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How much of a diff does RO water really make?

T

THCV

I'd love to hear some before/after grow stories about switching to RO. My setup is pretty much dialed-in, and the one thing missing is RO. I have 350ppm tap water that has been working well, but i want to know: what can I expect by changing to RO? Higher yields for real? Or just piece of mind? Thanks.

THCV

 
HYDROJUNKIE

HYDROJUNKIE

Active member
Ive used RO in the past,...now my RO unit stays wrapped up collecting dust,.....but my tap is 90 ppm...
yours is a little on the high side but imo if you dont ''see'' any bad effects like leaf spotting,rust,etc. then why bother?

just get a garbage can and prefill and let the chlorine vapors disperse over 24 hours before using.....I always thought it was kind of funny to feed my plants better water than most people drink..lol
some people say they have PH drift more with tap but I have never noticed...

nice garden by the way,..looks like my old dwc setup,...I had 3 rows of 5 under 3k.

you have some elite strains going on there,.
 
inflorescence

inflorescence

Active member
Veteran
Just depends what's in that 350ppm. My tap has a lot of Na and Cl, which I fiqure can only be removed by RO. MJ seems to take up Na before any other nutes. My tap analysis says it has 92 ppm Na, so if that's the first 92 ppm the plants are taking up then that's too much IMO and that Cl's not helping any beneficial bacteria either. Then comes the CaMg (hardness).
You've got a tap analysis from your water district right? Best free money you'll ever spend.
 
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G

Guest

glad you asked i have been using tap for about 7 months now....only difference ph fluctuation...i dont even let the chlorine evaporate just use the shit straight from the tap....i believe ro is easy but necessary...well i have proved not if only to me...peace
 
G

Guest

but yes the ph fluctuation is the only real down side to tap...and probably the only upside you will see with ro is less fluctuation...just my.02 i grew with ro water for a number of years dont believe the hype...if your tap is working for you...i wouldn't change
 
M

meduser180056

Active member
My tap is about 40ppm. I thought 350 was too high, but if your grows are going good I'd stick with the tap cuz it so much easier. What kind of yields are you getting? Are you having any problems with the plants health during the grows?

If it ain't broke don't fix it.
 
T

THCV

thanks for the info, all. wow, infl, that is some horrible tap water! Do you have to filter your shower?

My plants ain't complaining so for now I'm gonna stick with tap--it's just so much easier, cheaper, and better for the environment.

a lil t-dub:
 
P

powdergreen

Member
my ppm is about 180-220 i too have been thinking about getting an RO setup. Every grow ive done has had some kind of spotting or rust colours. probably lockout due to salt build up. Would using Ro water stop salt build ups????






 
P

PureSkill

Member
Sounds harsh

Sounds harsh

Wow I am lucky I have a 400 foot well that gets pure water. I feel for you guys =(
But nice setup man loooks great!
I want to try dutch buckets next year so then my water will become even more valuable =)
I would hook you all up to my well but I dont think there is a hose long enough =)
I just have other problems like white flies now =( I will have to put filters on my intake

But if you guys let the water sit out over night it should get somewhat better like with the lid off to let the bad stuff air out.
 
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L

Lucid

Active member
i also have the same issues with my water it comes out 200+ ppm and i get these leave spots on certin strains no matter what i do .... ... im pretty sure my water has high calcium in it ... would a R0 water unit fix these issues?
 
G

Guest

i was getting spots all over my leaves and figured it was my tap water. i just watered for the first time with the RO. ill let you know how things go.
 
P

PureSkill

Member
I used Talking Rain mineral water "sugested by cali med pot users" and it would make my plants like they were on cRACK but I could not afford to continue using it. I will maybe in the future. But unknown what it would do for hydro.
 
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HYDROJUNKIE

HYDROJUNKIE

Active member
sorry for getting off topic here but THCV how do you like that propane co2 generator?....does it create much heat?,...how often do you refill it?
 
T

THCV

junkie, i like it fine. but it creates TONS of heat (basically, that's it's job), and that must be dealt with. I need a new propane tank once a week. I guess i should have gone NG.

as for water, i just looked into my local water supply website, and they have docs that describe how the water treatment system works. it involves ozone bubbling for purification (which is awesome) and a few levels of serious filtration and contaminant removal. So, the 350ppm i read doesn't seem to be the bad stuff--i grow not far from the main treatment plant. Again, i won't bother with RO.
 
Loblolly1

Loblolly1

New member
Sorry for the simple question, but I'm just getting into DWC, and my tap water has a ppm of around 300. When mixing up nutes, wouldn't that 300ppm get in the way of having more "good" nutrients, allowing only 300ppm of "nutrient" ppm as opposed to starting with 0ppm water and pumping it up with 600ppm of good, balanced nutrients?
 
T

THCV

all depends on what those ppms are made up of. cal and mag are both part of the normal tap, and if you use RO you'll need to add them back in anyway. so, it isn't all garbage. mj even uses chlorine, if you can believe it! (i swear). But sodium and sulfates are useless or even bad in too high ppms, so that is the real issue.

but generally, you are right. if you start with 0 ppm and you get to choose all of the components of your final 600ppm, then that is ideal. but it might not end up being worth the effort, cost and waste of water. the general feel seems to be grow without RO first and add it if you decide that you are getting problems that you really think are from the tap water (ie everything else is dialed in). as i have stated, i see no signs of problems that one has with hard/bad water, so even though i "loose" 350ppm from my "nute allowance", i am not convinced there is any real loss in yield. nutes are just the condiment anyway, the meal is CO2, H2O and light.
 
J

JDOG6000

Active member
Veteran
I've seen people hermie there plants from switching back to tap from RO.
I know it sounds crazy. But I saw it with my own eyes.
And feeding with filtered water,then not can cause that rust real bad too.
My tap is at 140 ppm's. My buddy used RO water then ran out oncve and used tap straight from the tap into soil.
Hermied some of his plants.

I was using a tap filter and then the filter got old and hermied a couple of my plants.
It does make a difference. A huge difference IMO.
And I'll be getting an RO system very soon.

Processing all those excess chemicals and stufff.
Is very stressful for a plant.
Obviously ,from what I witnessed.
 
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KingRalph

KingRalph

Active member
besides the horrid content of my water... the ph is around 10. hmmm. it would take immense amounts of ph down to move it. the ro filter gets it down quite a bit, but then nutes bufferers put it in the right spot every time anyways without any ph down. and of course nice clean slate 0ppm. RO is essential to hydro, and is what most nutes are designed to work with.
 
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