This RO water is getting expensive

[Remystemple]

Anyone know a good cheap home system to do this? or can i distill water and use it instead? what's the dif anyway? lol. the bigger the plants get the more RO water i have to buy. it's almost $6 CDN / 12 liters. or what is an acceptable ec for tap water? my friend works for the water treatment plant and brags that we have the cleanest water in the country lol..

 

[Virgin Ground]

Can you get an ro buddie? They are cheap and sold from online aquatic stores. I'm in the USA. Not sure if it would be available to you at a reasonable price.

 

[bluter]

was gonna suggest a hydrologic. not a lot of savings on one over your standard home depot systems tho.

had to google that ro buddie thing. looks ok and a bit cheaper. i have the hydrologic 100 and am happy with it. both systems use standard cartridges which is good for saving cash.

for tap water you kinda want an ec 0.3 or under which puts your ppm at about 150 to 120. can go higher if growing in soil. the trouble with tap water is you don't know exactly what's in it. plenty use it no problem tho. you can also use rainwater or snow melt. used snow melt in winter up here for years in soil. it isn't as clean as you'd think, but was certainly better than the tap water available.

if you are rural you can get water delivered if you have a tank. i know someone buying ro at 50 bucks for 225 gallon delivered.

 

[Remystemple]

I just asked my buddy at the water plant. he says they measure in NTU ( i don't know what that is ) for ppm. and it's .09 to .11

does anyone know what this means?

 

[Remystemple]

was gonna suggest a hydrologic. not a lot of savings on one over your standard home depot systems tho.

had to google that ro buddie thing. looks ok and a bit cheaper. i have the hydrologic 100 and am happy with it. both systems use standard cartridges which is good for saving cash.

for tap water you kinda want an ec 0.3 or under which puts your ppm at about 150 to 120. can go higher if growing in soil. the trouble with tap water is you don't know exactly what's in it. plenty use it no problem tho. you can also use rainwater or snow melt. used snow melt in winter up here for years in soil. it isn't as clean as you'd think, but was certainly better than the tap water available.

if you are rural you can get water delivered if you have a tank. i know someone buying ro at 50 bucks for 225 gallon delivered.

I just checked that out. they look affordable. thanks.

 

[Alienpus]

I just asked my buddy at the water plant. he says they measure in NTU ( i don't know what that is ) for ppm. and it's .09 to .11

does anyone know what this means?

Turbidity is measured in NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) they measure it using light somehow.

 

[bluter]

I just asked my buddy at the water plant. he says they measure in NTU ( i don't know what that is ) for ppm. and it's .09 to .11

does anyone know what this means?

you need a couple more factors to convert ntu to ppm. ntu alone is not enough to figure it out.

suggest you get a tds pen anyway. it's good to have one along with a ph pen.

edit: should add - if you get an ro system, check to make sure the membrane cartridge holder can be opened. some of the newer systems have sealed the cartridge holder, forcing you to buy a more expensive replacement part.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

I have an RO buddie myself

Works great!!!

 

[Remystemple]

you need a couple more factors to convert ntu to ppm. ntu alone is not enough to figure it out.

suggest you get a tds pen anyway. it's good to have one along with a ph pen.

edit: should add - if you get an ro system, check to make sure the membrane cartridge holder can be opened. some of the newer systems have sealed the cartridge holder, forcing you to buy a more expensive replacement part.

I'll get it in the mail on monday. really what i'm wondering is if my tap water is gonna be "pure" enough to use for my coco grow. I'll probably order the ro buddie. they're affordable enough.

Thanks for the input

 

[saltybluegrass]

Anyone know a good cheap home system to do this? or can i distill water and use it instead? what's the dif anyway? lol. the bigger the plants get the more RO water i have to buy. it's almost $6 CDN / 12 liters. or what is an acceptable ec for tap water? my friend works for the water treatment plant and brags that we have the cleanest water in the country lol..

i paid $55 for each barrel- too much chloromine in the city water for me to adjust - i went natural to water my dogs but it is very beneficial

 

[Weaselcracker]

You’re paying $55 for fifty gallons of water?
Or for the barrel?
If you talk to any water treatment plant they’ll usually give you as many of those barrels as you want for free.

i paid $55 for each barrel- too much chloromine in the city water for me to adjust - i went natural to water my dogs but it is very beneficial

 

[bluter]

i think he meant the barrel was 50 bucks not the water lol

water is probably rain collection i'm guessing

 

[Remystemple]

i paid $55 for each barrel- too much chloromine in the city water for me to adjust - i went natural to water my dogs but it is very beneficial

Too bad it's winter 9 months of the year here lmao

 

[Weaselcracker]

i think he meant the barrel was 50 bucks not the water lol

water is probably rain collection i'm guessing

I’m not sure which would be the worse deal

Remy- too bad about that ‘winter’ problem. Where I live millions of gallons of distilled water falls from the sky on a regular basis, so I run everything on rainwater.

