TABLE OF DETECTED CONTAMINANTS

[downtoearth]

Greetings. Got this in the mail today. How do the levels look for using my tap water in hydro and/or soil applications? I am not familiar with the PPM's of these with regard to growing. I have looked and can't find anything. So, if anybody with knowledge regarding what is healthy and not healthy, please do let me and others know. Thanks so much for all your help.

PS. I use RO water for my hydro application and my personal drinking. It's kinda scary some of the shit people drink out of the tap. Ick

 

[VonBudí]

chloroform???????

 

[downtoearth]

I know right? lmao

 

[VonBudí]

looks like total trihalomethane is the closest one to the max contam level. start looking up that one

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trihalomethane

 

[NotaProfessor]

IIRC, trihalomethanes are a byproduct of chlorine acting on trace organics in the water. I'll guess this is a municipal water system judging from the chlorine levels. It is produced after chlorination, en route to your tap.

I'd say it's fine for use in hydro/soil contingent on an analysis that shows the mineral content (cations and anions). The report shown is only for contaminants.

 

[downtoearth]

No need to wonder why we have cancer so badly. We're killing ourselves

 

[Cat Jockey]

How do the levels look for using my tap water in hydro and/or soil applications?

Incomplete data. Overall ppm and pH are important to know. What I see missing, too, is a Ca level. Tap water tends to have a good amount of Ca. That can cause rpoblems with your nute regiment. The starting ppm and pH of your water has a significant amount to do with your overall success.

I don't consider RO water for hydro optional. I consider it essential. A RO filter is pretty cheap these days. You can get an adapter and hook to your kitchen or bathroom sink faucet to use when you need, so no major installation process either.

An RO filter pays for itself very easily. Depending upon how hard or soft your water is and its starting pH, tap water can hold your grow back and decrease the quality of your harvest due to improper pH/nute precipitation.

 

[St3ve]

No need to wonder why we have cancer so badly. We're killing ourselves

Really? So your prognoses is that you will die if you drink that water?Sorry to come off harsh.. but I promise you that it won't kill your self or your plants from the tap water. In fact.. many many many people, including myself, have had some of the best harvests from using tap. You shouldn't be so afraid of it.

An RO filter pays for itself very easily. *Depending upon how hard or soft your water is and its starting pH, tap water can hold your grow back and decrease the quality of your harvest due to improper pH/nute precipitation.

How does an RO filter pay for itself? It wastes more water than it puts through (which is wasteful for you, your community, and the planet) and does not increase yield. I've ran tap water with a PH of around 8 in a flood and drain with rockwool and put out top notch bud at almost 2# per light.

 

[Cat Jockey]

How does an RO filter pay for itself? It wastes more water than it puts through (which is wasteful for you, your community, and the planet) and does not increase yield.

If you are worried about water consumption, take shorter showers. I live pretty simply. I could say the same thing to you - why don't you only grow with CFLs? HIDs wastes more energy than CFLs (which is wasteful for you, your community and the planet).

Further, it is not as wasteful as it seems. The waste water that goes down your drain is not wasted forever. Like it was used up and is now gone and there is less water in the world. If you live in the city, it goes down the drain, to the sewage treatment plant, is treated and returned to your faucet. It makes a big loop, which uses energy for all of pumps and such, but it doesn't waste water in the sense that the water is somehow forever lost.

If you are on a well, the waste water goes into your leech field and back into the ground from where you got it to begin with.

I use RO because it improves crop and res management and overall yield. There is nothing secret about it. In fact, it is science. Sweet Lady Jane absorbs different nutrients at different rates at different pH and ppm levels. The more control you have over those two variables, the better chance you have at maximizing your yield, potency and aromatic qualities.

Using tap water at 8.0 and who knows what ppm and how much of that is Ca, doesn't allow you to utilize your nutrient solution as well as RO water does. You spend less time in the optimal pH ranges, naturally and without using adjusters, and you run the chance of over providing certain nutrients, like Ca, and throw things like chloride and sodium in your res.

I have had several gardens of varying size and I have been in several gardens of others of varying size. From closet grows to XX,XXX Watt warehouse grows. I have had them all and been in them all. Most of the growers didn't use RO water. They also had more nutrient based problems (lockouts/toxicities) than those who used RO.

