Very high EC tap water, what should I do?

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
My cali water is 7.8 ( 9 ) ph and floats around 255 ppm - i throw that my soil containers and they are fine. I use tap with my hempy but adjust ph down to 5.9 and adjust feed as necessary.

Calmag bottle went into trash long ago.

Sure its hard but lawn drinks it , cat drinks it , drop dueces in it by toilet , raised gardens outside use it , tea kettle doesnt care either.

But your grow your rules.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
RO water makes me shit my brains out and I eat whole heads of cauliflower and broccoli. It also causes me to have muscle cramps that normally don't occur. I have a nutrient rich diet and take vitamins and supplements. RO water is not healthy to drink full time.

Drinking pure h2o isn't going to lower your weight.
Not eating enough is what's causing my weight to drop and I never said it was because of the water. I too have muscle cramping and numbness in parts of my body along with chronic diarrhea that I've learned to control with probiotics after years of the runaround from doc. My last colonoscopy shows I have diverticular pockets in my bowel that explains my sensitivities to certain foods like beef so we haven't eaten any of that for a couple years now.

I saw the new doc/nurse practitioner in town yesterday to get my medpot renewed and after reviewing my history and dicussing the more recent cramping and numbness tested my reflexes and found I have hyper reflex in my rt. leg where more recent numbing is occurring. She is pretty convinced I may have MS and recommended I apply my CBD in DMSO to my upper and lower spine for a while and let her know how it works when I see her next. A regular doctor would have sent me out of there with a handful of scrips for nasty pharma meds so I really like the cut of her jib. Her gams are great too and overall she's a real hottie. Discussed my prostate issues too but didn't offer to do a digital rectal exam so that was disappointing. ;)

Most of the RO I drink is run thru a pile of coffee and I haven't had a can of any soda for well over 10 years and rarely had one before that. No junk food and the wife grows lots of fresh veggies every year. She planted 2440 garlic last fall and 2410 are coming up real nice. Her cash crop and it's legal! :)

All we've used for water is RO for 20 years so I'd suggest your problems are not related to RO consumption.

Sorry to be hijacking your thread @VictorFlorez.
 
Hello All,

I seen this post and just wanted to give some added information. I am a water treatment expert that deals with problem water solutions for growers, brewers, as well as residential, and commercial applications.
For the mineral debate, Reverse osmosis does remove minerals from the water. A good example, hard water is caused by calcium and magnesium, so it removes both of those minerals. Then you need to add cal mag to the RO water when watering. As far as drinking RO water, it does not harm you in any way. The minerals that RO removes are so minimal, it does not affect us humans, but it does your grow, so that is why you add the cal mag back in. If you are using nutrients, you are going to put back in what you need aside from the cal mag that is needed with RO water. The minerals in about 20 gallons of water are the same as what is in one piece of bread. So it is very minimal and we get our minerals from food rather than that small amount that is in the water.
When you get into Deionized water(DI water) it will strip minerals from your body and is bad for you to drink. DI water is used in manufacturing processes, as well as lab water for testing.

A big thing with RO systems is efficiency, the smaller ones are harder to get the efficiency that you can get out of a large RO system because the small systems are line pressure RO's. A big thing to look at when buying is the efficiency, warranty, and where it is made. I can absolutely help with any questions you guys may have as well as get you in the right direction on equipment. I have to be careful posting products on here because I do not want to get flagged for spam or something like that as I enjoy getting to help people on here with water issues as well as get any information for my hobby grow as well.

Here is a chart of what RO water removes:

1655393857021.png
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
High @WaterExpertNick420 and welcome to RIU! Could you take a look at my planned RO setup and let me know what you think before I hook it all up soon.

We get our tap water from a dugout on my property and it’s 400ppm+ and pH8+ depending on the time of year. Spring melt that fills it lowers both the pH and PPM.

As I need specialized filtration and sterilization I just bought all the parts from a company called The Water Guy. About $550 for all the parts. The filter housings were half the price and clear too so easy to see the filters.

