Tap water or RO for RDWC what do you figure?

[DazedSpirit]

Hey guys!
So I am considering experimenting with tap water for my next run. I have ran RO twice, it worked well but it is sucha waste of water. Have you tried it or known anyone that uses tap water? So it will be in RDWC, with a chiller running. My idea from what I have read is to pour enough to fill my system into my mixing container, an have it sit under the lights (UV rays) to get rid of the chlorine. I will try 24 hours an see where the ppm ends up at. I will just run it through some kinda GAC filter that I can purchase or jimmy rig myself (dependant on whats cheaper) to remove the chloramine. What do ya think? Is this leaning towards being a waste of time or does it sound somewhat plausible? My city water as it stand now is sitting at a TDS of 220 and pH of 7.8 outta the tap. Any thoughts on this are totally encouraged to be shared.
~have a chill day~

 

[Tokin Roll]

Couple questions,

Do you have hard or soft water and what is the ppm's?

What kind of nutrients are you using?

Tok..

 

[DazedSpirit]

Couple questions,

Do you have hard or soft water and what is the ppm's?

What kind of nutrients are you using?

Tok..

Hey Tok, I am using
Rhino Skin by advanced nutrients
CaliMag by general hydroponics
Floraduo by General hydroponics
UC roots by current culture
and some pH up.

 

[Dr Fish]

If the ph is 7.8 why would you use any ph up? Seema to me you would want to get the ph down.

 

[DazedSpirit]

If the ph is 7.8 why would you use any ph up? Seema to me you would want to get the ph down.

My bad I should clarified, I prob didn't need to add the ph up to that list lol. These are all the nutes etc. I am currently using while running RO but I plan on using them for my next go with city water possibly.

 

[AzLaker]

Hey guys!
So I am considering experimenting with tap water for my next run. I have ran RO twice, it worked well but it is sucha waste of water. Have you tried it or known anyone that uses tap water? So it will be in RDWC, with a chiller running. My idea from what I have read is to pour enough to fill my system into my mixing container, an have it sit under the lights (UV rays) to get rid of the chlorine. I will try 24 hours an see where the ppm ends up at. I will just run it through some kinda GAC filter that I can purchase or jimmy rig myself (dependant on whats cheaper) to remove the chloramine. What do ya think? Is this leaning towards being a waste of time or does it sound somewhat plausible? My city water as it stand now is sitting at a TDS of 220 and pH of 7.8 outta the tap. Any thoughts on this are totally encouraged to be shared.
~have a chill day~

I really don't think you need a UV light to get rid of the chlorine. Since chlorine is a gas, leaving your H2O open for 24 to 48 hours will dissipate in the air and solve your chlorine problem. A UV light will pretty much kill everything in your water, GOOD and bad. With your TDS problem, call or write your local water company and ask them what types and percentage of TDS they have in the water. Maybe your water is high in iron, or maybe to much calcium.
This will help you down the road, knowing what's in your water in case you run into a nute problem.

AzLaker

 

[Tokin Roll]

@DazedSpirit I made it back. If your water is 220ppm's I would say you have soft water.
If you are set on using tap water, I would think about having a water test done, but that's up to you.

220 ppm's is a lot considering, RO that you are using now is around 10 ppm's. So you are already at a disadvantage went mixing up nutrients.

In DWC every ppm's counts, and starting out at 220ppm's before nutrients are added leaves you little open to nutrient lockout.

I know someone that uses tap water for DWC and his plants show it. Growth was at least 50% less than normal. So don't plan on a large yield.

If you are determined to go tap water, I'll stop by occasionally to see what's up.

With your grow,

Tok..

Also, @AzLaker is correct about chlorine dissipation.

 

[Tokin Roll]

Have you thought about something like this?

About 100. on amazon

PuroSmart High Flow RO System, Counter Top Home Water Treatment System | Compact Countertop RO System​

 

[DazedSpirit]

I really don't think you need a UV light to get rid of the chlorine. Since chlorine is a gas, leaving your H2O open for 24 to 48 hours will dissipate in the air and solve your chlorine problem. A UV light will pretty much kill everything in your water, GOOD and bad. With your TDS problem, call or write your local water company and ask them what types and percentage of TDS they have in the water. Maybe your water is high in iron, or maybe to much calcium.
This will help you down the road, knowing what's in your water in case you run into a nute problem.

AzLaker

Nice I hadn’t considered that the UV would kill all the additives that is definitely something to keep in mind . Yeah I just emailed the city an I should have a copy soon!

 

[DazedSpirit]

@DazedSpirit I made it back. If your water is 220ppm's I would say you have soft water.
If you are set on using tap water, I would think about having a water test done, but that's up to you.

220 ppm's is a lot considering, RO that you are using now is around 10 ppm's. So you are already at a disadvantage went mixing up nutrients.

In DWC every ppm's counts, and starting out at 220ppm's before nutrients are added leaves you little open to nutrient lockout.

I know someone that uses tap water for DWC and his plants show it. Growth was at least 50% less than normal. So don't plan on a large yield.

If you are determined to go tap water, I'll stop by occasionally to see what's up.

With your grow,

Tok..

Also, @AzLaker is correct about chlorine dissipation.

Thanks for the helpful hints with everything Tok! I hadn’t considered nutrient lock out, I have been just running under the assumption that the GH feed chart top out pretty high so people can rock tap water. I also didn’t think it would affect yield so drastically that is a great heads up. Here’s a link to the feed chart I mentioned.

FloraDuo® Feedcharts

Explore our feedcharts for FloraDuo 2-part fertilizer.

generalhydroponics.com

Thanks man, talk to ya later.

 

[Tokin Roll]

Let me know when you start a journal and I will follow along.

Tok..