Thinking of R.O. water? You may want to think again.

I think peeps just wanna do the very best for their plants and companys have hyped the ro way more then needed. My tap is 400 but grows plants great! If you find you have an issue then go for it, but don't be led by the nose by hype either.

PS- I also use bleach in my res instead of h2o2

choempi said:

I think peeps just wanna do the very best for their plants and companys have hyped the ro way more then needed. My tap is 400 but grows plants great! If you find you have an issue then go for it, but don't be led by the nose by hype either.

PS- I also use bleach in my res instead of h2o2

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quick question? If bleach has chlorine and chlorine is bad for your plants then why use bleach ? I'm confused.

rzza said:

who are these people? cuz im highly doubting that claim

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The drilling method is called fracking. They inject high pressure water into the rock to cause the rock bed to fracture and release the trapped natural gas. The problem is the natural gas will dissolve into water just like oxygen. There are places where the water has become slightly flammable. Raw natural gas doesn't have that stink chemical added, so you can't smell it.

i didnt check shit, just used tap water set open for a day before hand, my plants look freakin great. lol

Serapis said:

My tap water is near 500 ppm.... I don't even drink it. RO it is for me...

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mine is 524 it kills everything i try and water with it

BeaverHuntr said:

quick question? If bleach has chlorine and chlorine is bad for your plants then why use bleach ? I'm confused.

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Killing Root Rot

Bleach instead of h2o2

muddbutt said:

[video=youtube;XMS8VsG2LSY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMS8VsG2LSY[/video]

It happens, pretty common in areas where they drill for natural gas. A lot of communities in my area are getting fed up with what we're finding in our water.

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I work in the oil patch. I totally believe this after 5 years of seeing what goes on out here. Nevermind the fact I have seen jobs where over a thousand cubes of drinking water has been pumped downhole combined with various nasty products to fracture the well to increase production.

Kinda makes me feel like an asshole working here, but we are all guilty of gas greed, so......by that token, fuck it it pays soooooo fuckin good.

VICTORYGARDENSHYDRO said:

if you need a r/o unit
www.purewaterclub.com and it isn't an exspensive thing anymore.

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You have the costs of buying replacement filters for the unit ever 6 months or so and the added cost of cal-mag forever. It can add up over time.

Or you mix the RO with tap to get a lower but usable PPM and not need to add cal-mag.
It's true that not everyone needs RO. That said, I also use my RO for drinking water and my kids now refuse to drink the tap water due to the taste. I am in one of those areas with high fluoride levels and that will pit out your teeth. With the water cooler/heater combination unit I have, they make their oatmeal and cream of wheat with it very easily compared to having to microwave tap water and possibly spill it on them.

Japanfreak said:

You have the costs of buying replacement filters for the unit ever 6 months or so and the added cost of cal-mag forever. It can add up over time.

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Just checked...513ppm

I won't drink or cook with it...but the dog looks at me funny after one sip of RO water.

I add 1 gallon of tap to 5 gallons of machine RO water...This takes care of the calcium, but I often do one watering in veg with 1 tsp/gallon of epsom salts for a little more Mg...pH had been 7.6-7.8 but it is now 6.8...bet my mixed and adjusted water is a bit low! (did not check last time I mixed up!)

People who have good water are the ones who claim no need to adjust for pH...well duh!

Sure but the majority of water in the U.S. comes out of the tap at 7.0

Japanfreak said:

Sure but the majority of water in the U.S. comes out of the tap at 7.0

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I'd love a citation on that if you have one; instinctively and anecdotally I don't believe that's anywhere near accurate.

I use R/O water (but have also used tap for grows at this location) and don't need to use Cal Mag (the most overused fert, IMO) because it's supplied by my nutrients.

The money I save in pH down (tap is 115-150 PPMs and 7.5 - 7.8 pH, depending on time of year) more than makes up for the cost of the R/O filter - when using R/O water, I mix my nutes and my pH is perfect, as opposed to adding tons of pH down to the mix after adding nutes.

The fact that the pH buffers are removed from the water so that the pH isn't trying to get back to 7.5+ for the first few days after each reservoir change is priceless to me.

