Just got my test results for water quality. Aside from the disturbing PH, what's this going to do for my plants? Iron and sulfur concentrations seem most intriguing. I've already picked up an RO system, but would like to know your opinions. Worth trying to adjust? Or commit to the RO? pH 3.8 Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 346 Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.58 Cations / Anions, me/L 3.9 / 6.2 Sodium, Na 5 Potassium, K 3 Calcium, Ca 61 Magnesium, Mg 7 Total Hardness, CaCO3 182 Nitrate, NO3-N 0.3 (SAFE) Sulfate, SO4-S 99 Chloride, Cl 2 Carbonate, CO3 < 1 Bicarbonate, HCO3 < 1 Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 < 1 Fluoride, F 0.14 Total Iron, Fe 18.73 The first burn will commence, with journal, in t-minus 2 weeks. Stay tuned. Thanks in advance for the wisdom of the city. BJ
Actual consumption of the water ceased a while back without the need for a scientific test. It went like this. "This tastes like blood." "Yah, let's haul water from town." Will treating my water increase the Ph? Or will I be reliant on Ph upping every water? As a side benefit of treatment, I'll be able to drink my RO water! Amazing what taking care of plants can do for self-care.
That sucks your water is crappy. I live in a city with over 5 million and water is about 55 ppm and very clean. Contrary to popular belief almost all of the water in the US is cleaner then bottled water. In fact most bottled water is simply sewage water run through RO..Aquafina, Dsanti is and 99% of the bottled water out there is not from a spring or well source..they would have you believe otherwise. Id go RO if I were you...if your not actually drinking it anyhow it would be win win for plants and for you. RO is not that expensive in the long run certainly beats bottled water in terms of price. As for increasing your ph or lowering it you will always be reliant on it for the most part. Adding nutrients to water can cause swings up or down...phing water is not a bad thing plants dont care a bit.