# WARNING! What's in Toronto's tap water?



## joel.c (Sep 11, 2012)

Title got your attention!?!

As some of you know, I am in the process of setting up my first saltwater tank. Its going a lot slower than I thought it would, but doing lots of research as I go along. I started going through all the equipment I needed and then I came to, water! I've successfully been doing Cichlids for years with nothing more than Prime (and then switch to Alpha for reefs, seems more concentrated). Everything in my tank is happy, never a real problem. But then as I do my saltwater tank, I started thinking more about water... Attached is a link to Toronto's testing of water. Something like over 300 things are tested and some of the things definitely do not belong in my tank. That being said, some of the minerals are very high, makes sense for Lake Ontario is sitting on Limestone. I would imagine that most of the GTA would have the same water more or less since a lot of if comes from the lake.

Reverse Osmosis... add it to the list, I am definitely getting a good unit.

FYI:
http://www1.toronto.ca/City Of Toro...es/pdf/D/DrinkingWaterAnalysis_2013_FINAL.pdf

Anyone getting good results with straight tap water? Give us your .02

-Joel


----------



## Reef Druid (Jun 27, 2014)

Water quality is provincially regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act. Municipal potable water sources are tested at the treatment facility, and also at multiple points within the distribution system. You have more of a chance of something 'bad' entering your water within the plumbing in your building than from the water source. Private water systems are also provincially regulated and require certification to operate.

Sterilization of drinking water is commonly achieved in two stages of disinfection. Primary disinfection is usually achieved with chlorine, which is extremely effective but has a short lifespan in the water. Secondary disinfection is commonly employed these days by the addition of chloramines (not so in the USA) which have a much longer half-life (upwards of 12 days).

Testing for chemical, biological and metal content in drinking water systems is not just aimed at health concerns. Ontario Drinking Water Quality Objectives are threefold, separated into 'Standards, Objectives and Guidelines'. Objectives and Guidelines are not considered health matters. Many things tested in the water are tested because at a certain concentration the water may become 'unattractive' to people. Some substances can cause a discolouration, odour or affect the taste but are not health concerns.

Water quality is almost ALWAYS 'lower' coming from the tap in your house, than it would be if you were able to take water directly from the municipal distribution system. Particularly the first bit of water that comes out of your tap. I always let the water run for 30 seconds to 5 minutes before taking any water from the tap.

Water quality testing is very comprehensive because if the system is working as it should, there should be no health concerns, it is when something is wrong that there are problems, such as water main breaks, old plumbing, environmental contamination or contamination from sanitary or storm water sewer works. Because much of the water systems are underground and inaccessible, it is necessary to test for all possible contaminants in order to be able to diagnose a problem and pinpoint the source.

Of course I am talking about human health here and some of the things that are not a problem for us are deadly to fish, but we are talking about uncontrollable (in the practical sense) factors. Water comes out of the ground/waterways and depending on the properties in soil it will contain certain concentrations of various substances. This varies depending on the geographical location, morphology, geology and hydro-geology of the area. It is not a matter of one municipality having 'worse water' somehow than other areas. Many areas of Ontario have relatively high mineral content than compared to other locations, but it is not a human health concern as such.

The only 'reef-acceptable' water on the planet (generalization), is from an ocean reef. No matter where you get your water from otherwise, it is just an imitation and further treatment is always required.

Just food for thought.


----------



## Hamish (Apr 18, 2014)

*Water*

There is nothing more important than water quality in Saltwater. Ro is not enough RO-DI is needed.


----------



## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

this topic comes up everytime a newbie gets into reefing. The Toronto water quality report should be posted up here as a sticky link. I think that's the role of local forums - for local-specific information exchange.

yes 905 people gets better water - better pipes, and water treatment centers that uses R/O filtration in addition to traditional water treatment methods.


----------



## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

The 905 getting better water quality is a misconception. Anywhere with a new system will have quit a bit of problems with sediment and odor since the pipes are new.

Also, your two biggest problems will be sediment and salinity.

Durham county collects their water from the lake near the port and they have always had a problem with the water in the lake being very salty due to road salt runoff. 

Also with the sediment comes silica also from the road salt.

It's a good idea to get a RO/DI for your tank although it isn't truly necessary since quite a few people have kept amazing tanks without the use of filtration. It just makes it easier.

In the future try to research more or ask some people on the forums that seem to know a bit more about reefing than others. 

Good luck and post some pics


----------