If I ever notice a calcium deficiency, I just use a little bit of tap water to fix it (VERY rare).

But I agree, I can and have grown without my R/O filter and it's more than possible to grow great weed; it just makes my job tougher to do so (IMO).

Bob Smith said:

I'd love a citation on that if you have one; instinctively and anecdotally I don't believe that's anywhere near accurate.

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Comes from a study on the condition of tap water in America. Not sure what instincts have to do with that, not like a flight or fight thing.

As far as pH buffers, well if you pH balance the water before adding your nutes (old trick) that usually helps. When I add my nutes to my tap water the pH settles around 6.0 with no adjusting.

You got that right! I use sulfuric acid as PH down. In RO water for a 25 gal res. it takes about 10 to 20 drops.
Straight tap water, I start with 1/4 cup at a time till I get close then switch to so many drops at a time. It takes a hell of a lot of PH down to bring down the tap water compared to RO. With RO/Tap mix it takes more than RO straight but still less than straight up tap water.

Bob Smith said:

...The money I save in pH down (tap is 115-150 PPMs and 7.5 - 7.8 pH, depending on time of year) more than makes up for the cost of the R/O filter ...

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Japanfreak said:

Comes from a study on the condition of tap water in America. Not sure what instincts have to do with that, not like a flight or fight thing.

As far as pH buffers, well if you pH balance the water before adding your nutes (old trick) that usually helps. When I add my nutes to my tap water the pH settles around 6.0 with no adjusting.

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Clever response.

After two minutes of Googling I've found 7.7, 7.9, and 8.0 to be given as "average" pH of US/North American tap water, so again, I'd love if you could link us to that study as it seems to contradict what I've found.

And you're missing the point - I know how to pH my water, but without removing the buffers the pH will rise at an unacceptable rate for the first few days after a reservoir change.

Yes it was a clever response to a silly comment. Instinctively. lol.


Quick google give me

"August 31, 2009 --
Los Angeles, California – United States – In a study released today that has proponents of alkaline water smiling, it was revealed that tap water in California has an average pH balance of 7."

Obviously that's just Cali, but the most populated state. I read the report years ago and sorry, but the net is huge and it's not like I remember the name of the report.

Japanfreak said:

Sure but the majority of water in the U.S. comes out of the tap at 7.0

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Really? I have lived in several regions...had fish...and hard water...

You mentioned some study...got a link?

Dirty Harry said:

You got that right! I use sulfuric acid as PH down. In RO water for a 25 gal res. it takes about 10 to 20 drops.
Straight tap water, I start with 1/4 cup at a time till I get close then switch to so many drops at a time. It takes a hell of a lot of PH down to bring down the tap water compared to RO. With RO/Tap mix it takes more than RO straight but still less than straight up tap water.

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Exactly my experience...some serious buffer in the tap (Aluminum oxide from "Geo-Engineering"???)

I'm glad japanfreak and others who use tap and do not adjust pH have such nice water, but I am also pretty sure that where these people live is unique...by definition...as they do not live here...or even there.

Unfortunately, one of the problems with having good water is that it predisposes one to say things like "I never pH my water and I'm fine so..." and "I would try tap water up to 500ppm just to see"...to save 25 cents a gallon???...Here's how that experiment goes...browning and necrotic spotting of and the premature loss of fan leaves probably due to lock out by chemical salts...the solution costs me $1.25 a week and I do not use that nasty cal-mag shit!

Japanfreak said:

Yes it was a clever response to a silly comment. Instinctively. lol.

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Just so you don't make the same mistake when dealing with someone who cares that you don't know what you're talking about:

"in·stinc·tive ( n-st ngk t v)
adj. 1. Of, relating to, or prompted by instinct.
2.Arising from impulse; spontaneous and unthinking: an instinctive mistrust of bureaucrats."

Instinctively, lol. Stupid ass thing to say but I'm sure people don't call you on it, be proud.

Hayduke said:

You mentioned some study...got a link?

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No link, it was a few years ago, you're going to have to trust me, which I know is hard for the google generation.