We already filter down to 5µ so my RO unit will have a 1µ filter → standard carbon filter → 0.5µ carbon filter → RO filter → branch off for grow water → UV sterilizer → branch off for coffee maker water → then a Carbon/Calcite filter to ‘polish’ the water to make it tasty and add some minerals to the water for drinking. In 6 months or less it will pay for itself and the input water is free. It’s kind of stinky even when it’s clear and clean looking so that’s why there is 3 carbon filters altogether.

The filter housings take any standard 2x10" filter used in most housings.

Here’s the basic layout and I just have to get it together and hook it all up downstairs.

Configuration01.JPG

Does all that seem like it's going to work OK?

Another thing I've wondered about is that one-way valve that goes in after the RO filter but not in my setup. From what I can tell it's used when a float valve is involved downstream and shuts off when the float valve has stopped water flow. I'm not planning to use a float valve so is it needed? I have it but didn't see the need and it's going to just add more possible leak points. Hard to figure out too as it has no markings on it to show flow for hooking up the tubing for the four connections on it.

:peace:
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I'm glad I have good water right out of the tap.

From the slopes of My/Mt Hood.

https://www.portland.gov/water/about-portlands-water-system/about-bull-run

Two sources: Bull Run and groundwater
We have two sources of drinking water: surface water from the Bull Run Watershed and groundwater from the Columbia South Shore Well Field. We use groundwater, when needed, as a supplemental and emergency supply. We are currently serving 100% Bull Run water.

This table shows a comparison of typical groundwater and Bull Run water quality. We say “typical” because actual conditions can change some of these numbers. Water quality can change based on many factors, including the time of year, the user’s location within Portland’s distribution system, water demand, and which wells we’re using when we use groundwater.

Bull Run and groundwater water quality. Last updated February 8, 2022.
Characteristic100% Bull Run1100% groundwater2EPA/OHA3 standard
Temperature (degrees C)519N/A
pH (units)8.38.26.5–8.54
Color (units)10<5154
Specific conductance (µmhos/cm)29205N/A
Total dissolved solids (mg/L)261505004
Turbidity (NTU)0.4<0.35
Silica (mg/L as Si)4.919.2N/A
Total organic carbon (mg/L)1.2<0.3N/A
Total alkalinity as CaCO3 (mg/L)894N/A
Hardness as CaCO3 (mg/L)7762504
 
High @WaterExpertNick420 and welcome to RIU! Could you take a look at my planned RO setup and let me know what you think before I hook it all up soon.

We get our tap water from a dugout on my property and it’s 400ppm+ and pH8+ depending on the time of year. Spring melt that fills it lowers both the pH and PPM.

As I need specialized filtration and sterilization I just bought all the parts from a company called The Water Guy. About $550 for all the parts. The filter housings were half the price and clear too so easy to see the filters.

We already filter down to 5µ so my RO unit will have a 1µ filter → standard carbon filter → 0.5µ carbon filter → RO filter → branch off for grow water → UV sterilizer → branch off for coffee maker water → then a Carbon/Calcite filter to ‘polish’ the water to make it tasty and add some minerals to the water for drinking. In 6 months or less it will pay for itself and the input water is free. It’s kind of stinky even when it’s clear and clean looking so that’s why there is 3 carbon filters altogether.

The filter housings take any standard 2x10" filter used in most housings.

Here’s the basic layout and I just have to get it together and hook it all up downstairs.

View attachment 5150277

Does all that seem like it's going to work OK?

Another thing I've wondered about is that one-way valve that goes in after the RO filter but not in my setup. From what I can tell it's used when a float valve is involved downstream and shuts off when the float valve has stopped water flow. I'm not planning to use a float valve so is it needed? I have it but didn't see the need and it's going to just add more possible leak points. Hard to figure out too as it has no markings on it to show flow for hooking up the tubing for the four connections on it.

