By Funguy
Berkshire,
United Kingdom 
I have a half whiskey barrel that i have filled with water(its lined) to house my water lily.
The water level drops by about an inch ever few days. I am pretty sure it is evaporating as there don't appear to be any leaks, is this expected?
So far as water quality goes and the health of the plants....what is the best water to use?
I am filling it up with tap water at the moment, and i'm wondering if this will have a negative effect. I am in a hard water area and the ph of the water is around 7.6 - 7.8.
If tap water is bad to use, what is the best alternative? Bottled water? Or, I have an R.O filter, so would reverse osmosis water by better than tap water?
Unfortunately i do not have a water butt so can not use rain water.
25 May, 2011
Answers
Hi there,
Unfortunately, in hot dry weather, the only thing to do is fill up with the hose...
I have found that it won't affect the plant (but don't spray on the parts above water, they don't like it)...
...but it will affect the water clarity...(which is probably not an issue for you!)...
..hope this helps...
25 May, 2011
The whiskey barrel is from the garden centre, unfortunately it is not like the one your talking about and the slats that make up the barrel are separate from each other making it porous.
It probably isn't an actual whiskey barrel, though that is what they have called it.
The main concern is tap water that is chlorinated and alkaline and whether bottled or filtered water is a friendlier option for the plant.
25 May, 2011
Hi again, ...in my experience, the plant won't care...unless you spray it with tap water...
...it's only ever going to be in a small container...is it a shallow water lily?...I expect so...
...fill it up from the tap...the water will probably go green...but the water lily will be fine...
After a year or two, the water in the barrel will be crystal clear...and you will, still, have to fill it up from the tap...
25 May, 2011
Here in the desert, we let about 1/5 of the water overflow once a month, to keep the lime and sodium from building up too much from constant refilling with tap water.
26 May, 2011
Yes it is a dwarf variety Karen, i'm glad to hear the water will clear aswell! Thanks for the replies and advise, i will carry on with the tap water.
I i will look out for a real whiskey barrel as you mentioned bulbaholic, it sounds just the job.
26 May, 2011
Whilst water lilies would prefer to be growing in rain water I am not sure that your tap water will be any great detriment to it. Why do you need to line your whiskey barrel? In its original working life it was not lined and would have been holding several thousand pounds worth of good Scottish whiskey! Try removing the lining and letting the staves soak for a while before putting the water lily back. The acidity of the oak cask and the whiskey that it is still impregnated with might even reduce the pH of the water.
25 May, 2011