Thanks-I'll check again for reviews online. Home Depot advertised one. I'm hoping to not have to fill up gallon jugs all the time-at this point I've got close to sixteen I keep filled to let the chlorine dissipate before I water! Thanks for the info on the speed of filling, that will make a big difference!

Best,

Judy

Judy -

cheaper alternative - a trash can - fill it up - and let it dissipate. Sump pump with a hose also helps in watering a good size collection out of the trash can with dissolved fertilizer. I collect A/C water in summer - free and distilled.

RO is an excellent choice - but for every gallon you get - you send 9 gallons of water down the drain. If you have a salt fish aquarium - or Disa orchids - or too much chloramine in water - you do not have other options. Otherwise - 9 gallons down the drain sounds wasteful... multiply it by 16 - that's the amount of water you normally use - and it becomes scary.

That's far, far too much waste for me-I thought it simply filtered the water at hand. How does this work then? I'll take a look online.

I will take up your excellent idea of a large plastic garbage can filled with water. Much easier to fill up a watering can that way (instead of the gallon jugs). We have to put the mosquito pellets in there but we do that with our outside fountain anyway.

What to do in the winter though? Hmmm. Time to do more research...

I keep my 33 gallon garbage can in a guest bathroom shower. If somebody is coming - I can just empty it and pull it out.

I.

If chlorine and chloramines are your only concern, you can get drops at your local pet store to neutralize this easily. They are cheap and chemically bond them to become harmless to both fish and plants almost instantly. PH can also be easily adjusted so the filling up a plastic trash can option is actually your best bet if you need a lot of water easily to hand. You can also put the lid on it to keep things out of it if you use the drops. That leaves metals as a concern but if the water is safe for you to drink you are probably going to be all right there too.

If freezing is a concern and you have to store it outside, a cheap drop in aquarium heater or a cheap air pump bringing warm air from the house can keep it from freezing up on you.

Irina is right that most RO systems in an affordable range will tend to waste water if the tech hasn't changed a lot since I used one. (It was some years ago) I wouldn't go to RO for plants myself. It also strips out everything else that your plants need in trace elements and minerals and is a big pain in the arse.

Means - chlorine is doable - it evaporates. Chloramine- depends how much. You can look at the water district report - or call them - to check what they use. If it is chloramine - fish tank remedy is a first thing to do. If you do not have too much dissolved solids - whatever is below 150 ppm - you are in luck. pH - you can check it and there are ways to correct it - may be more sophisticated than vinegar - but vingar is definitely cheap. You do not normally have low pH in water - water district corrects it - because otherwise the water corrodes the pipes. But sometimes - if it is a well water - pH can be way too high.

Hyn Patty is correct. The expensive RO filters are expensive because they provide an incredibly pure water, not because they do not lose so much water to the drain. And yes - no plants no humans need this level of purity. We need the dissolved minerals. Which is the tastiest for us? - mountain spring water - not rainwater.

If you have pi**-poor water... it is the way to go, but you will be adding trace minerals to RO water and replacing expensive flters. If your water is not that bad - you can get away with home remedies.

Well, I went ahead and got a 32 gallon plastic garbage can. It isn't chlorine I'm worried about, just tired of standing by the sink filling up jug after jug of water, plus having them all sit in the house all the time. We'll see how this goes. Brilliant idea by the way Irina! Still a ways to winter. No guest bathroom (it's being redone right now) and no outdoor outlets for a heater either, but we'll find a way to do it! It'll be nice to be able to simply dunk a watering can in it and water at "leisure!" Thanks for the excellent suggestions!

Best,

Judy