Just my experience. You can grow good weed with tap water. You can grow good weed a lot of ways. But it is a limiter if you want to grow the best possible weed for your grow space. There is a difference between good weed and great weed. And I have a pretty high standard for what great weed is as I'm a Cannabis Connoisseur. A weed snob.

RO helps with producing great weed.

Nutrient companies use RO water in the manufacturing process and testing and evaluation of their nutrients and they recommend you do the same. It ain't for sh!ts and giggles that they do this.

Why? They don't sell RO water, so it ain't cause they are trying to pimp that out. There is a reason nutrient companies neither use nor recommend the use of tap water and recommend the use of RO water.

It ain't just Cat Jockey you disagree with on this one. Those companies have invested a lot of money into developing their nutes and it is in their absolute best interest that their nutrients perform as well as possible for their customers.

Or else they lose customers. And this is why they suggest RO, as it makes their nutes perform the best and eliminates the negative impacts of tap water on a solution, of which there absolutely are, to varying degree depending on what is in your tap water.

I've ran tap water with a PH of around 8 in a flood and drain with rockwool and put out top notch bud at almost 2# per light.

Almost 2lbs, huh? Maybe you can crack that mark with RO water. Maybe not. Maybe there are other limiting factors from grow environment to genetics that would prevent it. But, even if you don't crack that 2lb mark with RO, what if you got 2 more ounces each harvest and even only the slightest improvement in overall quality? Or even only one more ounce? And you spent less than $200 on an RO filter to achieve that?

Your RO filter would pay for itself on the first harvest, or shortly thereafter.

 

[downtoearth]

Thanks guys. I'm using the R.0. for my hydro but tap for the mothers in the soil. So far no adverse effects on the mothers. The tap is coming out at 7.0pH I'll just stay with the R.O. However, when I clone using the EZ Cloner, the tap water outperformes the R.O. everytime. There is something in the tap that the clones LOVE.

 

[Cat Jockey]

Thanks guys. I'm using the R.0. for my hydro but tap for the mothers in the soil. So far no adverse effects on the mothers. The tap is coming out at 7.0pH I'll just stay with the R.O. However, when I clone using the EZ Cloner, the tap water outperformes the R.O. everytime. There is something in the tap that the clones LOVE.

Don't take this the wrong way, like I'm trying to tell you how to run your grow or being arrogant. I haven't hung out on the weed forums with consistency since PG went down after OG and just drop by them every now and again for a few days. So this is more me just dropping by ICMAG for a couple days and I am just sharing what I have found works best from my experiences, just to get it out in case it helps any other fuggin' stoners - you or just some lurker reading this thread.

So, that being said. If you have RO, use it. Soil has a lot of meanings. A lot of dirt farmers aren't using real dirt. They are using a peat based mix, usually with verm. and perlite mixed in. Nothing wrong with that, I've used plenty of it myself. Point being, it isn't real soil. You can use RO water and your same hydro nutes at hydro pH levels. What I use on Soil mothers that have been alive for years is GH 3 Part (with occasional additives, etc.), and I use it at around 5.2, where it naturally sits.

There are zero pH issues doing this with a peat/verm/per mix that has a good amount of verm/per in it. In fact, the plants love it.

Without the clay, sand and various other things you get from soil you dig out of the ground, there is a difference in the way you can treat it and how it acts. You can treat it like a hand watered hydro system.

Eventually, whatever you have in the tap water that the plant doesn't need, will build up and start causing nute lock-outs. Might take a year or more, but it will happen. Flushing can help this. But if you have the filter and hydro nutes, might as well use them. Even with RO water, I would still flush your mothers at lest 4 times/year.

As far as your EZ Cloner, there are some nutrients in tap water. From having X,XXX number of clones going at one time and having used pretty much every method known to clone, my EZ Cloner regiment includes RO water with GH 3 Part added at about 5/5/5 G/M/B per gallon and a root zone conditioner, like DM Zone at a reduced dosage. Maybe a little less if you want, like if you have a 5 gallon res, mix up 4 gallons like that and top the fifth gallon as pure RO.

A benefit to having a little nute solution going is that they will grow more in the few days you keep them in there after they have sprung roots. If you have the cloner under a flourescent, when they pop roots, you can put them in your veg room and get a little HID light on them. With the nutrients in there, you just turned your aerocloner into a modified DWC/NFT hydro system. This can be very beneficial for the timing of your plants - you can basically add a week of veg time to your clones before you actually put them into your veg hydro system.

