# Water from Snow



## phrag_girl_WI (Feb 26, 2010)

Ok, having not thought about melting snow for pure water, and after hearing the suggestion, I started melting some snow yesterday. OMG, you guys, you'd think its easy -- snow + heat = water.

After 12 hours inside, the 5 gallong bucket of snow is now about 7" of some water and mostly slush. 

A good idea -- I have a yard FULL of snow ripe for the melting ... but this is going to take a while LOL Hopefully my orchids appreciate the effort!! LOL


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## goldenrose (Feb 26, 2010)

:rollhappy: It is amazing how long it takes to melt! 
A couple of tips - can you put the bucket in sunshine? or .... Do you have a deep tub in a laundry room? Give the 5 gallon bucket a hot bath!


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## Clark (Feb 26, 2010)

Hello.
Any particles on the bottom of the container?
If so, discard?


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## Yoyo_Jo (Feb 26, 2010)

Oh yeah, did forget to mention that it does take awhile to accumulate a decent amount of water. It's worth it though. We're losing our snow rapidly right now as it's unseasonably warm, so I'm back to 50/50 RO and tap water...

And yes, sediment is an issue; I dump the last bit of dregs from the milk jugs I store the snow melt in into a pail and toss it outside.


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## NYEric (Feb 26, 2010)

Get an R.O. system.


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## Clark (Feb 26, 2010)

And don't eat the snow.


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## Ayreon (Feb 26, 2010)

...especially if it's yellow


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## phrag_girl_WI (Feb 26, 2010)

Ayreon said:


> ...especially if it's yellow




That cracked me up. ... I have 2 dogs and had to find a non-dog area to get the snow from LOL


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## SlipperFan (Feb 26, 2010)

I used to collect snow & melt it -- until I got too many orchids. But I got quite good at packing it very tightly in buckets to give me over a half bucket of water.


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## Kevin (Feb 27, 2010)

NYEric said:


> Get an R.O. system.



Snow is free.


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## Kyle (Feb 27, 2010)

I think you've just discovered one of the most amazing things about chemistry and clmate change; Waters abiltity to hold and resist/buffer heat(temperature change).


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## NYEric (Feb 27, 2010)

Kevin said:


> Snow is free.



Not in the Summer in NYC! oke:


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## Kevin (Feb 27, 2010)

Snow in winter, rain in summer. I myself don't use snow. We can collect enough rain water in the summer to last most of the winter.


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## lindafrog (Feb 27, 2010)

I used to collect snow for the phrags. Nasty work in cold weather. We live in the country with good air-- or so i thought until I saw all the tiny particles in the bottom of the melted water.. It takes so much snow to get a gallon of water. Seems like it would be better to buy refillable gallon jugs of water.
The cost is there but much less trouble.
Lindafrog--


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## cnycharles (Feb 27, 2010)

if you buy one of those 50- 100 gallon stock tubs from farm supply stores, you can just shovel away and fill it up. a stock water heater could melt the snow since it's purpose is to heat water just enough for stock to drink it. neither is very expensive, and if you just have a few plants then you can drain off water as needed and set it somewhere to warm up. where there's a will, there's a way...

always seems funny to me to be talking of buying water, of course I live where there is a good amount of it, usually, year-round. not so in a lot of other places


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## tocarmar (Feb 28, 2010)

I use a rain barrel all year-round. The winter I have to chip the ice, put it in 5gal buckets in the laundry room till it melts . Then I use a flour sak & large strainer, to filter out the particles. Then I have 2 35gal garbage cans in the basement to hold the water, I use fish tank filters to filter the water until I use it. I've been doing it this way for about 5 years.


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## SlipperFan (Feb 28, 2010)

I also have a rain barrel. I use a horse tank heater in it in the winter to keep the water above freezing -- around 40ºF. I siphon out the water into buckets and bring them into the house to warm up before I use the water. Works fine, but I'm getting tired of hauling buckets.


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## tocarmar (Mar 1, 2010)

I am tired of it too!! But I have real bad sulfer water, we added a Culigan System w/chlorine & salt to help with the sulfer so I don't use my water for the kids or house plants. It cost a small fortune to rent it each month. But with the sulfer so bad it eats everything it can. The house is about 45 yrs old. We will be moving in a year or two. so I can deal with the water problem a little longer.
It is only bad for about 2 months in the winter. I try to save as much water as I can. We have been lucky with the weather this year I think I had to break the ice 2 times. I have filled the cans in the basement + some 5 gal pails & use them 1st.


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## Corbin (Mar 2, 2010)

Does anyone add anything to their stored rainwater to prohibit "souring" of the water? If so what do you use?

Thanks,


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## SlipperFan (Mar 2, 2010)

Corbin said:


> Does anyone add anything to their stored rainwater to prohibit "souring" of the water? If so what do you use?
> 
> Thanks,



In the summer, sometimes I add a little bleach. In the winter, the cold takes care of any problems.