:peace:
Not eating enough is what's causing my weight to drop and I never said it was because of the water. I too have muscle cramping and numbness in parts of my body along with chronic diarrhea that I've learned to control with probiotics after years of the runaround from doc. My last colonoscopy shows I have diverticular pockets in my bowel that explains my sensitivities to certain foods like beef so we haven't eaten any of that for a couple years now.

I saw the new doc/nurse practitioner in town yesterday to get my medpot renewed and after reviewing my history and dicussing the more recent cramping and numbness tested my reflexes and found I have hyper reflex in my rt. leg where more recent numbing is occurring. She is pretty convinced I may have MS and recommended I apply my CBD in DMSO to my upper and lower spine for a while and let her know how it works when I see her next. A regular doctor would have sent me out of there with a handful of scrips for nasty pharma meds so I really like the cut of her jib. Her gams are great too and overall she's a real hottie. Discussed my prostate issues too but didn't offer to do a digital rectal exam so that was disappointing. ;)

Most of the RO I drink is run thru a pile of coffee and I haven't had a can of any soda for well over 10 years and rarely had one before that. No junk food and the wife grows lots of fresh veggies every year. She planted 2440 garlic last fall and 2410 are coming up real nice. Her cash crop and it's legal! :)

All we've used for water is RO for 20 years so I'd suggest your problems are not related to RO consumption.

Sorry to be hijacking your thread @VictorFlorez.


Hello OldMedUser,

No worries, happy to help, any time I can help make something easier or save you some money I am happy to.

Are you running this to a tank or are you looking for it to be "on demand"?
The reason I ask this, RO systems are rated in GPD or gallons per day. These smaller RO's are usually 50 to 100 gpd. So as an example, if you do not run to fill up a tank to have water on hand, you run it on demand meaning it produces what comes from the tap. So I am going to give you an example of what it would be like without a tank and why running to a tank would be the best option for you.
Without a tank:
50 gallons per day divided by how many minutes in a day (1440)
50 divided by 1440 = 0.03 gallons per minute.

Now with a tank- the system fills the tank up over a period of time so you have water ready to use from the tank. The standard tanks are 4.5 gallon, but there are larger options available depending on the water you need. These are bladder tanks so they do not hold a whole 4.5 gallons because of the room the bladder takes up. It will hold about 3 gallons. The 10 gallon will hold about 7.5 actual gallons and it varies on the size of the tank.




For future reference, I work for a company that sells these as a package, we have American made systems as well that are high quality at this price, but are at about half for the standard like this. I have to be careful on posting links as I enjoy getting to be apart of this group and do not want to get banned, but I can absolutely help with any recommendations you guys may need or help since I know both the grower water side and am a hobby grower myself.
High @WaterExpertNick420 and welcome to RIU! Could you take a look at my planned RO setup and let me know what you think before I hook it all up soon.

We get our tap water from a dugout on my property and it’s 400ppm+ and pH8+ depending on the time of year. Spring melt that fills it lowers both the pH and PPM.

As I need specialized filtration and sterilization I just bought all the parts from a company called The Water Guy. About $550 for all the parts. The filter housings were half the price and clear too so easy to see the filters.

We already filter down to 5µ so my RO unit will have a 1µ filter → standard carbon filter → 0.5µ carbon filter → RO filter → branch off for grow water → UV sterilizer → branch off for coffee maker water → then a Carbon/Calcite filter to ‘polish’ the water to make it tasty and add some minerals to the water for drinking. In 6 months or less it will pay for itself and the input water is free. It’s kind of stinky even when it’s clear and clean looking so that’s why there is 3 carbon filters altogether.

The filter housings take any standard 2x10" filter used in most housings.

Here’s the basic layout and I just have to get it together and hook it all up downstairs.

View attachment 5150277

Does all that seem like it's going to work OK?

Another thing I've wondered about is that one-way valve that goes in after the RO filter but not in my setup. From what I can tell it's used when a float valve is involved downstream and shuts off when the float valve has stopped water flow. I'm not planning to use a float valve so is it needed? I have it but didn't see the need and it's going to just add more possible leak points. Hard to figure out too as it has no markings on it to show flow for hooking up the tubing for the four connections on it.

