Many citizens are dissatisfied with the quality of water here in the U.S. But it is not always bad for the same reason. In certain parts of the country, you could have an excess of harmful bacteria. In certain houses, you could be looking at lead contamination (seriously dangerous over long timescales) if you still have lead plumbing. Elsewhere, you could have an intolerable amount of arsenic in the water supply.
This is the reason alternative water sources and home filters are so popular. Basically, municipal water in the U.S. often falls seriously short of the mark.
But there is something else complicating the matter too. Water is used for many different things. So while your tap water might be quite acceptable for, say, drinking, it could be quite unacceptable for washing. A high mineral content (hard water) is a good example of this.
These minerals can be incredibly good for your health (ever heard of mineral water?) but hard water can also leave streaks all over your dishes and calcium residue in pipes or inside water-using devices such as humidifiers. Nevertheless, companies like hydrogen water product suppliers Synergy Science consistently note that this is a major reason for interest in their products.
And here is another example – water for plants. All life on Earth requires water to survive, but what is great drinking water for you could well be a pretty poor choice for your flowers and shrubs.
An Important Point
Your tap water might be very bad for your plants (that is the case in many different locations), but it should be noted that what is good for your plants is hardly going to be the solution for your whole household’s water supply. There are simply other priorities – drinking water, washing water, water to cook with, and so on. Even the most ardent plant lover is hardly going to compromise on the health of the humans in their home in order to get the best water supply for their plants.
However, while plants and humans have different requirements, they do overlap. And the home water solution for you could also be a good one for the plants. Just bear in mind that if they don’t overlap much, you might have to make up your plant water after it has come out the faucet.
What’s Best for Plants?
So, what water is good for your plants? House plants are the ones to worry most about as outdoor plants can generally take low quality water better. Many of the chemicals that are found inside contaminated tap water are indeed also harmful to house plants. Some plants, for example, are extremely sensitive to fluoride in water. Luckily, this is also a concern for humans.
Therefore, water that does not contain such chemicals could be the solution. Distilled and filtered water though could go too far the other way. Many of the minerals found inside tap water are positively required by plants. By giving them something very close to pure H2O, you could even be harming then.
Therefore, it is usually the case that doing something about the harmful contaminates in water – such as bad bacteria, certain minerals, and heavy metal content – are sure to be bad for plants too. For example, if you have an arsenic problem, sorting that will also help your plants. That type of contamination is pretty much bad for any living thing.
So, there you have it. Be careful with distilled and purified water because plants need nutrients too. Nevertheless, if you have any serious concerns with the quality of your tap water, go right ahead and address them. Your plants will thank you.
