This week I discovered an interesting local treasure about an hour away from my place. Located in Berkeley Springs, WV lies what is known as George Washington's bathtub.. which was apparently his favorite spot to bathe. Not only does there appear to be what looks like guppies swimming in this outdoor area (I think you can actually fish them out with a net as the museum gift shop sells fish nets) but there is also free water available coming from two different outdoor units. This water also gets filtered 1,000 times per minute.. which puts most any hobbyist aquarium filter to shame (hah). Upon talking to a few other people one lady from Bethesda, MD actual drives nearly 2 hours to fill several 5 gallon jugs (she does this every 2 months) of this natural spring water, and I mean who doesn't like free water? Okay okay.. if you come here before 5pm and it isn't a Sunday or holiday than you will possibly spend $0.25 to pay the meter to park long enough to get some of this water... otherwise it's free (and there really wasn't any lines to get this).
So, I quickly had the idea of dumping out a perfectly fine small bottle of Deer Park water to refill it with this water which seemed to be considered "special" by its regulars (so maybe they're a bit on the "hippie" side, hehe). I took a drink and although the water wasn't cold (and it didn't immediately kill me) and it did have a very slight smell, I knew my main reason for taking it was to actually test the quality of water using my API water test strips back home (and yes, I have fish on the brain, haha). The test strip readings came back as the following...
NO3 (Nitrate): 1 (est.) Safe
NO2 (Nitrite): 0 Safe
GH (Hardness): 150 Hard
Cl (Chlorine): 0 Safe
KH (Alkalinity): 120 Ideal
pH (Potential of Hydrogen): 7.0 Neutral
Temperature: 74°F/23°C
After these test results I had my lovely assistant Meko (my betta fish) take a sip... and he's still doing fine. Honestly I'm not sure what would be "super" about this water after seeing these results, but it obviously has minerals in it based on it being 'Hard', which I know all too well that hard water generally adds annoying mineral deposits onto aquarium surfaces. I actually think what I am smelling in this water may be Iodine which is generally used in outdoor hand pump type water devices (which in this decade you may have seen around camp/hike sites), and Iodine is not something that everyone should consume (such as those with overactive thyroids) but I have heard crustacean types often require a bit of this to keep their shells hardened. Upon taking an up-close look at the clear water it does appear to have a few very tiny/fine dust-like looking particles floating about. The most interesting thing to myself about this water test was probably the fact the nitrate readings are barely existent from this fresh spring water, but perhaps it's due to the water being filtered 1000 times per minute. Another interesting thing about this water is that it runs around 74 degrees Fahrenheit (I am assuming that's year round based upon nearby signs), which may be how a scant amount of guppies are capable of surviving in these waters (which I am also curious about acquiring a few of these fish in the future) as I am not sure how well they would survive in freezing temperatures.
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| Berkeley Springs, WV |
NO3 (Nitrate): 1 (est.) Safe
NO2 (Nitrite): 0 Safe
GH (Hardness): 150 Hard
Cl (Chlorine): 0 Safe
KH (Alkalinity): 120 Ideal
pH (Potential of Hydrogen): 7.0 Neutral
Temperature: 74°F/23°C
After these test results I had my lovely assistant Meko (my betta fish) take a sip... and he's still doing fine. Honestly I'm not sure what would be "super" about this water after seeing these results, but it obviously has minerals in it based on it being 'Hard', which I know all too well that hard water generally adds annoying mineral deposits onto aquarium surfaces. I actually think what I am smelling in this water may be Iodine which is generally used in outdoor hand pump type water devices (which in this decade you may have seen around camp/hike sites), and Iodine is not something that everyone should consume (such as those with overactive thyroids) but I have heard crustacean types often require a bit of this to keep their shells hardened. Upon taking an up-close look at the clear water it does appear to have a few very tiny/fine dust-like looking particles floating about. The most interesting thing to myself about this water test was probably the fact the nitrate readings are barely existent from this fresh spring water, but perhaps it's due to the water being filtered 1000 times per minute. Another interesting thing about this water is that it runs around 74 degrees Fahrenheit (I am assuming that's year round based upon nearby signs), which may be how a scant amount of guppies are capable of surviving in these waters (which I am also curious about acquiring a few of these fish in the future) as I am not sure how well they would survive in freezing temperatures.
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