Distilled water versus tap water

Hotrod2

Hotrod2

Well-Known Member
I grow in soil specifically made for me and built for my grow. Historically, I have used distilled water. I understand, that tap water contains Trace Amounts of minerals. My tap water is about a 7.2 pH. Since I maintain a healthy microbial environment in my roots, would I be better off just using tap water as opposed to distilled water?
 
Hotrod2

Hotrod2

Well-Known Member
Thank you. I've been considering switching back to tap water, most likely will now. My concern with tap water was the chlorine.
 
HydoDan

HydoDan

Well-Known Member
Hotrod2 said:
Thank you. I've been considering switching back to tap water, most likely will now. My concern with tap water was the chlorine.
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Don't worry about chlorine.. I used pool shock in my hydro grows.. If it makes you feel better just leave the water sit for 24 hrs to off gas the chlorine..
 
BonesBuds

BonesBuds

Active Member
Careful with chloramines though. Where I live the local water is cleaned with chlorine for half the year, chloramines the other half.
The 2nd one has ammonia within, which is hazardous to both plants and fish. So I treat my water with a product called Seachem Prime
 
GenericEnigma

GenericEnigma

Well-Known Member
Hotrod2 said:
I grow in soil specifically made for me and built for my grow. Historically, I have used distilled water. I understand, that tap water contains Trace Amounts of minerals. My tap water is about a 7.2 pH. Since I maintain a healthy microbial environment in my roots, would I be better off just using tap water as opposed to distilled water?
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Check the local water report and ppm of your tap water before making a substantial change. Most of the time tap water is good, but not always. E.g., if your tap water's ppm is 300 and a lot of that is calcium, you may end up with calcium buildup that locks out other nutrients partway through a grow.

It's not a bad idea to check pH, then spot check moving forward. Tap water is not always consistent.

As a general rule, tap water is fine for all plants. Chlorine/chloramine is in small enough quantities it has negligible impact.

I have heard some people mix part tap and part RO/distilled to save on cash.
 
BonesBuds

BonesBuds

Active Member
GenericEnigma said:
Check the local water report and ppm of your tap water before making a substantial change. Most of the time tap water is good, but not always. E.g., if your tap water's ppm is 300 and a lot of that is calcium, you may end up with calcium buildup that locks out other nutrients partway through a grow.

It's not a bad idea to check pH, then spot check moving forward. Tap water is not always consistent.

As a general rule, tap water is fine for all plants. Chlorine/chloramine is in small enough quantities it has negligible impact.

I have heard some people mix part tap and part RO/distilled to save on cash.
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I love the idea you just mentioned in the end... mixing tap with distilled.
I often mix distilled with aquarium water plus some tap (that's been cleared using Prime). It reduces anxiety for me and ensures the plants are receiving a mix of metals in the water they wouldn't receive if it was just distilled water.
Aquarium water is packed full of nitrogen and other nutrients. One must be careful not to use to much of it though. Hence the three part solution of distilled, aquarium and distilled.

I'm probably overthinking things. But the results are solid :)
 
Greengrouch

Greengrouch

Well-Known Member
Usually just fine, check your municipal water report. Mines 170ppm and 7.8 ph it works just fine, I do ph it down to 6.5ish after I add my silica. There’s such a small amount of chlorine in tap water that it pretty much becomes inert once it leaves the pipes at that point it’s just another trace micronutrient
 
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