There has been a lot of discussion concerning water purifiers lately. Seems most folk's water filters have a combination of sediment,charcoal filters & an RO membrane. My 4 stage purifier has the same filters but the last stage of contains deionizing resin. This resin contains Cation & Anion beads that absorb positive & negative charged ions. DI resins are common in water purifiers used in the aquarium field. My city water tests around 128 to 130 ppm's. With all new filters ,ro membrane & di resins, my filtered water test at 3 to 5 ppm's.Not pure H2O but close! I'm no Chemist by any means! I do think nearly pure water doesn't have a long shelf life. In simple terms it is highly reactive and quickly absorbs what it comes in contact with. Like gases in the surrounding air or anything added to it. I purify only enough water I need at the time . Also I fill any new plastic containers with filtered water several times & discard the water before actually using it. I was surprised at the big increase in ppm's of water in new containers. Anybody else out there use the di resin in their water purifiers? Any opinions on using nearly pure water in either hydro or soil gardens?
RO & RO/DI water purifiers
- Thread starter EZB581
- Start date
stretchpup
Active member
Mine has two DI tubes, 5 stage RO?
Either way PPMs dont even register on my ppm stick.
Don't fart in your 5 gal buckets.
I bubble nutes in them, use them, and put the next batch of RO right in the dirty brown bucket and start again. Never had an issue.
My opinion is you'll need cal mag with pure/RO water.
Either way PPMs dont even register on my ppm stick.
Don't fart in your 5 gal buckets.
I bubble nutes in them, use them, and put the next batch of RO right in the dirty brown bucket and start again. Never had an issue.
My opinion is you'll need cal mag with pure/RO water.
Iv'e heard water purifiers with both the ro membrane & deionizing resin refered to as "ro/di " purifiers. This round, I'm using this water & quickly saw the need for cal mag. Otherwise I haven't seen any ill effects. I'm using GH 3prt nutes in a soilmix with lime added . I understand some have concerns about the lack of buffering capacity using purified water. This may be a bigger issue in a hydro type setup .
Heady NUGs
Member
I was told that one should never water plants with pur RODI water, as it will strip and leech minerals from the plants container. Also, you shouldn't drink it, as the pure H2O can strip your body of minerals in the same manner. Guess it sounds reasonable.
Heady NUGs
Member
How often do you change your carbon filters? How does it ruin the filters having them sit unhooked for a period of time? Thanks!
HD, I've also heard it's not good to drink pure (or nearly) pure H2O. I can't say whether it's true or not. IMHO If the ppm's of your purified water starts creeping up , it's time to replace both the charcoal & sediment filters.They are inexpensive & prolong the useful life of the ro membrane .Back flushing the Ro membrane may help in the short term. If a purifier sits up for a time any water in the unit may stagnate & sour/clog the filters. No telling untill you run water thru it again & test the ppm's & amount of water it puts out.
Dreamscape
Member
Are you guys simply stating that since ro water is still 5 or so ppms that its not "pure" therefore its safe ... If not ... ??
If you're not supposed to drink pure H20 than whats the point of RO filters ??
And if you're not supposed to feed your plants with pure water than why does every grower testify to better results when using RO filtered water ???
If you're not supposed to drink pure H20 than whats the point of RO filters ??
And if you're not supposed to feed your plants with pure water than why does every grower testify to better results when using RO filtered water ???
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stretchpup
Active member
I agree Dreamscape.
I have much worse habits to worry about than drinking "pure water" heh.
The sell RO units specific for under the sink drinking installations... so instead of hearsay if you're curious research it for yourself.
I flush with the RO water as well, my girls weren't stripped of anything, except delicious bud when I trimmed them dry.
I have much worse habits to worry about than drinking "pure water" heh.
The sell RO units specific for under the sink drinking installations... so instead of hearsay if you're curious research it for yourself.
I flush with the RO water as well, my girls weren't stripped of anything, except delicious bud when I trimmed them dry.
AGREED! Stretch ,You bring up another point I'm curious about. Pure or nearly pure water is fairly reactive. I mean once you strip all the other molecules from it ,it readily attracts other molecules .stretchpup said:I agree Dreamscape.
I have much worse habits to worry about than drinking "pure water" heh.
The sell RO units specific for under the sink drinking installations... so instead of hearsay if you're curious research it for yourself.
I flush with the RO water as well, my girls weren't stripped of anything, except delicious bud when I trimmed them dry.
