164mg/l is probably just referring to calcium content so it's impossible to say what the EC would be as the water contains other elements too. My water contains 115mg/l of calcium so you might expect an EC reading of 0.23ms/cm but it's actually 0.663ms/cm. At least, this is my understanding.
Good point. I was looking at it as an overall measure of (conductive) solids in the water, not just a measure of the calcium content. bakin420 didn't make that clear in the OP. He mentioned hardness, though, which usually refers to TDS, not just calcium content. I should point out that I'm not just trying to cause arguments. My real point was that it's considered normal to quote the conversion factor with the ppm value. eg 500ppm@0.5
I think hardness usually only takes into account calcium and magnesium ions but you're right, it's not clear from the OP what he's referring to
Just giving you a hard time (sarcasm) Doesn't really matter to me so long as everyone gets help somewhere
No worries Pastivity. I'm only pushing this because it'll help others in the future. And thanks, Optical. I'm really not trying to cause trouble. I might be wording things badly and I didn't mean to cause bad blood, but a ppm value means nothing without knowing the conversion factor. The convention, as I mentioned, is to state that factor when referring to TDS measurements in ppm. All meters only measure EC, then use an internal conversion factor to calculate ppm. That conversion factor varies, resulting in varying ppm values for a given EC. To find the factor in a switchable meter, get a ppm value then switch to EC and get a reading, then: Conversion factor = ppm/EC.
Well it looks like I'll either be letting my water sit out for a few days, or i'm gonna get a reverse osmosis..
RO is best, but even a normal filter helps. Your water isn't too bad. (Regardless of the type of meter etc) At 0.3 or thereabouts, it sits above soft water but below what is considered 'normal'. Shouldn't be a problem at all. Ignore the technical crap, and sorry, it was almost a hijack, but yours' was the most appropriate current thread for a discussion of the issue. Letting the water sit will allow the chlorine to evaporate off, but won't reduce the solids at all. As I said, don't worry, your water is fine. Here's a link to the right page on the Canna site. On the RHS of the page, there's a grow guide calculator. Click on it and on the next page, one of the edit boxes has EC values and their relative 'hardness'. As I said earlier, 0.2=Soft, 0.4=Normal, 0.6=Hard. They're approximations, of course, but it's a guide.
Good one. An EC / ppm meter is almost essential, as important as a pH meter. They'll love the RO water too, although as I mentioned, it's not essential with your water by the sound of it. It'll help, though. I can't afford RO and my water is only 0.2, so I accept that. The better you look after the girls now, the better they'll look after you later.