure it's safe to use.

Denver, CO.

Tap - 150-225 depending on the seasons mostly. Worse in the summer. Better in the winter with snow melt. Water is from snow melt that accumulates in reservoirs.
Fridge filter tap - Usually 10-20 less than tap. Not great.
RO Buddie - 6. This is what I use

Bay Area, CA.

Tap - Prefiltered 22ppm, With carbon filter 12ppm.
Fridge - ~5ppm (This goes through carbon filter)
Brita - 3-4 ppm

In the winter, these numbers jump to 50 or so which is still doable but it rains enough to collect rain during this period.

South Atlanta, GA

Tap - 72ppm from a well
Dehumidifier - 0ppm

I have been using tap water at 72ppm for all of my plants for years without problem. That being said, They are all outdoors and are regularly flushed with rainwater so that may be to my advantage. I've recently started using water from the dehumidifier and it has been working well.

Berea,KY

TDS of tap water 92
TDS of Rain Water 4

Queens, New York

Tap water
2016 - 2021 : TDS : 35-40

TDS has been consistent for me past 5 years.

Chapel Hill, NC

Tap Water: 150ppm, 8.9 pH
R/O Bottled Water: 4ppm, 6.3 pH
Backyard Pond Water: 75ppm, 6.5 pH

Mission Area CA: 159 ppm

Uvalde County, Texas
Spring fed well water - 249 ppm
New, 5 stage ZERO water pitcher - 0 ppm

It will be interesting to see how often we have to change filters on the ZERO unit but it will sure cut down on buying plastic jugs of water for the coffee maker, the Keurig, and the CPs. Our water tastes good but the hard water buildup on our appliances is tough on them. We go through a lot of vinegar!

Quick reminder for everyone to please document the temperature of the water as well since TDS meters are very sensitive to temperature.

Longmont, CO
Home 51
Rain 0
Temps around 50ish

Cheap Chinese meter