:peace:
Hello OldMedUser,

No worries, happy to help, any time I can help make something easier or save you some money I am happy to. Same for anybody reading this thread looking for help. Feel free to reach out!

Are you running this to a tank or are you looking for it to be "on demand"?
The reason I ask this, RO systems are rated in GPD or gallons per day. These smaller RO's are usually 50 to 100 gpd. So as an example, if you do not run to fill up a tank to have water on hand, you run it on demand meaning it produces what comes from the system to the tap. So I am going to give you an example of what it would be like without a tank and why running to a tank would be the best option for you.
Without a tank:
50 gallons per day divided by how many minutes in a day (1440) = 0.03 gallons per minute is what you would get from the system straight to the faucet without a tank.

Now with a tank- the system fills the tank up over a period of time so you have water ready to use from the tank. The standard tanks are 4.5 gallon, but there are larger options available depending on the water you need. These are bladder tanks so they do not hold a whole 4.5 gallons because of the room the bladder takes up. It will hold about 3 gallons.

Other than that, aside from a filter bracket that you can basically mount all of this to, you are looking good as far as the order and what you have. Just a couple things I wanted to also give some info on:

1655406654902.png

Clear housings: Clear housings are awesome to be able to see in and look at if the filter is getting bad to the point of changing it. Where they have a negative impact is, photosynthesis. Any sort of light in the area they are installed, especially sunlight, you end up with algae growth inside the housing.

For future reference, I work for a company that sells these as a package, tank and all the tubing and connections included. We have American made systems as well that are high quality at this price, but are at about half for the standard like this. I have to be careful on posting links as I enjoy getting to be apart of this group and do not want to get banned, but I can absolutely help with any recommendations you guys may need or help since I know both the grower water side and am a hobby grower myself.
 
High @WaterExpertNick420 and welcome to RIU! Could you take a look at my planned RO setup and let me know what you think before I hook it all up soon.

We get our tap water from a dugout on my property and it’s 400ppm+ and pH8+ depending on the time of year. Spring melt that fills it lowers both the pH and PPM.

As I need specialized filtration and sterilization I just bought all the parts from a company called The Water Guy. About $550 for all the parts. The filter housings were half the price and clear too so easy to see the filters.

We already filter down to 5µ so my RO unit will have a 1µ filter → standard carbon filter → 0.5µ carbon filter → RO filter → branch off for grow water → UV sterilizer → branch off for coffee maker water → then a Carbon/Calcite filter to ‘polish’ the water to make it tasty and add some minerals to the water for drinking. In 6 months or less it will pay for itself and the input water is free. It’s kind of stinky even when it’s clear and clean looking so that’s why there is 3 carbon filters altogether.

The filter housings take any standard 2x10" filter used in most housings.

Here’s the basic layout and I just have to get it together and hook it all up downstairs.

View attachment 5150277

Does all that seem like it's going to work OK?

Another thing I've wondered about is that one-way valve that goes in after the RO filter but not in my setup. From what I can tell it's used when a float valve is involved downstream and shuts off when the float valve has stopped water flow. I'm not planning to use a float valve so is it needed? I have it but didn't see the need and it's going to just add more possible leak points. Hard to figure out too as it has no markings on it to show flow for hooking up the tubing for the four connections on it.

:peace:
Also, get a TDS meter, you should get 90% out of an RO. So if you are at 400 ppm tds, you should be at 40 ppm after the RO system. The calcite is adding calcium to raise PH so it will add to this. Test at the grow room area to make sure.
 
High @WaterExpertNick420 and welcome to RIU! Could you take a look at my planned RO setup and let me know what you think before I hook it all up soon.

We get our tap water from a dugout on my property and it’s 400ppm+ and pH8+ depending on the time of year. Spring melt that fills it lowers both the pH and PPM.

As I need specialized filtration and sterilization I just bought all the parts from a company called The Water Guy. About $550 for all the parts. The filter housings were half the price and clear too so easy to see the filters.

