Tap water (pH and PPM question)

Most distilled water contains fluoride and mercury still unless you buy a imported/expensive brand like fiji.. although it isn't distilled.
 
To those saying I'm a "conspiracy theorist" Our government has websites about it and it's very true. Google it up
 
Tap water is heavily fluoridated and contains mercury, you can get a 20$ brita filter that takes out 3/4 of it.

 

I beleive the only thing that will evaporate out of the tap water is the chlorine. RO is the way to go imop.

 

It all depends on the quality of your tap water. Mine is good and I have always used it and have never had any problems from doing so

 

use spring water. or RO. 

 

I think in general, way too many people are way too scared of their tap water. There will be some tap water out there that can give you problems but most will be fine as long as the total EC/ppm is measured and adjusted correctly

 

Minerals won't evaporate, the chlorine will.
 
If you take your growing seriously, you will attach as much importance to the quality of your water as you do the nutes and lighting.
 
I did not add an R/O system until I had my act together, but once you do, you won't remove it.

 

And when your more experienced you start to learn what makes the big differences, and what is not needed

I guarantee you it would not be worth fitting a reverse osmosis system in my home

 

In addition, reverse osmosis, de-ionised, filtered, and distilled water will have some if not all of its magnesium and calcium removed and because most nutrients are designed for tap water you have to replace it. Some water can have a too high EC but most will be fine

 

RO systems use a lot of water input for a much smaller amount outputted, you end up wasting a lot.
 
Mg and Ca removed was always an issue for my previous grows because I used all RO water. this time around I'm using bottled water because quite frankly, I don't trust tap water (even if where I live it's incredibly clean), but also because it's a little difficult finding cheap RO water.
 
tap water over 200ppm is usually a little too high. Ive found a lot of nutrient companies use the 200ppm mark as their basis for designing their nutrient specs. So use that as a ballpark. I've found that because bottled water already has plenty of Ca&Mg in it, that stuff works great. along with having a few other bits of minerals in there that plants like.
 
nothing like that shit that's "bottled at the source"
 
 
**disclaimer: not at all trying to promote any single bottled water producer by using their slogan.

 

That's IF Chlorine is being used, as most municipalities are switching over to Chloramine. Chloramine is your friend. Chloramine = DM Zone...

 

what goldgrower said about sums it up. if you still have lingering questions this may clear up some
 
http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/457285-ph-ppmwhats-all-about.html

 

As always, GG is spot on. My tap water is about 45-60 ppm and I use it in my DWC grows with no problem. Bottom line is get a TDS meter and check it. FWIW, I was so glad my ppm was as low as it is straight from the tap. I was NOT looking forward to buying a RO filter or buying RO water for a whole grow!

 

I've done entire grows with tap water, and had difficulty maintaining proper ph in that there was fluxuation between 5.6 to 6.2. Ph is just really unstable with tap.. Ro, no worries other than the fact that 0 ppm means no Cal or Mag. Compensate for the additional ppm already in the water. Our city water is usually around 6.5 to 7 ph depending where you are.. ppms usually around 150.  Yeah so it is possible to pull off tap water but the ph fluxuation is a pain in the ass. Daily ph twice a day. More maintinence with tap.  The expence of an Ro filter will almost equal what you would pay yearly for going to the store and purchasing distilled water,, btw is 0 ppm I tested it. Wal mart distilled water is what i used for my last grow and it turned out great. So if you have a ppm tester and ph tester you can treat the water to work. soil growers dont need to worry as much.

 

PH fluctuation is a good thing, as long as its stays between 5-7 anyway. Mine creeps up to about 6.2-6.4ish and every day I bring it back down to about 5.5, this gives me a wide spectrum for all the nutrients to be easily absorbed by the plant, and growth rate shows this

 

Glad you said this, GG. As a new hydro grower, I'm glad to see an experienced hydro grower mention 5-7. I usually shoot for around 5.8 but if I've been chasing it for a while and get tired of adding up and/or down during a ph check and I can get it to 6 I just leave it there. Had I not seen you mentioned 5-7, I would have probably gotten a little anxiety if I went home and saw it was up to 6.8. Hell, my tap water is right around 6.8-7.0. Cheers brother.

 

I believe anywhere between 5.5 and 6.5 is perfectly fine and if it goes down to 5 or up to 7 as long as it doesn't stay there continuously for several days it won't cause any problems. I also aim for 5.8 but it doesn't stay there long for me

 

My tap water is around 8 with ppm of about 430 which I think is not good for my plants, Would a reverse osmosis be an improvement for my water source?

I've been looking at a few and a portable unit would work nice in my apartment.




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anything below an EC of 0.4 will be fine. if its above this and you are getting problems with young plants and clones it may be the cause. my tap water has an EC of 0.10