Well water question

[chuckeye]

Plants may tolerate less than optimal water, but that doesn't mean you're getting optimal plant growth, potency, quality, etc.

Grow just completed under a 600w MH/HPS in a 42" parabolic reflector.....

Gorilla Punch Auto, 10.46 oz.

Six Shooter Auto, 13.86 oz.

Wedding Cheesecake Auto, 13 oz.

Super cropped at 4' and she still managed another foot

Cheers

 

[Waira]

My well water has high iron and calcium but nothing else harmful in it tested in April of 2023. Iron wasnt all that high I feel I should mention. Is it ok to water my plants with?

PPM - 197
PH - 7
uS/cm - 397 (I don't know what this is or means)

Any input would be appreciated!

The iron concentration, can you tell what that is? And did the say anything about what (ionic) form it's in, that is, ferrous (+2) vs. ferric (+3)?
Ferrous in more water soluble, and bio-available... Ferric is insoluble (rust basically, iron oxide)
Too much in any form may potentially screw with other nutrient ions, so I'm leery about that pending more info on it's forms and concentrations...

This link has some good info, and you can dig around more online for info-
...if it was high, you may need a specialty filter to deal with it. Also, well water chemistry is pretty dynamic, a test from a year ago isn't necessarily going to be accurate a year later. I wouldn't expect any radical changes, but some significant ones may go down... A chat with your local water company may be elightening even if you're not using their services.

 

[JAB]

The iron concentration, can you tell what that is? And did the say anything about what (ionic) form it's in, that is, ferrous (+2) vs. ferric (+3)?
Ferrous in more water soluble, and bio-available... Ferric is insoluble (rust basically, iron oxide)
Too much in any form may potentially screw with other nutrient ions, so I'm leery about that pending more info on it's forms and concentrations...

This link has some good info, and you can dig around more online for info-
...if it was high, you may need a specialty filter to deal with it. Also, well water chemistry is pretty dynamic, a test from a year ago isn't necessarily going to be accurate a year later. I wouldn't expect any radical changes, but some significant ones may go down... A chat with your local water company may be elightening even if you're not using their services.

Yeah my well tech said to test it once a year also. I'll get it tested again here soon it's cheap like $15. I don't have the paperwork from the first time anymore just remember the tech stating high in iron and calcium but nothing harmful so I'm good to go as the paperwork made NO sense to me. The well is 450ft deep and the water is crystal clear. Has no smell or stain to it in the showers, toilets etc like a lot of wells give off which is a good sign I think.

 

[JAB]

The iron concentration, can you tell what that is? And did the say anything about what (ionic) form it's in, that is, ferrous (+2) vs. ferric (+3)?
Ferrous in more water soluble, and bio-available... Ferric is insoluble (rust basically, iron oxide)
Too much in any form may potentially screw with other nutrient ions, so I'm leery about that pending more info on it's forms and concentrations...

This link has some good info, and you can dig around more online for info-
...if it was high, you may need a specialty filter to deal with it. Also, well water chemistry is pretty dynamic, a test from a year ago isn't necessarily going to be accurate a year later. I wouldn't expect any radical changes, but some significant ones may go down... A chat with your local water company may be elightening even if you're not using their services.

Nice link so I don't have stains and definitely no rusty pipes or anything as my well setup is not even a year old I had it put in April of 2023. Tech said it was good enough to drink but I've lived on well water my whole life and drinking it is a no go for me don't like the smell or taste of it but my water doesn't have the smell or taste I grew up on. Haha

 

[JP1]

Here's my high iron well water. I change the filter monthly. Even with all the iron my water is around 70ppm

 

[Waira]

Nice link so I don't have stains and definitely no rusty pipes or anything as my well setup is not even a year old I had it put in April of 2023. Tech said it was good enough to drink but I've lived on well water my whole life and drinking it is a no go for me don't like the smell or taste of it but my water doesn't have the smell or taste I grew up on. Haha

...staining and taste are pretty tell-tale, so if there's little to none of that then I'd say the amount of Fe in the water isn't going to be an issue...
No matter what though, get yourself some humic-fulvic acid and use it regularly! I like BioAg brand Ful-Humic powder. It's fairly cheap; dry=massively concentrated (100g bag will last you years likely, because you use it about 1/8tsp at a time); dissolves readily... An excellent value IMO -
There's a great article in the Infirmary --> References on h-f, have a read and see why it's so beneficial! Chelation is the main thing though, which helps protect nutrient ions from cross reacting and converting into unavailable forms...

 

[Waira]

Here's my high iron well water. I change the filter monthly. Even with all the iron my water is around 70ppm

good on that filter JP .... mind what a TDS/EC meter is telling you though... it's measuring free ions in solution; what's in that filter is basically rust, iron oxide which is insoluble and, theoretically, not being measured by a meter because it isn't ionic (an + -charged molecule) any more...
From what I know, well water under pressure and low-no oxygen keeps the ionic Fe in ferric form; release that pressure and exposed to O2 will cause the reaction that forms iron oxide (ferrous form)...
Otherwise, that 70ppm is damn nice!

 

[PuffPasties]

Most common usedscale is Hanna 500 which = ec*.5

So with an EC of 0.5:
0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25
But the the Hanna column indicates 500 for an EC of 0.5.

My understanding is that to get an EC value, multiply the ppm reading by 2 and divide by 1000. Thus, if your EC is 1: 1 * 1000/2= 500 ppm:
.5 * 1000 / 2 = 250 ppm Hanna

Or at least ec * 500 = X ppm Hanna
If you want to be lazy...? Not sure if this short cut could bite a butt when used, but there it is.

 

[Lil Dab]

So with an EC of 0.5:
0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25
But the the Hanna column indicates 500 for an EC of 0.5.

My understanding is that to get an EC value, multiply the ppm reading by 2 and divide by 1000. Thus, if your EC is 1: 1 * 1000/2= 500 ppm:
.5 * 1000 / 2 = 250 ppm Hanna

Or at least ec * 500 = X ppm Hanna
If you want to be lazy...? Not sure if this short cut could bite a butt when used, but there it is.

Yup I was wrong and your sorta right the chart shows you that a EC of .5=250ppm(500scale). I was high and didn’t think that all the way through. Which is why included the chart. My EC meter does the calculations off of tds factor .5. And it has been so long since I actually did the math that forgot some I don’t see a reason why ec*500 can bite me?

 

[Lil Dab]

So I’m not completely wrong a EC reading of 368 uS/cm *.5=184ppm. My meter(apera ec60) reads in uS/cm and the chart is in mS/cm. Which is basically just moving decimal places