Why does the Ebb & Gro need RO Water?

[Mike Seed]

I am getting my set up soon and still working out the various pro's & cons in the systems i am considering.

Can someone tell me why Ebb & Gro buckets generally require an RO system, and what is the bad that happens without one, and is there any way to avoid getting an RO system by using a particular medium?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Kingzako]

I used regular tap water ( PH was at 9 so I use 2 tbsp per gal of PH Down to bring it down to 6) in my first crop using Glod Nutrients and only yeilded about 2 oz per plant. I was told that it was because of the water.

I have since installed a RO system and plants seem to be growing faster, however I still have to adjust the PH.

The only disadvantage in using RO is that is takes about 5 gallons of water to make 1 gallon of RO water. So you might see an increase in your water bill.

In Short, Better Water, Healthier Plants and Better Tasting Buds!!

Good Luck!

 

[Mike Seed]

Thanks for the fast reply! I still have some questions I hope someone can answer.

Is the RO requirement specific to Ebb & Gro? If so, why?

Would i require an RO system if i did flood trays or a DWC system?

 

[Stond_Face]

You don't necessarily NEED to use RO filtered water. That depend completely on the condition of your available water.

If you are using regular tap water supplied by your town, you could usually go to the water company website and look foe the analysis. Look for the Alkalinity; my runs under 100 mg/l. And look for Dissolved solids, total; mine is about 100. Also check that they use chlorine and not chlorimide as a disinfectant.

If you tap water is good then you should use that. If you use RO, remember, you will need to add a calcium supplement like Cal-Mag.

I'm running an ebb & flow table with tap water. Also been running Hempy buckets for years with tap water.

 

[Mike Seed]

If you are using regular tap water supplied by your town, you could usually go to the water company website and look foe the analysis. Look for the Alkalinity; my runs under 100 mg/l. And look for Dissolved solids, total; mine is about 100. Also check that they use chlorine and not chlorimide as a disinfectant.

Thanks for the information. I checked my water companies website and this is all they have:

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"[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Our water has a hardness of 260-300 ppm. We soften our water to 104-130 ppm of hardness. Our pH ranges from 7.8 to 8.5 on our finished water being filtered and chlorinated before distribution."
------

I live in a small town so the water place is really small and the website looks like 1995.

I will have to call them to ask for specifics probably.

Thanks again!
[/FONT]

 

[Kingzako]

Stond Face is correct it does depend on the PPM of your Tap Water plus there is chlorine in Tap Water.

My Tap water is about 350 PPM's and my RO water is less than 50 PPM's, so you have to adjust your nutreints accordingly to maintain 1400 PPM's During Flowering,

 

[Kingzako]

Cal-

Cal-

If you use RO, remember, you will need to add a calcium supplement like Cal-Mag.

 

[Kingzako]

Cal-Mag?

Cal-Mag?

If you use RO, remember, you will need to add a calcium supplement like Cal-Mag.

What is Cal-Mag? I have not heard of that or used it so far!
Do I really Need it with RO water?

Thanks

 

[Stond_Face]

..."[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Our water has a hardness of 260-300 ppm. We soften our water to 104-130 ppm of hardness. Our pH ranges from 7.8 to 8.5 on our finished water being filtered and chlorinated before distribution."...[/FONT]

I think you're golden. This water should be fine. Just leave it sit in an open container for 24 hours before use to outgas the chlorine.

 

[rmccinc719]

there is absolutly no reason to use ro water in this system unless your water is really jacked. from what you said your water is fine. one of my systems is on well water with 350ppm's out of the tap with no problems and i have 4 more systems on city water with only 50ppm water. they all do great. if your only getting a couple of zips then there another flaw in your system your not catching. I'm running 4 rooms on 90 day cycles in these buckets and am averaging about 6 zips per plant. 30 plants per room in 3 rooms and 46 plants in my 4th room. it's all about dialing in your system and figuring out all the bug's.

 

[FreezerBoy]

What is Cal-Mag? I have not heard of that or used it so far!
Do I really Need it with RO water?

Thanks

CalMag is an additive containing Calcium and Magnesium. These are considered Micro nutes as they are absolutely essential but, only in micro quantities. Calcium and Magnesium exist in tap water at such levels that nute formulas provide less than is needed to prevent toxic levels of either. Because nutes themselves may be cal/mag deficient and RO strips cal/mag from the water, RO users commonly add back cal/mag with, well, CalMag.

 

[Stond_Face]

What is Cal-Mag? I have not heard of that or used it so far!
Do I really Need it with RO water?

Thanks

sorry I missed this kingzako
Cal-mag is a supplement that adds calcium and magnesium. These plants love a lot of calcium. There is usually a good amount of calcium in tap water. But you need a supplement if you filter out the calcium with a ro filter

 

[Mile Hi Dave]

Thanks for the information. I checked my water companies website and this is all they have:

-----
"[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Our water has a hardness of 260-300 ppm. We soften our water to 104-130 ppm of hardness. Our pH ranges from 7.8 to 8.5 on our finished water being filtered and chlorinated before distribution."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]------[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]I live in a small town so the water place is really small and the website looks like 1995.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]I will have to call them to ask for specifics probably.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Thanks again![/FONT]

Dude...you cannot use your softened water at all...it adds salt, which is an absolute no no. Check you outside hosebibs to see if they are connected to your water system. If the aren't you will have to use that water or bring it in. You will have to RO it due to the water hardness...RO systems are cheap....>$200.

The amount of sodium a water softener adds to tap water depends on the "hardness" of your water. Hard water contains large amounts of calcium and magnesium — dissolved from the soil by rainwater. Some water-softening systems remove calcium and magnesium ions from hard water and replace them with sodium ions. The higher the concentration of calcium and magnesium, the more sodium needed to soften the water.

The micron size that sodium dissolves to is so small, only RO and distillation will remove it. Thats the main reason RO's are frequently sold with softeners, to remove sodium. A carbon filter wont touch it.

Also, the softener does not run the water through salt crystals to soften the water. It runs it through a tank of resin that exchanges positive ions (calcium and magnesium) for negative ones (sodium). The salt is simply used to clean the resin bed. The salt tank is a brine drum to hold salt and dissolve it to a brine rinse (salt water) that will remove the trapped calcium when injected into the resin tank) That being said the water in the brine tank would be fatally toxic if you fed it to your plants(TDS 15,000 ppm). The softened water from your faucets are not nearly as bad, but will still have elevated levels of sodium which is not good for plants.