Re: INTRO Carlos Hurtado - VFT's

Sean Barry (sjbarry@ucdavis.edu)
Fri, 19 Apr 1996 11:28:21 -0700 (PDT)

On Fri, 19 Apr 1996, Carlos Hurtado wrote:

> Here it is quite difficult to obtain, in quantities, reasonably priced
> distilled water. I was thinking of using bottled drinking water. Any one
> knows if it is OK to use this type of water, it has no chemicals like
> chlorine, only the natural chemicals of well water, filtered and purified
> with ozone.

> The raining season has just started here. For the moment, I think rain will
> be enough to maintain the sphagnum moss damp.

Carlos:

Collect as much of that rainwater as you can and use it instead of or in
addition to distilled water. Bottled drinking water may be OK but you
must find out if it has any dissolved solids. A quick and simple way is
to boil away 100ml or so to dryness on a stovetop and see if it leaves any
white residue in the container. If so, there are probably too many
dissolved solids to use it. Bottled water varies widely in content among
producers and "types" (spring water, drinking water, etc). Rainwater, if
collected cleanly, is just about perfect.

Sean Barry