 

[vyserage]

I use tap water at 170ppm, never had a single issue with it. I've even noticed I can cut back on calmag which is bonus savings. I don't even let it sit out for 24hrs.
Do you know the ppm of yours? Maybe u can just use tap water
You gotta figure, if it's safe for us to drink, it's more than safe for plants.

 

[Remystemple]

I use tap water at 170ppm, never had a single issue with it. I've even noticed I can cut back on calmag which is bonus savings. I don't even let it sit out for 24hrs.
Do you know the ppm of yours? Maybe u can just use tap water
You gotta figure, if it's safe for us to drink, it's more than safe for plants.

I'll have my ppm / ec tester on monday and if it's low i'll just use the tap water. my friend says it's the cleanest water in the country, as the water treatment in some municipalities is privatized so they're under strict regulations and such. can't have a private company killing a town of people like walkerton. I was also wondering about the cal mag. how much less do you use than you would in ro water?

 

[Tony Urban]

Yeah I was using RO at $1 per 5 gallons.

But I was getting issues with plant health.

I since started using tap water that has been sitting out for a day or two, and adding just a bit of hydrogen peroxide to assist in removing chloramines.

I think the best and most affordable way to get RO if that’s what’s required, is to put in an RO system directly in your kitchen taps.

 

[vyserage]

I'll have my ppm / ec tester on monday and if it's low i'll just use the tap water. my friend says it's the cleanest water in the country, as the water treatment in some municipalities is privatized so they're under strict regulations and such. can't have a private company killing a town of people like walkerton. I was also wondering about the cal mag. how much less do you use than you would in ro water?

When I first started using calmag, it was with ro water and was a 1/0/0 calimagic 1tsp per gallon.
When I switched to tap water cause ro was getting expensive, I started using 1 tsp every other gallon. This current grow in hydro, I haven't added ANY calmag and am on day 41 with zero issues. I think it's strain specific like certain strains are very hungry for calmag while others get plenty from the nutrients. I haven't grown in coco so I can't say for sure if its more or less calmag needed. A safe way to go is every other gallon to start. I've noticed calmag jacks up the ppm of the water a fair amount so I try not to overkill my plants haha

 

[Remystemple]

When I first started using calmag, it was with ro water and was a 1/0/0 calimagic 1tsp per gallon.
When I switched to tap water cause ro was getting expensive, I started using 1 tsp every other gallon. This current grow in hydro, I haven't added ANY calmag and am on day 41 with zero issues. I think it's strain specific like certain strains are very hungry for calmag while others get plenty from the nutrients. I haven't grown in coco so I can't say for sure if its more or less calmag needed. A safe way to go is every other gallon to start. I've noticed calmag jacks up the ppm of the water a fair amount so I try not to overkill my plants haha

That's awesome advice man. thank you. I think i'm seeing the thing you mentioned with the strains. 1 of the strains i have really took the calcium def. hard before i learned about it. while another strain are all without blemish. pretty neat.

as soon as i get my tester i'm just gonna switch to tap water. i have tons of it sitting out already just in case lol.
might go half ro half tap for the first bit. maybe i'll cut the calmag out for a bit and just watch closely to see if i get any issues again.

 

[vyserage]

That's awesome advice man. thank you. I think i'm seeing the thing you mentioned with the strains. 1 of the strains i have really took the calcium def. hard before i learned about it. while another strain are all without blemish. pretty neat.

as soon as i get my tester i'm just gonna switch to tap water. i have tons of it sitting out already just in case lol.
might go half ro half tap for the first bit. maybe i'll cut the calmag out for a bit and just watch closely to see if i get any issues again.

Glad I can help! Let us know the waters ppm when you get it!