Drinkning Water, Distilled Water, Spring Water, which is best?

I just started my aerogarden grow and have well water. I am choosing not to use the well water because, among other reasons, the unstable pH levels. I went to Wal-Mart and found many variety of gallon sized bottled water. I know that all would probably work, but I wanted to know which would work the best for optimal results.
-Drinking Water processed by Reverse Osmosis.
-Distilled Water processed by Steam Distillation, Microfiltration, Ozonation
-Spring Water processed by Ozonation, Carbon Filtration, Ultraviolet Treatment, Microfiltration
Thank you for all the help.

im useing the filtered water from my refridgerator in gallon milk jugs with 1 drop superthrive and 1/4 teaspoon better gro i sit my water jugs into my grow room to let the water come to rook temp then right before i water i shake the hell out of the gallon jugs. i only water 3 times a week in 10 gallon pots. i use only half a gallon of water per 10 gal plants

you should google all the options you listed. there is alot of info out there. i have been reading about my water options for a week now and still dont know which to use. but from what ive read it appears ill be purchasing spring water and lowering the ph.

clark4518 said:

I just started my aerogarden grow and have well water. I am choosing not to use the well water because, among other reasons, the unstable pH levels. I went to Wal-Mart and found many variety of gallon sized bottled water. I know that all would probably work, but I wanted to know which would work the best for optimal results.
-Drinking Water processed by Reverse Osmosis.
-Distilled Water processed by Steam Distillation, Microfiltration, Ozonation
-Spring Water processed by Ozonation, Carbon Filtration, Ultraviolet Treatment, Microfiltration
Thank you for all the help.

Click to expand...

A/G says no well water because of the mineral content. I know it tastes delicious but when it interacts with your nutes the pH goes nuts and you'll eventually plug up the water delivery manifold on the underside of your planting deck. Unfortunately I know this from personal experience. A/G recommends 'potable tap water' but where I live ours is so bad it eats up our plumbing fixtures and you have to change them every few years. According to a NBC investigative news report our most popular bottled waters in our area are no better than the crap that comes out of the tap. I opted for distilled water and Wal-Mart has it for .88 a gallon. I'm looking into a reverse osmosis filtration system for about $300 but that's mostly because of the availability of the distilled water not the price and I want to use it in the house as well.

I'm lucky, my tap water has a PPM of 50. It's yummy water.

SFImage said:

I'm lucky, my tap water has a PPM of 50. It's yummy water.

Click to expand...

Are you in upstate NY or something? heh

I have well water too that is like 500ppm so I used distilled water and it works perfect. I have a RO system but the the water pH is 8 so I only use it in soil.

I'm over on the west coast in norcal. I used to have to use distilled when I lived in the city, that was a pain and a half.

go with deionized water if you can get it! No EC contribution, pure pure H2O!!!

Dude, I found that the drinking water works the best. The spring water was turning my leaves yellow.

Deionized is the safest bet in my book, but use distilled water myself. "Drinking Water" is often straight from the tap of the manufacturer and ran through a crappy filter; spring water will vary in mineral content and have inconsistent PPM & PH levels.

I use distilled water since I haven't a clue how to obtain deionized water and at $ 0.88 per gallon for distilled water....


Here's some info from the web:
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In chemical and biological laboratories, as well as industry, cheaper alternatives such as deionized water are preferred over distilled water. However, if these alternatives are not sufficiently pure, distilled water is used. Where exceptionally high purity water is required, double distilled water is used.

Distilled water is also commonly used to top off lead acid batteries used in cars and trucks. The presence of other ions commonly found in tap water will cause a drastic reduction in an automobile's battery lifespan.

Distilled water is preferable to tap water for use in automotive cooling systems. The minerals and ions typically found in tap water can be corrosive to internal engine components, and can cause a more rapid depletion of the anti-corrosion additives found in most antifreeze[3]
formulations.
Using distilled water in steam irons for pressing clothes can help reduce mineral build-up and make the iron last longer. However, many iron manufacturers say that distilled water is no longer necessary in their irons.[4]

Some people use distilled water for household aquariums because it lacks the chemicals found in tap water supplies. It is important to supplement distilled water when using it for fishkeeping; it is too pure to sustain proper chemistry to support an aquarium ecosystem.[5]

Distilled water is also an essential component for use in cigar humidors. Mineral build-up resulting from the use of tap water (including bottled water) will reduce the effectiveness of the humidor.

In addition, some home brewers, who are interested in brewing a Traditional European Pilsner, will dilute their hard water with distilled water so as to mimic the soft waters of Pilsen. [6]
Another application is to cool off airplane engines during takeoff, as was used on the early Boeing 707.[7]

nice info...