Reverse Osmosis Virgin

[Herbophile]

So I recently got a good deal on a Hydro-Logic Stealth RO 100 so I figured I would give it a shot. I've been using my tap water for years with relatively few problems but I do have an issue with my res clouding up after 24 hours using maxibloom as well as flora. It's never really been a problem with the health of my plants but it kind of annoys me. So I thought I would give RO water a try to see if it solves that particular issue.

I set the unit up today to run out 40 gallons or so of water for my next res change. Until I know if it makes a difference I just set it up using the existing hose connection I have at my utility sink that I use for my garden hose that is run into my grow room. It only took 5 minutes to get it up and running so all was good and it was pumping out clean water in no time.

On to the problem that developed. My city water comes through the lines at around 48 F this time of the year. Well, it didn't take long for the copper water pipe to get cold and start condensing on the outside of the pipe. Doh! The pipe makes a short run through my furnace room and then a short run through a drop ceiling that it proceeded to drip on. I wasn't too happy about that. I removed the tiles for now.

The way the pipe is run it would be a real pain to insulate the pipes so if I use the RO permanently I definitely need a better solution. I guess I'll have to get my plumping tool belt out.

Anyways, I'll be changing the res out in a couple of days so I'll see how it goes.

 

[PiffGuru]

RO is tha best.. I have 2 in my house lol.. The only water I drink.. but on the plant side i like it cause it naturally brings ph down a little from what the tap would give you and its gonna get rid of the fluoride and other nasty stuff in your water(ever look in your water pipes, mine were like bright orange from rust n shit). Only thing to remember is to use some sort of calcium magnesium supplement and im sure you will c tha difference..

but the condensation and heat thing.. I just fill up a big 12 gallon grain container I got at Lowes for pretty cheap and store my res change water in there till its time.. thing has wheels and is completely light proof and has number 2 plastic meaning it wont like basically melt plastic particles into your water.. you would need more water at a time than me but thought I would throw that idea out there for you

 

[Herbophile]

I've been putting my water into a 55 gallon drum on a dolly. My condensation only occurred during the right mixture of water temp out of the pipe and humidity due to outside conditions. The problem was fixed by plumbing in a new connection closer to the inlet source in my furnace room so i don't have to worry about it.

As of now I'm up in the air on the R/O. It's nice having the clean water but my city water is pretty clean already as far as city water goes. The fluoride is the thing that bothers me the most. I use a Berkey water filter for all my drinking water needs.

My R/O is coming out with a 6 ph or so and then after adding nutes it drops it to 4 so now I have to use PH up instead of Ph down. This was the first time in my growing career I've had to buy PH up. A silica additive gets me most of the way to where I need to be.

Cal/Mag hasn't been necessary but I have it on stand by in case I need it. I have some epsom salts also. Maxibloom seems to have plenty of both though as my plants have shown no sign of deficiencies.

I'm doing a side by side right now of tap vs R/O to see if it justifies the extra hassle and expense.

 

[PiffGuru]

well im glad you got that worked out..

I actually have the exact same issue where after the R/O I get about 6.1-.3 Ph and after nutes im gettin like 3.5-4ph so im using alot of ph up to counteract that but so far so good..

Im wondering whats causing the drastic drop.

Ive read a few years ago before I started my ph battle(since I didnt have a digital ph meter I just ignored ph all together LOL), that some people were seeing this issue only some of the time and they were trying to get answers to the problem.. but seems to be every water change for me.

As for the city water being clean.. I get mine out of the tap around 120-200ppm but I dont trust anything from my city or anything they say so I just make sure its clean either way. But Good luck with ur stuff

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I actually have the exact same issue where after the R/O I get about 6.1-.3 Ph and after nutes im gettin like 3.5-4ph so im using alot of ph up to counteract that but so far so good..

Get a concentrated pH up. I've always used GH dry... but to each their own.

You just described my hydro experience for the last 10 years with R/O and GH nutes. It's not an 'issue', it's normal.

Stay Safe!

p.s. You can dump the cal/mag... unless you're growing huge trees. All you need is epsom if you run across a mag hungry strain.

 

[habeeb]

not sure your pipe problem, thought it was a R/O question..

second, don't listen to people saying cal mag this, cal mag that. if you use a formula with enough cal/mag you don't need cal mag bottle.. these are formulated on the basis of R/O... unless you buy the hard water version..

 

[Herbophile]

I use AN for both my PH up and PH down. The stuff works pretty good. My first time using the PH up with the R/O water I really over shot it because I was so used to the quantity needed to battle the buffers in the tap water to drop the PH.

After adding my nutes and silica to my R/O reservoir I only need around 1/2 teaspoon of PH up to 30 gallons to bring me in range. In my tap reservoir it take 2.5 teaspoons of PH down to drop it into range after nutes and silica.

I trust my city's water data for the most part. When I first moved here I had it tested at the local University and it matched up with what the city report says. We have a relatively new water treatment plant and all the city utility lines are new also. Basically I live in a newly built suburb and our water source is from aquifers that are known to be high quality water. It's just too bad they add the damn fluoride.

Edit: My tap water is hard at 10 gpg but compared to the average of my local it's actually pretty soft. Many cities in my area have up to 20 gpg. We have lots of calcium coming from the aquifers.

 

[PiffGuru]

Get a concentrated pH up. I've always used GH dry... but to each their own.

I just got a GH ph kit, liquids.. and I never really heard bout the epson salt thing.. always used it for my back lol, and I got sucked into the whole Fox Farm thing early on so im kinda stuck usin it for now.. not that I dont like it but the formula they use needs the extra cal mag in a R/O system and the liquids can get expensive..

Sry not tryin to hijack here but good to know that the ph thing I described was normal.

 

[burns1n209]

The problem with the ph drop is do to the maxibloom your useing. Use a silica product to bring it back up. It's a natural ph up with added benefits of stonger plants cell walls. I use silica blast by botanicare.. I believe its better then just a basic ph up. Maxibloom has enough calmag in it for my plants and I use ro water but depending on strain you may or maynot need more. I also use koolbloom towards the end and that brings oh up also......burns