We already filter down to 5µ so my RO unit will have a 1µ filter → standard carbon filter → 0.5µ carbon filter → RO filter → branch off for grow water → UV sterilizer → branch off for coffee maker water → then a Carbon/Calcite filter to ‘polish’ the water to make it tasty and add some minerals to the water for drinking. In 6 months or less it will pay for itself and the input water is free. It’s kind of stinky even when it’s clear and clean looking so that’s why there is 3 carbon filters altogether.

The filter housings take any standard 2x10" filter used in most housings.

Here’s the basic layout and I just have to get it together and hook it all up downstairs.

View attachment 5150277

Does all that seem like it's going to work OK?

Another thing I've wondered about is that one-way valve that goes in after the RO filter but not in my setup. From what I can tell it's used when a float valve is involved downstream and shuts off when the float valve has stopped water flow. I'm not planning to use a float valve so is it needed? I have it but didn't see the need and it's going to just add more possible leak points. Hard to figure out too as it has no markings on it to show flow for hooking up the tubing for the four connections on it.

:peace:
Also, Just noticed the housing with the plug is labeled UV, that would definitely require power but it looks a lot like a membrane housing. My mistake.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Are you running this to a tank or are you looking for it to be "on demand"?
Basically on demand but will be filling containers manually. For the outlet I will use for the plants that takes water off before the UV filter I plan to fill the brine tank that I haven't used for almost 20 years to keep about 150L of RO on hand with a small aquarium heater and airstone in it. I do that now with the RO I buy in the standard 5gal jugs. I'll fill 5gl jugs off the other two outlets. I don't want minerals added back for water to use in my BUNN coffee maker but do for water we will drink and cook with. In the picture you can see the two sets of 3-way valves I'll use to take water off before the final outlet to do this.

The RO filter I have is rated 75gal/day so can supply way more than our 3-person household needs. We go thru 4 - 5 of the 5gal jugs a week and that includes plant use as well.

Other than that, aside from a filter bracket that you can basically mount all of this to, you are looking good as far as the order and what you have. Just a couple things I wanted to also give some info on:

Clear housings: Clear housings are awesome to be able to see in and look at if the filter is getting bad to the point of changing it. Where they have a negative impact is, photosynthesis. Any sort of light in the area they are installed, especially sunlight, you end up with algae growth inside the housing.
I bought mounting brackets for the housings and they are going to be mounted to the wall where my Polar Bear distiller sits now unused for 10 years since the heating element burned out. Way back in a dark corner of the basement so next to no light and just a 23w 2700K cfl bulb about 10' away when I do go down there to tend my plants or soon to get a jug of water. Normally it is off. The distiller has an outlet to drain its tank that feeds to the sump so I already have a drain for the discard water from the RO unit. I plan to refurbish the distiller and sell it to pay for the RO and have money left over. The same units refurbished sell for $1500 by the company that sells distillers down in Edmonton so hoping for $1000 for mine. $100 for a new 1500w element.

Also, get a TDS meter, you should get 90% out of an RO. So if you are at 400 ppm tds, you should be at 40 ppm after the RO system. The calcite is adding calcium to raise PH so it will add to this. Test at the grow room area to make sure.
The store I get my water at seems to be able to make RO at 2ppm and uses water almost as crappy as my dugout water for it's feed source. I've tested it at 280ppm and pH7.5. AS I'll be using water taken off before the UV and calcite filters for the plants it won't affect what the plants get. I have a good ppm pen that reads in single digits and diluted 1000ppm calibration solution to 20ppm to make it more accurate for low ppm sol'ns like the colloidal silver I make.

Should be good to go and now just need to get off my butt and hook it all up. :)

Thanks for that list of all the crap RO removes. Our 18 year old cat has been drinking the dugout water all her life and still chasing mice around and even catching them so it can't be too toxic. Lots of frogs and tiny stickleback fish in the dugout and that's a sign of good water too.

