simple enough question, do the carbon type filters used for brita pitchers and such actually get disolved solids that can mess with your grow or does it just get chlorine/stuff that only affects taste? I can't really afford a reverse osmosis system right now, but my tap water is running 370ppm, so I don't want to use it like that..
No it won't bring the ppm down. Only a reverse osmosis filter will bring down tds. Brita filters will actually raise the ppm because you're adding in carbon and it doesn't have a small enough micron filter to filter out that carbon. It removes some chlorine and metals that are in the water like copper, lead, mercury, etc.... The guy above me is full of shit. My tap water is high too. I just have a few 5 gallon jugs and fill them up at a store or those water machines outside of grocery stores whenever I need more. Ebay has some affordable ro systems if you're looking for a good price.
my tap comes out at 170.... ish. i have a hose that hooks to my shower head and pours straight into my nutes. there is no need for filters of any kind. using hard water micro takes care of it. 370 is kinda high. if you only feel safe using a filter... then use one. who cares if it adds carbon to the water. as long as it is filtering the bad minerals (copper) out. i used to use a $50 whole house water filter that uses those thread filters. used it for two years. ended up losing it somehow someway and went to straight water.
My big thing is I believe that most of that reading comes from iron and lime deposits in my very old main line coming in through the yard. When I mentioned my low water pressure to a water company employee, she said that my area is full of very old iron plumbing and she doubted I could run a pencil through that pipe.. and I don't think high doses of iron are very good for my little green kids.. so I'm hunting a solution that people agree on here..
that makes sense. here is what you need. its what i used to use. says its great for wells etc and it has 4.5 star reviews. Culligan HD-950A 1-Inch Outlet/Inlet Heavy Duty Sediment Water Filter Housing,Opaque - Amazon.com there is a brass fitting at lowes that connects a water hose to a 1" fip. the same thing is threaded on the inside and that is what connects your hose to the shower.
thanks for the tip, I'll probably try out this type, can I ask what filter cartriges you use in it? I would go as small as possible, but with my high TDS I think 5 or 10 micron would clog rather quickly..
i just used the one that came in it. you can always buy the cheaper one in the customers also bought this section of that amazon page. and get the level 4 cartridge for that one on the cheap. test both out to see what does the best and then go for the heavy duty model. i would imagine about the only dif between the two is water flow and how quick they get used up. you can also see inside the cheap one, which is an advantage in my mind.
IIRC AskEd uses ~300ppm tap with good results..Some peeps run it just fine..I don't know maybe you outta just try it out and see how it does..Just a thought!..And plants do need and use Fe(iron), and highly doubt your tap contains too much of it if any.. You can always have your water analyzed if you're that worried.. Good luck!..
it's not completely about whatever is in there hurting my plants, I'm just a scientific person that doesn't like anything that will skew my results.. like when I put in 500ppm of nutes, come back a while later to increase it, how do I know how much of my TDS reading is nutes and how much is junk from my tap water? I've done this before, but only with the purest of ingredients and a scientific approach.. and well, 1-2"/day of growth and the resulting herb got me offers that were unheard of at the time... It's a science to me, and I like a controlled environment...
man you would really freak out if you were to see how i do things. as an example i will walk you through my nute process. i lift my lid about once a week and say 'that looks like about seven or eight five gallon buckets worth'. sling the hose in and start filling. grab my hanna meter probe that just sits on top of my control in the direct light with no cap. shake out the air bubbles, sling it in the rez, and turn it on. ph is 5.8-5.9 grab a couple of 16 oz solo cups and guesstimate my 2:1 lucas ratio. pour them in. go back and grab my superthrive and floralicous+. open caps and pour straight into rez. go get my kool bloom and pour into solo cup, and then pour into rez. i reach in and grab my circulation pump and give it a few shakes across the top of the water to get rid of the dead root that is stuck on the intake. look down... my ph is 5.5-5.7. turn off water when full and close the lid. at least i use separate cups and rinse with hose. it is like this week after week after week. my ppms range from 1580-1800 week after week also. from start to end of flower. notice that there isnt any mention of ph +/-. i have a bottle of 7.0 sitting next to my meter. once or twice a month i will pop it open and check my meter. if it doesnt say 7.0 i turn off my meter, give it a swish in my nutes, and rinse with the hose. then shake it out in the air again and stick it back in the 7.0. one out of ten times i will have to grab a tooth brush and scrub. after that... its back to 7.0. so i i end up giving my probe a good cleaning twice a year. i go through the least scientific steps and get the best results. all i am saying is... it doesnt have to be perfect. taken under green light with flash. she still has 20 days left. click and then click the popup. then click on that one for full resolution. she is looking pretty good on my phone zoomed in.
Unless you have your tap water analyzed, you'll never know what it contains and how much of each element it contributes to TDS..But if you've done it before "with the purest of ingredients and a scientific approach" then keep doing it.. Your TDS reading will never tell you what your tap contains..But since you've done this before, I assume you know that already.. My only advise/tip would be to start with RO if you're that worried.. It would definitely be a no-brainer for me if my tap was hard and I was concerned with "skewing" my results.. Good luck!..
Brita pitchers will not remove TDS in the form of salts. They only capture metallic and mineral particles.They will improvethe quality of water though, and if your ppms' arent too bad you could Brita filter, then put in a open container and bubble for a few days. A lot of aquarium people who have city water do this.
well, my having a good idea of what my tap water contains comes from me replacing all of the iron plumbing in the basement last summer and finding what the inside of those old pipes were filled with.. my TDS was around 1000 before I did that!
What am I full of shit about????? EDIT: sorry the guy deleted his comments. I thought u were talking to me.
Zero Water (like Brita, in that you pour water through it, but using a different tech) will give you 0 TDS water. The unit even comes with a TDS tester.