Reverse Osmosis Vs. Brita

[Chesticles]

yeah, it kills microbes, but how many, these things are meant to be effective in plumbing, you toss it in some organic soil sure you'll kill some microbes but i'm thinking the % of biomass effected is almost insignificant when there's soooo much other carbon based matter to react with,
also compost teas have been brewed with chlorinated water and out performed tea made w/ RO

personally i use distilled or RO water w/ about 10% tap as a buffer, but i throw some humic or fulvic acid in there first and all is good

i mean 1-4 ppm or 1-4 mg/L, i think the bigger problem w/ tap is dissolved solids

 

[coconaut]

Chesticles is right, the amount of chlorine is minuscule. The cities feed pipes are kept clean, not by the amount of chlorine in the water, but by the volume of chlorinated water passing through the pipes.

 

[Mr.Piff]

Quick question, If I water with the chlorine still in the water, how does this affect my children?[/QUOTE]

imo, chlorine and chloramine are hype, most tap water has chlorine/chloramine in the 1-4 ppm range, very small amounts. also chlorine/chloramine will quickly react w/ organic matter(anything C based) and be rendered harmless(you can always throw some humic/fulvic acid, vitamin c, or molasses in the water, wait at least 20 min. and be good to go), chlorine is also a micronutrient, and my final point, h202 and chlorine are both oxidizers and used in root rot antidotes(pythoff's sp? acive ingredient Chlorine)

hell i remember someone tested different waters sources and their effect on microbial populations in brewing compost teas, straight tap water made a compost tea more active than RO water

think of all the lawns and gardens across the country that have been watered w/ tap water for decades, if chlorine were nearly as bad as people in this community make it out to be most of america would be a baron wasteland[/QUOTE]

can you use regular ole run of the mill molases, or some carb booster stuff for plants?

 

[b8man]

If you have an air-con unit, the runoff from that is pretty close to RO water. It's what im using and the plants seem much happier than when running tap water through a two stage sediment and carbon filter.

Just my 2.2cents.

 

[coconaut]

Except that, the coils the water condenses on, is a breeding ground for bacteria and pathogens.

 

[D.I.trY]

Or... get a rain water butt.

 

[wdcf]

Anyone else have any thought on the that product I see they have four patent pending on their site, im sure ill stick with my RO unit, but does anyone else have any thoughts on that product?

It refers to the filter element as an "ion exchange". That's sort of how water softeners work. I don't see how it can get ppm down to 0 when most RO units don't even do that.

The problem with Britas and most little units is that you end up spending too much on replacement elements which don't last very long. I bought a small inexpensive ro unit several years ago. Around $100 and it's served me well for a medium large grow operation. For micro grows...you could get by with a little unit.
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[mtbazz]

anyone have any opinion on these portable RO units? Price seems to be right.

http://www.purewaterexpress.com/ro.htm#3a

 

[delta9nxs]

hi

hi

chlorine is a volatile gas at ambient temps. it is only contained in your water because your faucet is just one end of a giant closed system. as soon as you expose your water to air chlorine begins passing off. i don't think it would take 24 hrs to leave. probably 3 or 4 hrs would do it. if you're really in a hurry throw in an airstone. shouldn't take more than 20-30 min.

the brita and it's peers won't help you grow pot.

you can get an ro filter designed for aquariums which will work great for plants at www.marinedepot.com that makes 35 gals per day for $99. the ones made for aquaria are much easier to plumb than the "drinking water" versions. they are also cheaper for the same quality water because you don't get the little chrome faucet or the expansion tank. i plumbed mine just above my washing machine. i put a "t" on the cold water inlet and plumbed the bypass down the washer drain. the ro'd water goes to a 32 gal trash can with a spigot installed in the bottom. later

 

[princess cronic]

I have the zero water filter,mainly because it came with a tds meter. I read 27 ppm with my water from tap going through.

 

[berlinweed]

Tea Time!

Tea Time!

This is for those who are unsure if an investment in a ro water system is necessary.

I brewed two glasses of tea with the same amount of black tea, the same brewing time (3 min.) but in one glass is tap water and ro water in the other one.

The water here at my place is not that bad, a bit hard, but it is drinking quality.

So let´s see if there is a difference:

In the first pic the tea is still hot. You can already see a difference in color.

 

[berlinweed]

Next pic is after four hours:

 

[berlinweed]

Last pic is made after 23 hours. You can see a sort of oily film on the glass with tap water. I used the end of a spoon to “penetrate” the layer.

So what glass of tea would you drink? And what kind of water would your plants prefer?

Sure I could have made pics of my plants, before and after the use of ro water. But then you could say there are so many variables that could be the reason for the better results that I thought this is a good way to convince those who grow hydro and still using tap water. Let me say that I think it was my best spend money since a bought a flat screen for my computer. My plants have bigger buds with the same clones. My advice is: Go for it!


Greetz

BW

 

[EvilTwin]

Chesticles is right, the amount of chlorine is minuscule. The cities feed pipes are kept clean, not by the amount of chlorine in the water, but by the volume of chlorinated water passing through the pipes.

A couple of points on this chlorine issue. First is that under routine conditions...the chlorine level may be very low and not much of an issue. But most cities, after water main work or even routine maintenance will blast the system with increased chlorine. With my city, they maintain a list of people who wish to be notified before they do this. Dialysis patients, aquarium keepers etc. I'm on that list so that I can shut down my RO unit while that's happening.

The reason why is that chlorine will destroy the RO membrane. That's why every RO system also has a carbon filter to remove chlorine. To protect the ro membrane. And that carbon filter should be replaced annually.

Mtbazz...that filter is $160. There's any number of cheaper units listed on eBay every day. I bought mine from H2O Splash who have been in business for over 20 years. Good idea to buy a few replacement sediment and carbon filters while you're buying it. They sell a quick connect that has female hose threads. Then I plumbed in a valved water tap.
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[mtbazz]

Eviltwin. I was looking at the faucet mounted unit for 99.00. Would that's. Be
good enough? I really have no plumbing skillls to install anyuthing else

 

[EvilTwin]

Eviltwin. I was looking at the faucet mounted unit for 99.00. Would that's. Be good enough? I really have no plumbing skillls to install anyuthing else

Plumbing skills are like anything else...you have to get in there and actually do it to learn. They make little devices called saddle taps or something like that. You assemble it around a pipe (plastic or copper) and then it penetrates into the pipe and allows you to connect a small pipe to it. Really easy.

But if plumbing scares you (visions of floods)...sure, a counter-top or portable unit that connects to a sink would work fine. But remember...you're going to be making quite a bit of water and that sink will be unusable while the RO unit is connected.
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