Water problem!!

[Nyctra]

Our well is thoroughly busted to smithereens! Gee, wonder how that happened. (*coughcoughDad*) Our only water right now comes from my sister's tap and a barrel.

One smells horribly of chemicals (city water) and the other has a bit of baking soda in it. I'm guessing the baking soda water is safer for my rabbits? And cats....and dogs...and rats... :x I sure can't just run to the store and pick up fresh water for them.

And when I say "horribly" I mean the stuff practically burns my eyes when I sniff it.

 

[Zass]

Maybe adding a bit of vinegar would neutralize the baking soda water?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Yikes! Sorry about your well! We think the pump is going out on ours, but thankfully it isn't dead yet.

The chemicals in the city water will off gas with exposure to air- so put it in a container with as much surface area as possible, such as a big galvanized tub or even a kiddy-pool. Aeration really helps, so if you have an aquarium air pump lying around, you can hasten it that way.

For now I think I would go with the baking soda water, as long as it isn't too salty.

Maybe adding a bit of vinegar would neutralize the baking soda water?

Good idea, Zass! Although I don't know if that would do much for the salt... :?

 

[katiebear]

I read somewhere that you can distill water by letting it set for 24 hours...then the hardness (minerals)will sink to the bottom. I guess you only use the water in the top...maybe skim off the top? With the chemicals mama sheepdog has it...

 

[Nyctra]

Well, the baking soda water doesn't taste salty to me. That's good, I suppose. Guess I'll be using that...but dang, I hope this issue gets fixed soon! D:
Baking soda + vinegar makes CO2. I just used the mix to euthanize rats recently... bahah Dunno how that would affect a bunny's belly! ;

 

[alforddm]

Our well is thoroughly busted to smithereens!

What happened?

 

[Nyctra]

I'm...not sure... It just farted out one day so Dad tried fixing it...but the things he thought most likely to be needing fixed weren't the problem and he couldn't figure it out...I helped carry some pipe and next thing I know, he's going on and on about this and that - and I don't know diddly about pipes and wells and how these things work, so it all went over my head. All I could tell was things looked pretty broken and disassembled, and some part of it was jerry rigged ages ago before we moved here and was so brittle it broke and things that should've turned wouldn't turn and GOSH! Big ol' mess. lol Then some rather large parts went missing overnight apparently. Awesome. :? So there's things I've never seen before lying around and he's trying to sort it all out. I think we have to get a new just-about-everything, from what I've gathered.

 

[alforddm]

Sounds like fun. We are on a well also and have had to pull and replace a well pump and re-pipe the pressure tank, so I feel your pain. I hope ya'll get it sorted soon.

 

[HendricksHearth]

Yikes! Sorry about your well! We think the pump is going out on ours, but thankfully it isn't dead yet.

The chemicals in the city water will off gas with exposure to air- so put it in a container with as much surface area as possible, such as a big galvanized tub or even a kiddy-pool. Aeration really helps, so if you have an aquarium air pump lying around, you can hasten it that way.

This! If you use bottles for your rabbitry, you can fill them all up and leave the tops off for a while. The smells will dissapate faster than you think. Our water here smells like a pool and we "age" all the water that isn't purchased already bottled.

Best of luck!

Lauren

 

[akane]

Baking soda in water is perfectly fine to drink. You don't need vinegar.

City chemicals will not all degas. Most have gone to using a bound chlorine specifically so it won't separate from the water. You can get rid of some of it, especially if you agitate the water but not a fair amount of it. I'm not sure what drinking water that has been neutralized with fish tank dechlorinators would be like. That's the only way I know to truly get chlorine out of water.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

A trick I recently learned, and now use for my own drinking water...
Boil the water and then let it cool. You would be surprised at what precipitates out as it cools!