# General Topics > Vivarium, Terrarium & Enclosure Discussion >  What water to use with misting system?

## purpleturtle89

So ive managed to bag a couple of misting systems cheap and I was wondering what water should I use? ie spring water (bottled) or distilled or even tap water that's been conditioned. I just worry that using spring water might break my pump over time because of mineral build up or lime scale. Thanks any help would be appreciated  :Smile:

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## aegillesp

I use Drinking water or purified water.

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## toadstillcane

Same here I use bottled spring water safer then tap water an I don't have to pay attention to detail like have I De chlorine it lol so yeap bottled water in a spray bottle thats how I do it an not to expensive either

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## toadstillcane

> So ive managed to bag a couple of misting systems cheap and I was wondering what water should I use? ie spring water (bottled) or distilled or even tap water that's been conditioned. I just worry that using spring water might break my pump over time because of mineral build up or lime scale. Thanks any help would be appreciated


In uk we get a lot of chlorine and in kettle I get a lot of lime to so tap water can be limey to

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## purpleturtle89

Bottled or tap water will quickly break my pump with mineral build up! Think I'm off to get some RO water today from the nearest aquarium  :Smile:

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## VicSkimmr

Yes, distilled or reverse osmosis filtered water is the only way to go. Otherwise minerals will buildup in the pumps and nozzles and on the glass of your tanks, and that's no fun to clean.

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## Adam R

> Yes, distilled or reverse osmosis filtered water is the only way to go. Otherwise minerals will buildup in the pumps and nozzles and on the glass of your tanks, and that's no fun to clean.


exactly as jason said. the process of distilled or reverse osmosis leave no chemicals in the water. pure, tap, or bottled water can slowly ruin pumps from corrosion or build up. plus the added benefit of no build up on the glass

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## Louis Charles Bruckner

I know Distilled water can get $ but repairing or replacing parts can be $$$.

Tap water varies greatly and can be very hard (lots of minerals the leading death of misting systems) 
Bottled water has minerals added can be or worse than tap, but doesn't have chorine.

rain water is good but also varies where you are located and when local conditions change. If you are in the mountains  
and no industry for 100 of mi then you might be safe. but that can change. 

The one and only safe choice IMO is distilled or RO 
You can buy either a water distiller or a RO water filter both are $$$ 
and both require maintenance at some point in time and replacement parts. 

The hassle free way is a trip to your local mega mart and buy a few gallon jugs. 

depending on how much ventilation and heating you use and the time of year and the ambient RH% 
will determine how often the mister will run if you have it on a controller that has a RH sensor. and not just a timer.
My self I use a fogger and the above is true for foggers as well if not more so.
Case in point,
I raised the temp in the enclosure from 80 to 84F and the fogger that is set to 75%rh 
started to run every 5 to 10 min whereas before the temp change it only ran once an hour.

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## J Teezy

Distilled or ro is the way to go. Be careful on setting misters to run off a probe as humidity sensors in terrariums especially for darts where you are keeping the humidity as high as possible tend to crop out and give false readings. I think ed timed cycles are the best way to set up a mister

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk HD

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## Louis Charles Bruckner

Josh,
My experience has been that sensors get fouled when they get wet from the spray.
The only sensor that ever operated correctly was one I modified to operate inside of a chamber that has a small fan circulating 
air though it from the enclosure protected from the direct spray of the mister.

It also gave better readings since it wasn't effected by the radiant heat from the ceramic heat elements.

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## purpleturtle89

thanks guys, im going to stick to RO i have it for my aquarium anyway so makes sense.

I'll have to get a pic up of my misting system done a pretty good job if i dont say so myself  :Smile:  just waiting for a timer relay to come... i can set it for hours between intervals then seconds for duration.

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## Adam R

you can also get a reverse osmosis filtration system(around $300). never have to buy another jug of water. just filters every siz to 12 months

if you have several tanks w/ misters this is the way to go

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## bill

> you can also get a reverse osmosis filtration system(around $300). never have to buy another jug of water. just filters every siz to 12 months
> 
> if you have several tanks w/ misters this is the way to go


you can grab a good RO unit for about $100 if you know where to look  :Wink:

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