dirt and water, what it means to me?

In your shoes, I'd get me a 55 gal barrel/reservoir to hold water, and buffer that to where you want it, rather than try buffering 5 gal at a time.

H202 sounds good, I have even bleached the inside of the bucket, and ran multiple test now with more than one bucket and still the same results. I have no reason to give as to why my ph is to high out of my tap, is the water in AZ the same way?

@ jack > if u are wondering why I just dont use tap is because I know the water in my area is not very healthy. I have always aerated and my water but for some reason in my current situation i am having strange results. THank u again for the thoughts and I think u may be correct with the relation of increased ph and bacteria being the cause of my water problem. I am going to add h202 and get back to you in about 12 hours with what's going on

@ kingrow1 > anything? I thought I would be chiming in more?

I know bad water being from Key West. There, the water starts out in Miami, really bad already, then gets to us thru a 175 mile aqueduct!!! I'd have thought King would chime in as well.

@ jack "in reply to 55 gallon comment"

You are probably right ! trying to maintain 5 gallons is silly but 55 gallons of water will be enough for my entire grow, I am only using 3 gallon pots and 4 plants ... In my last dwc grow I only had two 5 gallon buckets and I changed the water every 5-7 days. I. Never had a problem because I always had to bring my ph down anywaY. But for this dirt thing I am under the impression that the more pure the water the easier the transfer of nutrients from dirt to root? something to do with impurities being blockers from the ions and the chemical process between the roots and the nutrients in the soil, I wish I knew what I was talking about but the idea is pure water helps the roots take in nutrients easier?

Not entirely. Tap water has many minerals in it that are really beneficial. Using RO or distilled can lead to mineral deficiencies like Mg and Ca. Unless you just have a lot of toxic heavy metals or sit on a toxic waste site, I'd use the tap, just buffer it down a bit. The soil will take care of the rest.

i think i have solved my water problems. my tap water is shit. i have been using General Organics and when mixed in the tap water, it drops the ph way down. i did some research and the active bacteria do their thing and actually bring the ph up. i have faith in your comment that the "soil will do the rest." all and all i like the GO line but i have started a compost pile and in due time will be hitting you up to learn about brewing so juice and going with some super soil, thats your stuff right? i want my next grow to be as organic as i can swing and i would like to eliminate my dependency on nutrients that are bottled by the millions and sold for 5 times as much as they should be. anyway thanks for the help and one of these days ill figure out how to post pics so you can see my works. i have been taking plenty so when time comes there will be plenty to view.

It's the bacteria in the soil that make the nutrients more readily available in the ionic form. The soil is gonna buffer what ever goes in to the pH of the soil, and yes, microbial activity will raise pH. The more active the microbes, the more profound that effect will be. Sounds to me like you got a handle on things, tho. Look into a good course in soil biology. I took a free online course in plant physiology here http://5e.plantphys.net/ and it was a wealth of info for me. I hope you check it out. Organics really is the only way to fly!