Drinking water - how to make it safe.

[kueluck]

Is there a way to make tap water safe for garters without using chemicals, like dechlorinating treatment? I've searched this site and others and can't find a firm yes or no.

[guidofatherof5]

I believe letting the water sit out for 24 hours removes most on the problems.
I've used water like that with guppies and did lose any.
I jugs of water in the snake just for that purpose rather then filling water dishes from the hose.
I think the more surface area exposed make the process work faster.

[Steveo]

Letting the water sit for 24 hours (without a lid) will get rid of the chlorine. Chloramines will still remain but I don't know if that has any affect on our snakes.

[guidofatherof5]

Letting the water sit for 24 hours (without a lid) will get rid of the chlorine. Chloramines will still remain but I don't know if that has any affect on our snakes.

Thanks for the info.

[kueluck]

Thanks for the input. I guess I'll start filling up the gallon jugs. I just don't like using chemicals unless absolutely necessary, like meds for illness if there is no other way.

[katach]

What about a water purifier? We got a really inexpensive one and filter our water.

[d_virginiana]

You can google your city's water treatment policies. If they don't use chloramines, you can just let it sit out. Idk how exactly chloramines effect snakes, but I personally wouldn't risk using water with them in it.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

Are some heavy metals found in some drinking waters dangerous to smaller animals like snakes?if so how could they removed?

[kueluck]

Emailed the utility director and got this message back. "We use sodium hypochlorite as our source of free chlorine for disinfection." Any chemist want to put their 2 cents in? I think I might just stick with buying spring water.

[chris-uk]

I tried using the same "tap water conditioner" that I use for our aquarium (neutralises chlorine and chloramine, and bonds things like heavy metals). Even in a lower dose the snakes seem to avoid the treated water, so since then I've been standing a bottle of water to evaporate the chlorine - when I got the fish is checked to see whether chloramine is used here and it isn't. From what I read on the aquatic websites, water quality in the UK is less of a problem than it is in the US where water supplies are more fragmented.

Kat - does the filter strip out the chlorine? Sounds like it could be worth checking, although when I looked at water filters the running costs wasn't much less than cheap bottled water.