I would think purified water would be good at strippiing builtup salts in soil. Do you agree?
stretchpup
Active member
EZB, you tell me. 
I didn't read any chapters in grow books that talked about things on a molecular level.
I'm being curious not challenging...
So the pure water attracts excess molecules, then what? The molecule-ridden water sits in the same planter/soil mix it was originally in until the water evaporates again and the salt remains?
Strip the salts where? The water doesn't magically evaporate them into the air does it?
I'd ASSume a flush is more important than water type... but maybe as you're saying pure water could be more efficient at it.
Keep It Simple Stoner
I didn't read any chapters in grow books that talked about things on a molecular level.
I'm being curious not challenging...
So the pure water attracts excess molecules, then what? The molecule-ridden water sits in the same planter/soil mix it was originally in until the water evaporates again and the salt remains?
Strip the salts where? The water doesn't magically evaporate them into the air does it?
I'd ASSume a flush is more important than water type... but maybe as you're saying pure water could be more efficient at it.
Keep It Simple Stoner
G
Guest
When I went from using tapwater to R/O water from a 5 stage unit,my plants went from standing basically straight at harvest,to falling all over themselves at harvest from the weight of the buds.Granted I installed a co2 controller at the same time but R/O water makes a huge difference in soil grows IMO.Especially if your tapwater PPM is above 400 like mine is.Clamp some 1/2 inch clear plastic tubing to the end of the R/O spigot and run it into a 50 gal. rainbarrel,it's a groovy thing.
stretchpup said:EZB, you tell me.
I didn't read any chapters in grow books that talked about things on a molecular level.
I'm being curious not challenging...
So the pure water attracts excess molecules, then what? The molecule-ridden water sits in the same planter/soil mix it was originally in until the water evaporates again and the salt remains?
Strip the salts where? The water doesn't magically evaporate them into the air does it?
I'd ASSume a flush is more important than water type... but maybe as you're saying pure water could be more efficient at it.
Keep It Simple Stoner
LOL I did take chemistry in highschool, but that was 28 years ago & I think I skipped most anyway.
YA I meant , When flushing /watering at the end of a run,it would be more efficient. It would bond with more builtup salts more quickly than water with a higher ppm level. The salts would end up in the runoff.
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Dreamscape
Member
The American said:
Do you have the 2 1/2 gallon pressure tank hooked up to a T , with the line going to the rainbarrel on the other end of the T like maistre does in the other RO thread ?
I'm asking because i'm trying to figure out if I actually NEED to use the pressure tank in order to have water going to a barrel ...
da_bears
New member
dreamscape, you do not need to use the pressure tank to store r.o. water in a 55 gallon drum. the pressure tank is used as storage for the faucet that comes with the unit. cause with lower cost units( not the expensive filtered on demand units) they use the small bladder tanks as a pressurized storage for water that one would drink or cook with. install a "t" inline before the bladder tank, if you decide to use it, the line coming off of the "bull" of the "t" will run over to your float valve on your storage vessel of choice. the other leaving side of the "t" will fill the bladder tank. which you would pipe to the faucet they provide. which usually people mount on the sink, in the hole that holds your pull-out sprayer. i know its kind of a long winded answer, but i hope it helps.
G
Guest
No dreamscape I come right off the spigot,run along the edge of the counter top,behind the stove and into a 50 gal rainbarrel in front of the stove.I cant get into my oven lol.If I just leave the spigot on continuously,it takes maybe 24 hours to fill the 50 gal rainbarrel,maybe not quite that long..I've forgotten and let it overflow more than once lol,now I just turn it on and off as needed.Probably half or more water that goes into that rainbarrel comes out of my dehumidifier,a few PPM cleaner but lower PH for some reason,a little orangy on the GH Ph test kit scale.My R/O water is yellow/green.
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I left my storage tank in place and hooked up a solenoid from a CO2 set up ,,put it on a timer for 15 min on and an hour off.I can get 50/60 gallons in less then 24 hrs.I think if you run directly off the RO unit then the unit is working all the time.With the solenoid setup I have I think it gives the RO unit a rest until the storage tank fills then wehn the hour is up it takes 5 mins to drain the tank..then off for another hour...Maybe wrong but I hear less water being flushed down the drain.
be safe
jarff
be safe
jarff
G
Guest
I've been using dehumidifier water since the beginning of time,it just wasnt enough so I had to add an R/O
