New Grower Water Quality Discussion.

[Alwaysautos]

Actually they make a portable RO unit. Mine came with a valve that screws onto the faucet in place of the aerator. when your done, it take 10 seconds to put it back the way it was. My well water was truly killing many of my plants. All my problems ened when I started using RO water. You could buy distilled water by the gallon also.

I don´t have anyone close to me selling RO water that I know of - in fact I´ve never seen it for sale in the 8 years I´ve been living in Spain. Maybe I just don´t know what to look for!

I like the sound of a portable RO unit. I´m gonna have a look at those. Thanks pop22!:Sharing One:

 

[Spanglish]

I don´t have anyone close to me selling RO water that I know of - in fact I´ve never seen it for sale in the 8 years I´ve been living in Spain. Maybe I just don´t know what to look for!

I like the sound of a portable RO unit. I´m gonna have a look at those. Thanks pop22!:Sharing One:

Someone in a Spanish canna forum mentioned buying osmosis water from the car wash or at any gas station, at 50 cents for 10 L.

Source http://www.cannabiscafe.net/foros/s...-comprar-agua-destilada?p=2804786#post2804786

 

[BassNDrum]

I don´t have anyone close to me selling RO water that I know of - in fact I´ve never seen it for sale in the 8 years I´ve been living in Spain. Maybe I just don´t know what to look for!

I like the sound of a portable RO unit. I´m gonna have a look at those. Thanks pop22!:Sharing One:

Try Aquarium shops/ pet shops. they need RO water for marine tanks so if they stock fish then theyll have RO water, just ask!

Spanglish, im pretty sure those brita filters are just carbon filters essentially so they will filter out sediment, heavy metals, chlorine AND chloramine, which aerating the water or leting the water stand for 24hrs wont. that only removes un-stabilized chlorine. arnt those britta filters expensive aswell? you can get a two-stage pre filter (usually goes before the RO unit) for quite cheap and those wont need replacing as often.

 

[Spanglish]

They are a 2 stage filter using carbon and ionic exchange apparantly, there is alot more info on how they work here.

http://www.brita.co.uk/brita/en-gb/cms/questions-about-products-and-water-filtration/faq.grid

http://www.brita.co.uk/brita/en-gb/shop/cartridge/maxtra.grid?id=100486&category=cartridges

Not to expensive really but only do 1-2 plant grows only use about 1 filter per month.

 

[BassNDrum]

Ahhh, i see. i just assumed you were using the really basic brita filters. i didnt even know they did water softening filters!

i remember from when i was really into fishkeeping that ion exchange water softeners were a big no-no for some reason but that might be just for sensitive fish but plants might be fine with it.
its been a long time since i brushed up on my water chemistry! I think illl have to do a bit of research.....

 

[Chester]

Hey Pop ... got a link for the portable RO filter you use ?

 

[BassNDrum]

Just had a look to jog my memory,

Ion exchange softeners replace the calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions. Might be something to keep in mind, you dont want salt building up in your grow medium. as long as your keeping up with regular flushes youll be fine i sure, but do you really want/need to be removing cal and mag??

if its just the chlorine/chloramine your concerned about then a simple carbon filter will suffice.

or is it the pH you are concerned about?

 

[Spanglish]

Just had a look to jog my memory,

Ion exchange softeners replace the calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions. Might be something to keep in mind, you dont want salt building up in your grow medium. as long as your keeping up with regular flushes youll be fine i sure, but do you really want/need to be removing cal and mag??

if its just the chlorine/chloramine your concerned about then a simple carbon filter will suffice.

or is it the pH you are concerned about?

Thanks for the info, definatly something i dont want to be doing when it comes to sodium. Think i will use the tap water without a filter for now, will leave it to sit for 24hrs or so, and look into osmosis water next time i get to a gas station. No problems with PH filtered is 6.5 and unfiltered 7 but my nutes bring it down a bit anyway so the 0.5 of a point higher may even be better.

 

[BassNDrum]

Hey man, I´m going through this at the moment. I have tried to find my local water analysis but had no luck. My tap water comes out close to pH 8 and my PPM can be as high as 350. I´ve always let it stand for 24hrs before use to leach off the chlorine, but the weird part is I often get cal or mag deficiencies even with a starting PPM that high.

I don´t have access to RO water and the plumbing in my apartment is such that fitting an RO system would be a nightmare. As water seems to be a weak link for me I was thinking about either bubbling it for 24 hours before use, or using bottled instead. I think I would struggle with a Brita filter to actually get enough water prepared!

Hey alwaysautos, Have you tested your ph after letting it stand for 24hrs? you might find it is lower after 24hrs as dissolved gasses with bump up the ph, which is why you shouldent bubble the water as this will dissolve gasses into the water further raising pH.

i know what your thinking 'well ive heard of loads of people aerating their water before watering plants to get oxygen to the roots..' yes they do, and thats fine if the water theyre aerating has a low KH (carbonate hardness) as it will not raise ph.

 

[TRIPDOG]

Mmmmm maybe I should stop bubbling mine.