:peace:
 
Basically on demand but will be filling containers manually. For the outlet I will use for the plants that takes water off before the UV filter I plan to fill the brine tank that I haven't used for almost 20 years to keep about 150L of RO on hand with a small aquarium heater and airstone in it. I do that now with the RO I buy in the standard 5gal jugs. I'll fill 5gl jugs off the other two outlets. I don't want minerals added back for water to use in my BUNN coffee maker but do for water we will drink and cook with. In the picture you can see the two sets of 3-way valves I'll use to take water off before the final outlet to do this.

The RO filter I have is rated 75gal/day so can supply way more than our 3-person household needs. We go thru 4 - 5 of the 5gal jugs a week and that includes plant use as well.



I bought mounting brackets for the housings and they are going to be mounted to the wall where my Polar Bear distiller sits now unused for 10 years since the heating element burned out. Way back in a dark corner of the basement so next to no light and just a 23w 2700K cfl bulb about 10' away when I do go down there to tend my plants or soon to get a jug of water. Normally it is off. The distiller has an outlet to drain its tank that feeds to the sump so I already have a drain for the discard water from the RO unit. I plan to refurbish the distiller and sell it to pay for the RO and have money left over. The same units refurbished sell for $1500 by the company that sells distillers down in Edmonton so hoping for $1000 for mine. $100 for a new 1500w element.



The store I get my water at seems to be able to make RO at 2ppm and uses water almost as crappy as my dugout water for it's feed source. I've tested it at 280ppm and pH7.5. AS I'll be using water taken off before the UV and calcite filters for the plants it won't affect what the plants get. I have a good ppm pen that reads in single digits and diluted 1000ppm calibration solution to 20ppm to make it more accurate for low ppm sol'ns like the colloidal silver I make.

Should be good to go and now just need to get off my butt and hook it all up. :)

Thanks for that list of all the crap RO removes. Our 18 year old cat has been drinking the dugout water all her life and still chasing mice around and even catching them so it can't be too toxic. Lots of frogs and tiny stickleback fish in the dugout and that's a sign of good water too.

:peace:
Hello OldMedUser,

Awesome, I am glad to help. I am sure the Cat is happy too! lol. I would say on getting down to 2 ppm from having bad feed water, they are running back through. RO is typically a 90% reduction. So that means he is getting the water down to 20 ppm and running back through again to get to the 90% reduction of that down to 2 ppm.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Hello OldMedUser,

Awesome, I am glad to help. I am sure the Cat is happy too! lol. I would say on getting down to 2 ppm from having bad feed water, they are running back through. RO is typically a 90% reduction. So that means he is getting the water down to 20 ppm and running back through again to get to the 90% reduction of that down to 2 ppm.
I doubt very much they are doing that but could you achieve the same thing by running 2 RO filters in series? I'll leave enough space between the RO and UV to add a 2nd later if that would work.

:peace:
 

plantinggreen

Active Member
I don't know if I should add a valve before the final stage for growing cannabis and use all six for drinking water or if I should use the whole system with the pH up final stage for drinking and cannabis growing which means all plants in early growth stages or growing inside. I will ask APEC Water and Advanced Nutrients. Outdoor plants I try to water with a thirty-two gallon Rubbermaid bin outside to allow the chlorine to escape. You can buy large outside filters and/or have a pond.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
I don't know if I should add a valve before the final stage for growing cannabis and use all six for drinking water or if I should use the whole system with the pH up final stage for drinking and cannabis growing which means all plants in early growth stages or growing inside. I will ask APEC Water and Advanced Nutrients. Outdoor plants I try to water with a thirty-two gallon Rubbermaid bin outside to allow the chlorine to escape. You can buy large outside filters and/or have a pond.
When I finally get around to hooking all my stuff like you have laid out I'll have 3 outlets. One after the RO filter for the plants then one after the UV filter for the coffee maker so it doesn't get mineral buildup then the last one after the calcite filter to add some minerals back for drinking.

I've had everything for over a year but just haven't got around to setting it all up. All my get up and go, got up and went. :)

Configuration01.JPG

:peace:
 
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