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## cnycharles (Mar 3, 2010)

I think someone pointed out here that they use an aquarium water filter; you might be able to just aerate it with an aquarium airstone to keep it from getting funky

another chemical approach I think is to use a tiny amount of physan (use as according the label) to keep the water 'clean'


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## Corbin (Mar 8, 2010)

Dot, Do you know about how much you use per gallon or some other unit?

Charles, Trying to keep poisons out of my house but thanks.


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## NYEric (Mar 9, 2010)

Is your tap water chlorinated!!?


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## SlipperFan (Mar 9, 2010)

Corbin said:


> Dot, Do you know about how much you use per gallon or some other unit?



Ed, I have a 57 gallon rain barrel. I pour about 1 cup of bleach in it whenever I think it needs freshening (after I've cleaned it out with Chlorox Clean-Up).

Actually, about once every 2 or 3 months in the winter, I water my plants with a 1% bleach solution. That's 3.84 oz of bleach per gallon of water, nearly 1/2 C. per 3 gallon bucket of water. Seems to help keep soil-borne insects down, like fungus gnats. I haven't done that in awhile, and I'm seeing fungus gnats, so I guess it's time for the bleach treatment.



NYEric said:


> Is your tap water chlorinated!!?



Eric, if that question is for me, no -- I use either rain water or my well water.


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## Corbin (Mar 9, 2010)

NYEric said:


> Is your tap water chlorinated!!?



Eric,

I have retired a moved back to my home in Texas. We have a well but the water is very hard ( the major component is lime ). We have a water softer for the in house use so neither was a good option. 

We have a large metal roof which washes clean after just a few minutes of rain and even with just a light drizzle I can get 5 gallons in 15 minutes. It is however going to be tough if we get into a dry summer like we have had in the past several years. Hince the question about how to store large amounts. 

Dot,

Thanks for the info. :rollhappy:


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## Corbin (Mar 9, 2010)

SlipperFan said:


> Ed, I have a 57 gallon rain barrel. I pour about 1 cup of bleach in it whenever I think it needs freshening (after I've cleaned it out with Chlorox Clean-Up).
> 
> Actually, about once every 2 or 3 months in the winter, I water my plants with a 1% bleach solution. That's 3.84 oz of bleach per gallon of water, nearly 1/2 C. per 3 gallon bucket of water. Seems to help keep soil-borne insects down, like fungus gnats. I haven't done that in awhile, and I'm seeing fungus gnats, so I guess it's time for the bleach treatment.



My reluctance to use Chlorox stemed from a caution in one of the "orchid books" about using Chlorox in the water placed in the gravel bed below orchids.

Does this mean that I can add Chlorox in the water I put in the humidifiers? Even with changing out the water daily they soon develop "scum."


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## phrag_girl_WI (Mar 10, 2010)

Well after 8 days of warm temps and 2 days of rain, the water from snow is gone but I have many gallons of rainwater  YAY! 

Is it my imagination or am I actually seeing the plants look better with just 2 or 3 waterings with clean water?


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## Clark (Mar 10, 2010)

The only time my lawn is growing, is after it rains. I swear, even the color looks better.
Irrigation with city water just seems to keep it hydrated, not growing.


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## SlipperFan (Mar 10, 2010)

Corbin said:


> My reluctance to use Chlorox stemed from a caution in one of the "orchid books" about using Chlorox in the water placed in the gravel bed below orchids.
> 
> Does this mean that I can add Chlorox in the water I put in the humidifiers? Even with changing out the water daily they soon develop "scum."



I know what you mean about cautions about Chlorox. I've heard that you should let your chlorinated city water set out overnight to let the chlorine dissipate. Yet I've read from several orchid growers about using the 1% bleach to water plants with. I wonder what harm the Chlorox is supposed to do in the gravel bed???

The only problem I know of with putting a little Chlorox in your humidifier is that it will stink up the place until it's all evaporated (I've done that). I think a better solution is to clean out the humidifier with a bleach solution and then rinse it well before filling and starting it up again.


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## cnycharles (Mar 12, 2010)

if you have an ultrasonic humidifier, the instructions point out that no chemicals should be put in the water to be broadcast. if you're using another kind, then it's up to you. I think if you put bleach in the wet gravel and then somehow set your plants on top so that the air doesn't move very much, it's possible that the dissipating chlorine gas could build up around the pots/plants and burn things(?); if you set your plants on top of the gravel (a no-no) then it's possible that chlorine water could get pulled up into the pot, burning the roots


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## SlipperFan (Mar 12, 2010)

I would think it has to be a pretty strong solution to do that. At the greenhouse, we use a strong bleach solution to clean the walkways of algae a couple times a year, and then wash it into the sand under the benches. It's never had any ill effects on the plants, but then, we don't set any plants on the floor or under the benches.


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