Question is about water

[Dank4The20]

Hi all,
Does it make any sense to store tap water in a 45 gallon drum(food grade plastic), keep it aerated so that it can off gas then use it for the plants? Nearest water to my grow area is out the house and around the side the house to tap.
I've come to the conclusion hawling pails of water is kinda not fun. I want to set up a reservoir in the house aerate it and use it to water the plants.
The question is is that ok for the water? Can the water stagnate even with aeration could I add something to the water to ensure it's "freshness"? Could bacterial activity develop and negatively impact the soils ecosystem?
Does any one do this?
Thanks in advance I'm learning so I have a lot of questions.

 

[Scientific]

Hi Dank -- I'm know that some people have very strong feelings about this subject, but I don't think that chlorine in drinking water is worth worrying about too much. There is a bunch of voodoo about this (thought not as much as about flouride). This looks like a pretty reputable source: Water for our Plants & Garden Questions for Indoor Plants - Coles County Yard and Garden - University of Illinois Extension serving Coles, Cumberland, Douglas, Moultrie and Shelby Counties

City water systems chlorinate two different ways. If they just bubble in chlorine, it dissipates quickly, especially with agitation/aeration. If they use chloramine, you have to remove it chemically (like people do for fish tanks). This site has information about what various water systems use: Does Your City Use Chlorine or Chloramines? Check the list - Dude Grows

Fresh, clean water in a nonreactive (plastic) vessel should be fine (especially if it has been chlorinated). It there's enough organic matter in your water for it to go bad just sitting there, your water system has problems!

I know a guy who lives in an agricultural area and worries about pesticide and fertilizer in his water, so he has an elaborate filter system at the tap. He is on a city water supply, though, so I really don't think he needs to worry about it (Flint, Michigan not withstanding). Every city system makes lots of information available about the water you get online, so have a look. You can even call the water department with questions.

My point is that most of us don't have to worry about anything but the mineral levels in our water (i.e. how "hard" it is) and its pH. Again, your water department can tell you all about that, and you can compensate if needed. (For instance, there are hydroponic nutrients made especially for hard water.)

As I said earlier, sometimes people have very definite ideas about water, (much of it folklore), which is not surprising considering how important it is, but in the developed world with piped, processed water, it's not something you usually need to pay much attention to. If in doubt, contact your water supplier.

(Just FYI, my nickname at the biotech company I used to work for was "Aquaman," because one of my responsibilites was for providing pure water for biological research, so at one time I was pretty into this subject.) Trust the science. Be wary of folklore. -- Luv, Aquaman

 

[Lazarus13]

How long are you thinking it will sit? If you are refreshing it weekly and keeping it aerated it should be fine. Like scientific said, some places use chlorine, some chloramine. Google your local water supply test to see. If its chlorine it will off gas in 12 to 48 hours. If it is chloramine, head to the pet store and get some dechlorinator liquid. Just make sure the bottle says it takes care of chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. When chloramine is broken down it becomes chlorine and ammonia. Not sure if the ammonia levels would be toxic to the plants but why take the risk?

 

[Weaselcracker]

I've been using rainwater since I started, and for the last ten years or so have always stored it. I have a couple 50 gallon plastic barrels full under the gutters, one full in the flowering room, and a 30 gallon in veg. No issues with any sort of adverse biological growths. I don't grow DWC though, which may require more sterility- the closest I come to that is DTW hydro. Anyway- no issues. And with your pre-sterilized water I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

[Dank4The20]

Thanks, Scientific, Lazarus, Weaselcracker. Great read about water Scientific. All great info and usable as well as reassuring.
The water here is treated with chlorine. I do top the drum up at least once a week and it's aerated 24-7.
When taking a PPM reading from the reservoir the reading one gets is what then, minerals? Can any of those minerals found in the water get bound up in the CE and lock out other nutrients to the plant? Maybe I'm over thinking this. I mean doesnt the plant in the wild just drop it's seeds and grow... Thanks all.

 

[Lazarus13]

Yeah the ppms are gonna be calcium and stuff. My tap is about 140ppms. Not terrible but i still use ro from the market for most of my grow. Ive seen people with tap ppms of 200 or so use it to grow with no problems i could see. Whats your waters ppm reading?

 

[Dank4The20]

Out of the tap it's 60 ppm.

 

[Lazarus13]

Thats damn good.

 

[Weaselcracker]

If you're growing hydro or soilless you'll need to supplement with calmag.

 

[Scientific]

Thats damn good.

Yeah, looks like you're in great shape water-wise.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

CE or CEC or Cation exchange capacity (CEC) or at least what i'm thinking off is more directly related to the growing medium inherent soil characteristic to hold on to nutrients & that is about all... Well ye it may be a problem in the long run but i'm not to concerned because growing weed is not rocket science just wanna get past the folklore mush !

My own tap water is about 300 ppm (parts per million) well ye that is hard water i have plenty of Ca & Mg in that council pop (ya have to old British folk to understand that joke) but ye never had a def in any of those... I do just fine to be honest, i've never PH corrected stuff let alone checked PPM/EC or what ever, even when i've used organic stuff to the more salt based liquid fert's i just get on & grow my meds.


It is pretty easy if common sense is applied

 

[Dank4The20]

CE or CEC or Cation exchange capacity (CEC) or at least what i'm thinking off is more directly related to the growing medium inherent soil characteristic to hold on to nutrients & that is about all... Well ye it may be a problem in the long run but i'm not to concerned because growing weed is not rocket science just wanna get past the folklore mush !

My own tap water is about 300 ppm (parts per million) well ye that is hard water i have plenty of Ca & Mg in that council pop (ya have to old British folk to understand that joke) but ye never had a def in any of those... I do just fine to be honest, i've never PH corrected stuff let alone checked PPM/EC or what ever, even when i've used organic stuff to the more salt based liquid fert's i just get on & grow my meds.


It is pretty easy if common sense is applied

So heres the question if I have 4 seedlings popped at the same time planted at the same time in exactly the same medium which was pre soaked in the exact nutrient solution. The environment is controlled with limited variance from the norm.Two of the plants are faltering on grew as it were a variegated type plant the other is very small. Two are healthy and strong. If water can be ruled out and nutrient lock out can also be ruled out ( two strong seedlings are healthy). Water is PH'd and ppm's are in line.
Is this a seed issue? The odd thing is the variegated plant is growing just looks "unique".
I'm just curious about the reason behind such variance
Again guys thanks for the input.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Not all seeds are created equal what you may be looking at is a very early stage phenotype occurrence & just basically dominate growth characteristics from the parent linage of breeding from where the strain came from.

Most of this in general is height, internode spacing, leaf shape/size & some times you see it in the cola shape/size or structure.



I popped 7 F1 fem seeds all germinated & currently in veg but three different heights two small 'n' squat, four medium nice all round structure then a tall super stretched one which i just culled, na didn't like the looks of that one ! F1 seeds are more uniformed in over all growth but ya still get some phenotype stuff going on.


Happy growing bud i'm sure ya be just fine