Straight from the well

Hello everyone, I have always used well water to water my grow. I grow outdoors in huge pots, make my own wormcastings and compost, and make my own soil mix.

I want to reduce the minerals in my water, I have lots of iron, lime, and I believe magnesium. I have never done soil tests, tested my water, ect. I never had problems but I would still like to reduce the minerals, the water ph tests I used indicated a ph close to 8 so im suprised I never had problems. Im not looking to get scientific, if my well water works I believe my soil mix must buffer good and I believe organics is very forgiving.

What is a good filter that reduces most but not all minerals? I would like one that attaches to the end of a hose if possible as my plants will be outdoors. I still want some iron, lime, and magnesium in my water just reduced.

You should be able to get it tested for about $25.
Results are interesting... at least to me they are... and can be useful for customizing your feed program if on salts.


Knowing what's in your water will help you choose the right filter or filter stack.
Personally, I'd start with a string or paper filter to remove most of the undissolved solids and I'd filter previous to sending down the hose so I wasn't carrying all the extra weight along with the hose.

I dont think you can pick and choose which elements get removed,, you can add them back in after.. particle size filters are indescriminate and carbon filters work on charge attraction/ binding, which again is somewhat indescriminate.

Its also really doubtful youll find something that fits on a hose bud because standard RO filters use tiny pipes and you still need a step up pump to get the pressure needed so you arent wasting tons of warer out the waste pipe.. which is another thing the dirtier water has to go somewhere during the filtration.

No easy way to lower the minerals i can think of. Add more peat to your mix maybe?

And get the water tested as mentioned to see what is causing the hardness and high pH..

Thanks for the help guys. I won't be using salts, 100% organic with top dressings of chicken manure pellets and other organics throughout the grow. My soil mix is 30% worm castings and composted manure, 40% peat moss, 20% perlite, 10% vermiculite and many ammendments added, the only thing I add to water on occasion is bioag TM7.

I had a filter like this in mind, something to reduce the sediment/minerals in the water and possibly filter other contaminants. Im honestly not looking to make my water perfect. I know my water from the well has 25 grains iron and whole house filters remove some iron. What do you guys think about something like this.

Here is the description of the filter, about $100 on amazon with good reviews.

The Hydro Life Hydroponics Twin Filtration System removes chlorine, chloramines, salts, heavy metals, sulfur, sediment, rust flakes and other contaminants from your water. The pre-filter cartridge is a sacrificial filter that removes heavy sediment from water, helping to extend the life of the KDF 85/Catalytic Carbon filter cartridge. The KDF 85 filter cartridge has Catalytic Carbon filtration to provide you with safer, cleaner water and reduced chloramines from a potable water source. The KDF 85 media also reduces heavy metals such as lead and mercury. KDF 85 media bonds with chloramines and traps them within the KDF media. KDF 85 will also help prevent bacteria growth when the filter is not in use and to extend the overall life of your hydroponic filter. Durable cartridge filter has a wide body for high flow and a 8,000 gallon capacity with a 2.5 GPM flow rate. When first attaching the filter system to your water source, allow the water to run free for a few minutes to flush the initial loose carbon fines or dust out of the filter. When the water runs clear, the filter is ready for use.

Twin sediment and KDF 85 with Catalytic carbon bed filter cartridge for premium water filtrationPerfect for urban gardens, organic vegetables, hydroponic gardens and more vibrant flowersCatalytic carbon greatly reduces chlorine and chloramines as well as many other contaminantsKDF 85 media extends the life of Catalytic Carbon and bonds with heavy metals as well as chloramines trapping them within the cartridge while protecting the carbon from bacterial growthPre-filter reduces sediment, extending the life of the KDF-85/Catalytic Carbon filter; Male and Female water hose connections included
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Limit surface evaporation. Mulch.
Irrigate.
Don't spray on leaves.
Forget filtration unless you want to go RO. Add water back for minerals.

Personally I wouldn't.

I use a similar system and would advise it

jest change filterz every 4-6 months...yer good to grow

my well water has a lot of heavy metals so i had to get an RO filter. from what i learned the only way to remove the minerals is by using an RO filter. the carbon doesn't come into contact long enough to remove what you're looking to eliminate. I only found out about the heavy metals because i tried to have tropical fish and despite the water continously circulating with a carbon filter in their tank multiple times per hour, the fish kept dying. i paid for a water test and found enough metals to explain why they kept dying right away. all carbon does make the water smell good because it removes chlorine.

if your plants are not having issues, i wouldn't purchase one. i got one that does 500 gpd with a 1:1 waste water and it makes watering the plants take a lot more time. Plus it cost almost $600. if you still want to, in order to keep the minerals without having to add them back, why don't you mix your water 50/50 RO/well water to reduce the minerals?

MJPassion said:

You should be able to get it tested for about $25.
Results are interesting... at least to me they are... and can be useful for customizing your feed program if on salts.


Knowing what's in your water will help you choose the right filter or filter stack.
Personally, I'd start with a string or paper filter to remove most of the undissolved solids and I'd filter previous to sending down the hose so I wasn't carrying all the extra weight along with the hose.

Click to expand...

Well said.

Knowing what's in your water saves a lot of guessing time. Should it be clean enough, the filtration system listed would be fine. As always, you're looking to see what's in the water your plants will be using.

Personally, I'm a fan of r/o for cannabis, because it's easier to grow the smoothest quality smoke. The downsides are, the larger the water volume needed the larger the price tag is going to be. Plus filters each year. There are always other flowers, plants and uses for the 'waste' from an r/o filter.

Hope you get it sorted to your liking.

I can get most of the iron out of my well water by letting it sit in a bucket for 24 hours - you pour it out and wipe out the layer of iron dust that precipitates on the bottom, then fill & let it sit again. May not be possible in large quantities. I had to buy a whole-house iron filter for $1500 to keep the iron out of pipes & appliances, but it raises the ph to 7.5, the well water is 6.2.

I use well water more often but I'll use the filtered sometimes & both seem to work. But if you're not having problems I wouldn't do anything. Don't add any minerals or lime to your mix obviously. I did some of my best growing on Boston city water which must have been horrible - high ph - but the plants did great.

I would test the water and eliminate the guesswork.
May not need to filter at all, water in the low 6.0’s would be better than 8 though.

That said, I’ve only tested before a new project 2-3 times in forty years of growing.

Last water test was at a new place, plants went south after 70 days in new organic soil mixes twice in a row. Well water had very high chloride, making it unusable.