Is tap water ok?

[NightEule5]

What do you use to water your parrots? Do you think tap water (with chlorine) is ok to use? I ask because I've been airing on the side of caution and watering the budgies with Britta filtered water and I'm not sure if I could just use tap water.

 

[itzjbean]

I have been giving straight tap water to my birds since I've had them (3 years) and not a thing has come from it. We do not have soft water. If it is safe for humans it is safe for birds. I clean bowls with soap and water daily.

 

[Kiwibird]

Unless you live somewhere with especially disgusting water, it should be fine. Kiwi has never drank anything but tapwater and is as healthy as a bird can be

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

I've always used tap water for my birds. Even when mixing formula for chicks, I've usually used tap water. The only exception was when I was feeding exceptionally young chicks, then I would use filtered water, just because they are so delicate.

 

[NightEule5]

Ok, thanks everyone!

 

[cnyguy]

The water where I live is very heavily chlorinated. Turning on the tap brings a smell almost as strong as you'd get from opening a bottle of chlorine bleach. There's no way I'd drink it myself, and I won't use it for the parrots to drink or bathe in. I bought a tap-mounted filter (Culligan) which does an excellent job of removing the chlorine smell and taste, as well as other impurities in the water-- a big improvement over what comes straight from the tap.

 

[wrench13]

Another vote for tap water. We have OK water here, not as good as NYC water but not bad. We drink it and so does Salty.

 

[SailBoat]

Most 'town-water' systems will add chlorine to their water year around.

Depending on the source(s) that amount will sometimes vary based on a chemical evaluation of the source water(s). When you can clearly smell it, clearly the level is high! The easiest and lowest cost way to reduce the level of chlorine in drinking water is to have an open water pitcher in the refrigerator - within twelve to twenty-four hours, the level has been greatly reduced.

Our Amazon has access to both soft City Water with minor amounts of chlorine and soft Well Water. He drinks both with equal intensity.

I hope that this helps.


FYI: If you are using 'town water,' they are required to make a yearly evaluation available to the users of the water system. That evaluations commonly includes EPA required testing results and the common percentages of all 'additives' added to the supplied water. If you have consistently high level of Chlorine, if it was me, I would be asking why!

 

[NightEule5]

Well, we don't really have town water, but you could call it that. Since we live 25 minutes away from the nearest town, we haul water from a sort of public well run by our "Municipal District" (sort of a rural government I guess). They definitely add chlorine, as it looks green.

We don't drink it just to be safe, but we do use it to water the chickens. I guess if it hasn't killed any chickens it's probably fine for parrots. Thanks for everyone's input!

 

[Carl_Power]

Clean tap water is fine. In the wild huge flocks ambush large trucks transporting bottled spring water because they just wont drink anything else

If your uncomfortable you can always boil the water to clean it then cool it so its cold x

 

[clark_conure]

tap water is fine, goes in the dish, but anything I drink clark seems to need too, so he also has bottled water from the cap....and water from the tap.

 

[LordTriggs]

I live in the hardest water area in England and there's as far as I'm aware never been an issue for parrots

kettles on the other hand need replacing almost quarterly depending on how much they're used

 

[clark_conure]

also bear in mind some birds need to eat rocks (grit) to digest food like cockatiels...I don't think hard water is an issue.

 

[Kiwibird]

kettles on the other hand need replacing almost quarterly depending on how much they're used

That seems like a lot of money to waste replacing kettles! Why not get a stainless stovetop one that can simply be washed out and scrubbed with barkeepers friend to get deposits out (or whatever comparable product you have in the UK)? Much cheaper in the long run, even if you got a 'designer' one.

 

[Scott]

I used to use tap water but am more cautious after springing two leaks in house pipe system. Long story short, very hard water combined with chlorine thins the copper piping causing pinholes or worse. House was built with the thinnest-walled piping per code at the time. Faced with the choice of re-piping, I decided to contract an epoxy-lining service that has, thus far, worked well. But I am concerned microscopic bits might leach into water over time. That the coating is "food grade" is not comforting!

So, I have a series of 5-gallon BPA-free jugs with spouts that are re-filled from a nearby "water store." Used for birds and human consumption! Somebody tell me I'm paranoid!!

 

[Kiwibird]

I used to use tap water but am more cautious after springing two leaks in house pipe system. Long story short, very hard water combined with chlorine thins the copper piping causing pinholes or worse. House was built with the thinnest-walled piping per code at the time. Faced with the choice of re-piping, I decided to contract an epoxy-lining service that has, thus far, worked well. But I am concerned microscopic bits might leach into water over time. That the coating is "food grade" is not comforting!

So, I have a series of 5-gallon BPA-free jugs with spouts that are re-filled from a nearby "water store." Used for birds and human consumption! Somebody tell me I'm paranoid!!

Are you one of the Californians ordering tap water from us up here in Oregon for $9/gallon

(No, I'm not even joking, this is apparently a thing LOL- California 'raw' water fans pay $9 a gallon for Oregon tap water | OregonLive.com).

 

[Scott]

I used to use tap water but am more cautious after springing two leaks in house pipe system. Long story short, very hard water combined with chlorine thins the copper piping causing pinholes or worse. House was built with the thinnest-walled piping per code at the time. Faced with the choice of re-piping, I decided to contract an epoxy-lining service that has, thus far, worked well. But I am concerned microscopic bits might leach into water over time. That the coating is "food grade" is not comforting!

So, I have a series of 5-gallon BPA-free jugs with spouts that are re-filled from a nearby "water store." Used for birds and human consumption! Somebody tell me I'm paranoid!!

Are you one of the Californians ordering tap water from us up here in Oregon for $9/gallon

(No, I'm not even joking, this is apparently a thing LOL- California 'raw' water fans pay $9 a gallon for Oregon tap water | OregonLive.com).

Oh, that is hilarious! I have no doubt some will happily pay $9/gal for plain old H2O! The water store has an elaborate reverse-osmosis system located behind a glass wall to view the hardware. Located in a high-traffic shopping center, the concept always amazed me until it seemed a logical alternative. Charge is .25/gal with an array of 10 spigots and 2 bottle-wash stations. They sell an array of storage devices, including glass. Also sell Alkaline Water for a huge surcharge. (our water is extremely hard with a noxious flavor, but I have little doubt it is essentially "safe.")

 

[clark_conure]

Scott's an airline pilot; he imports water from the glacial Alps for his birds......

 

[LordTriggs]

kettles on the other hand need replacing almost quarterly depending on how much they're used

That seems like a lot of money to waste replacing kettles! Why not get a stainless stovetop one that can simply be washed out and scrubbed with barkeepers friend to get deposits out (or whatever comparable product you have in the UK)? Much cheaper in the long run, even if you got a 'designer' one.

even those get destroyed fast by the limescale here, I have seen the cleaners but they're pretty expensive themselves! I recently got a water filter jug for an amazing price so hopefully that should end any limescale issues for me.

 

[Sandy19]

The tap water here doesn't taste that great so I have one of those crystal springs coolers and they deliver the jugs of spring water. So that's what I give the bird too. I don't know what birds think, but if they're anything like me then I'm sure my bird prefers the spring water over the nasty tasting tap water. Although, I'm sure the tap water is safe, it just tastes like crap.