Rooting horomone is like RO to me - not optional. It does make a difference. Most notably in the amount of roots a new clone has. Rooting horomone doesn't just help with cloning, it gives your clone a more robust and healthier root system when they begin their veg time.

 

[downtoearth]

Sounds like good information. I use the aeroflo 2 60 site so veg in the cloner is a no no fo rme lol. Thanks so much for the input though. Cheers mate!

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Really? So your prognoses is that you will die if you drink that water?Sorry to come off harsh.. but I promise you that it won't kill your self or your plants from the tap water. In fact.. many many many people, including myself, have had some of the best harvests from using tap. You shouldn't be so afraid of it.

What's sick are the people in poor water areas that still insist (like you are) that tap-water is harmless.

I watched people walking around with heavy metal poisoning sores on their hands and feet for 3 years. Wouldn't touch the water around there as it was DAMN-Nasty... but the locals said it was 'good'.

Just before I moved, they issued a warning that the water levels had too much arsenic in it. DUH!

I've pretty much been drinking R/O water and using it for hydro/soil applications for 10 years now. Wouldn't recommend anything else in the polluted landscape we've created for ourselves.

Filter that shit!

Stay Safe!

 

[St3ve]

What's sick are the people in poor water areas that still insist (like you are) that tap-water is harmless.

I watched people walking around with heavy metal poisoning sores on their hands and feet for 3 years. Wouldn't touch the water around there as it was DAMN-Nasty... but the locals said it was 'good'.

Just before I moved, they issued a warning that the water levels had too much arsenic in it. DUH!

I've pretty much been drinking R/O water and using it for hydro/soil applications for 10 years now. Wouldn't recommend anything else in the polluted landscape we've created for ourselves.

Filter that shit!

Stay Safe!

Maybe yes and maybe no, but filtered water isn't necessarily RO water.. that wastes more than it can clean.

I'm sure there are just as many places that have great tap water compared to whatever city you were in.

I drink filtered water outta the fridge, with no waste water, and I have no sores on my skin.. yet

 

[St3ve]

Look I'm not trying to get in a big fight with everyone about how awesome tap water is. I'm just responding to people over generalizing saying that you can't get great yields and great bud with tap water, and that RO water is "essential". I've gotten great bud and yields from both.. but won't use RO, or recommend it to anyone because of how wasteful it is.

 

[youngtrader9689]

THE GREAT LAKES BABY not many ppl have as good of water as i do..... best in the world tap!

 

[downtoearth]

I agree with everybody's point lol. I get what everybody says here. Sometimes tap is good, and sometimes is not. I was just mainly interested in the thoughts regarding how these amounts of contaminants would hurt or possibly help out a grow. Cheers

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Look I'm not trying to get in a big fight with everyone about how awesome tap water is. I'm just responding to people over generalizing saying that you can't get great yields and great bud with tap water, and that RO water is "essential". I've gotten great bud and yields from both.. but won't use RO, or recommend it to anyone because of how wasteful it is.

There are some tap waters that will do well. I happen to have lived in multiple cities, towns and outbacks and the water has been crap in nearly all. *shrug* Facts are facts.

RO water is NOT as wasteful as most people make it. A booster pump will greatly increase yields while decreasing total ppms. The waste water is not toxic (unless you have REALLY bad tap-water) and can be used to water your garden and other non-edible plants (Or edible, your choice).

Personally, I've used RO water for 10 years because.... no matter where I go or what the water supply is, an RO machine will give me water that I'm comfortable and know what to do with.

Every Time.


The only drinking R/O water is a personal choice. Considering how polluted the waters have become... I have one thing less to worry about.

Stay Safe!

 

[St3ve]

You are right.. the "waste water" could still be used as it IS better.. but most people don't bother so thats why I don't recommend it. Not to mention, there are great filters available nowadays that have zero waste water so those are the ones I will use and recommend.

..I was just mainly interested in the thoughts regarding how these amounts of contaminants would hurt or possibly help out a grow. Cheers

I think the reason is, is because no one but a botanist or chemist could really answer that question because of the specifics. No one wants to give you partially incorrect information.

 

[downtoearth]

Yup yup. I do love reading the posts and opinions though Many thanks everybody.