So I've read all over that vinegar is a good way to lower pH. I have recently learned that the effect is only temporary as it gases off and pH bounces back up. Agree? I bought water from the Walmart dispenser run by Primo Water and it is testing at no N, high in P, and very high in K, pH of 6.8, KH of 22ppm. I was under the understanding this was RO water and should be nearly distilled. How can the P and K be so high and the KH be a pretty low 22ppm? I bought a jug of Walmart Distilled Water and it tested at 5.1 pH before getting aerated and then it went to 6.5 The KH was 15ppm, N was 0, P was lowish and K was high also. How can distilled water be high in potassium? Thanks for your time. Peace and Good Health!
I use pH down from general hydriponics. I couldn't get a reliable consensus on using vinegar from the forums. Distilled water is very different from pure water and still can be high in certain soluble minerals. The odds that the Walmart water is reverse osmosis is very unlikely because it is a very expensive process. Usually reverse osmosis is only used if absolutely needed. I use 3/4 tap water run through a filter then top it off with well water. Mine starts right at 7 then I adjust it down after adding my nutes. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
It is interesting to hear that distilled is different from pure water. This site on water quality seems to disagree, mostly: http://www.waterboyinc.com/blog/distilled-and-puri... "Distilled water has gone through a purification process aptly called distillation. Distillation entails boiling the water to produce vapor. Essentially, we boil the water out of its contaminants. Once the water entirely vaporizes, that vapor is put into a clean container where it condenses back into pure water. Almost all the contaminants found in water have a higher boiling point than H20 – so as the water boils and evaporates (at 212 degrees Fahrenheit) – the contaminants are left harmlessly behind. The vapor is just pure water." The water from the Primo Water dispenser at Walmart says it is made by going through a sediment filter, then a carbon filter, then a RO filter, then treated with ultraviolet light before dispensing. What sort of filter do you use before adding the well water? What soluble minerals could still be in properly distilled water and how would that happen? Any idea why the jug of store bought distilled water would start with a very low pH then have the pH increase with aeration? Thanks in advance for explaining. Peace.
This site is spot on. My apologies for my last post. I was baked on top of exhausted yesterday and left out some explanations. I'm a plumber and I deal with pure, RO, municipal, and well water all day long. True distilled water is very close to pure water. Here's the caveat I left out last night. Some of what is being sold in stores for the last few years is testing with measurable potassium, calcium, etc. This may be because of a loophole in using the word "distilled" on food grade water or simply bad regulation/devious sellers. This is somewhat dangerous because if people are expecting distilled they should be getting it. I have a feeling that if you bought distilled water from a lab supply company it would be of higher quality. A friend of mine was using "distilled" water in his vaporizer (just the water kind!) for his daughter and it was leaving mineral rings in the machine. If you look at the web, there are all sorts of stories like that. The steps that Primo Water say they are using are outstanding, provided they are being truthful. I cannot afford to use bottled water for my plants. My well water is mildly hard. Certainly within potable guidelines and I grew up with it so I like the flavour. It came out a little heavy for what I wanted to give my plants (I think it was just over 200 ppm of dissolved solids/minerals) so I simply run it through a Britta pitcher which gives me a little more control (takes it down to 50ish if I remember correctly). Then I add some in to give it some of that iron back. True distilled water should have a PH of 7 so i think the key phrase you used is "properly distilled". Municipal potable water must be in the range of 7-10 (mostly to protect pipes). When I saw that your distilled ph was so low, I thought that was unusual. I do know that I don't measure my PH until my water settles for an hour or so. I just know I get a better reading once any small air bubbles rise out . After all that, you have to ask yourself how well you trust your testing gear. In the end the water could be fine and your gear goofy? So, once again I feel like here is some information while explaining not very much. :/ I'm just gonna shut the hell up!
That is a very good explanation. I am not surprised that companies may be cheating to cut costs. I understand what you mean about errors due to testers. I will continue to explore these odd readings and see if my testing gear is working correctly and report back. I double checked the pH of store bought bottled "Distilled Water" and came up with the same thing: pH starts at 5.1 until aeration/rest, then climbs to 6.5. The KH was 15ppm, N was 0, P was lowish and K was high. I still wonder how distilled water can be high in potassium? Interesting. I will be calling the companies producing this water and see if they can shed any light. Thanks! Peace and Good Health!
Please let us know what you find out and good luck! Sent from my SCH-I545 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Well the two water supplier's, Walmart and Primo, only have a message machine and I've not heard back. I can not understand why my dehumidifier drain water is showing pH of 7 but chart topping K, and no P. There is also some, not much, N there and I'd guess it's picking it up from the atmosphere. Is this possible? All this started when my girls went through terrible stress in a travel trailer for a month while we moved unexpectedly. They got cold, hot, OD'd on CO2, over watered, mold in the air, not properly flushed when watered, and a few major environment changes. I thought they were simply stressed out to the point of near death and would recover when in a stable spot and cared for well. I have been at this for 20+ years and was pretty sure of myself... Fast forward a month in a stable and well tended spot and they are showing symptoms of a Boron deficiency. Slow growth, tips dying off and new shoots emerging from below. I have been foliar treating them with mild boric acid and they seem to be getting better but I am confounded by the water and soil test results I'm getting as part of the diagnosing.
So far the companies mentioned earlier are only taking messages and not returning them. Does any one know how distilled (bottle from (Walmart) water can test with a Rapid Test soil test kit as having very high levels of Potassium? I have the same question about the drain water from my dehumidifier. Also for the Primo Water dispenser in Walmart that says it is an RO system. All three water sources are testing at less than 20ppm of KH so would I be correct to assume there is little calcium, as was shown in the test? I thought my measure tool was wrong but a second brand and third brand produced identical results. Any water pros have a tip for me? I have looked and have been unable to locate this topic on the furums.
When you distill any solvent or aqueous solution or water, you will get azeotrope... Thats why most Chemist use fractional distillation to reduce azeotrope... Also when distilling water the low boilers can come out as well which is the fore-run. They just verify the water purity by UV, once UV come into spec thats when they start collecting pure water... But nothing is 100% pure, only as pure as the instrument can read and thats basically to ppb level Sent from my Nexus 5X using Grasscity Forum mobile app