DIY Reverse Osmosis - For Scale Grower - Cheap, Portable, & Effective

[jackie treehorn]

this seems like the greatest find ever. I feel it should work for me, but it doesn't. Got one of these babies the other day, just filled a bucket and dropped my control wizard in and...the ph was down to 6 from the taps 8.1, but the ppms actually went UP. I did not disasseble the rig, just let it run out of the box...this sucks, i got babies needing to be transplanted and i'm not sure how the hell to get decent water!

does anyone know a way to test a ppm meter, aside from solution? the batch that came with mine was bad, i sent the meter back, dude calibrated it but didn't send back a good batch of tester for ppms...

anyhow, i got faith something is screwed up, just don't know what.

 

[jackie treehorn]

should a ppm meter read zero when left out in the air?

 

[gramsci.antonio]

should a ppm meter read zero when left out in the air?

yeah. When measuring the air you'll get the oddest measure, both with ph and ppm.

The ph of my room is 12.32, with 6 ppm.

 

[piffffalici0us]

jackie:
distilled water should read 0 ppm sometimes its like 1 or 2. so u can check the tds without the calibration, and ur not supposed to run it dry. but if u do the air is also 0 ppm
The mr clean does work, u need to make sure u set the dial to filter.
it comes out 1 of the 3 nozzles.
give it another try, brings my tap from over 200 to 0 now that i got the relplacement filter.
but i noticed it does fuck with the ph.
it makes the water very acidic compared to the tap.
goes from 8 to 5.8
just use hell lot of ph up
and there is no need to disassemble. Let me know if u get it to work.

 

[piffffalici0us]

also try to remember, the starter filter dosent last that long, i got about 8 gallons out of it before having to switch its rated for 3 uses. i got the replacement im counting the gallons still...

 

[ogatec]

with a ro being less than $100 on ebay, how much $ are you really saving here?

 

[jackie treehorn]

just to clarify for info purposes, i bought some ro water and it reads at 20 ppms. that still seems a bit high to me? but at least i know my meter isn't totally screwed up. I am going to assemble the rig as pipedreams did, maybe try my backup filter first...but the original filter has got to work for at least a few gallons, and on my first try it didn't. I'll hopefully be back with good news soon though...i really do think this is a killer idea...can only wonder how many more of these things they'll sell

 

[piffffalici0us]

saving alot of water, it dosent have to run all day to fill up the res. and waste hundreds of gallons of water.
and its 18 for the unit, then 6 for replacement filters. so it does save some money, and more importantly water. sometimes it isnt all about the money, just think about the fishies.

 

[piffffalici0us]

anyone notice the ph drop to like 5-6 with this device?
i wnt to mke a distiller

 

[alegoblin]

Think I would just invest in an inexpensive RO system.This is a really good idea though.

 

[twojoints]

i have an RO system myself, but this is an excellent idea for those who need clean water and dont want to pay too much for it. those filters have to work, or else they would leave water spots... i wonder what the filters actually are, theyre definitely not RO but something that obviously performs about the same for a little while at least...

furthermore, i have like a 6 stage auto-ionizing super crazy RO system, that has always outputted 30ppm from my crusty city tap. at 7.7ph on top of that. never a big problem, just keep adding ph down and its all good.

 

[alegoblin]

How much $ did you get in the system and whats the output?

 

[twojoints]

it was like $140 on ebay. i edited my post above to give more details already haha. if i do it again though, i wouldnt get more then say a 4 stage. you dont need the carbon and ionizing filters, theyre useless for growing imo. the first three filters take out large particles and the main RO filter takes out everything else.

 

[Movintarget]

Great find..I use only distilled water and this will reduce my cost of operation.

 

[piffffalici0us]

yea distilled pisses me off at 1.29 a gallon. the autodry system gives me perfect less then 5 ppm water for the first 10 gallons, then it craps out...a refill every 10-15 gallons or so but the replacement filter is only 5 bucks.
only problem besides only getting 10-15 gallons per filter is that the ph always goes it high 7, and comes out high 5...which is bad because after nutes added i have to add a hella lot ph up...(i feel so bad putting that shit in the water, its so chemically).
So ive been buying distilled, but i am going to get a replacement filter next time around, i dont got money for this shit anymore.

I was thinking about making my own distiller, anyone have any instructions would be awesome!

the idea so far for a distiller is not practical cuz its only 1 bowl of water each time which sux.

 

[alegoblin]

Thanks twojoints

 

[TGT]

Anyone test the PH and PPM of water from a dehumidifier? Just curious how clean it is and if it is good for plants or not. I get 5 gallons a day from my grow. Thanks!

TGT

 

[Pipedream]

TGT - Water from a CLEAN dehumidifier is excellent. The PPM's are usually less than 10 and the PH is fairly neutural. Of course this assumes you are collecting it in a clean environment, and removing it from the drip pan right away. The only two issues you generally have to watch for are....a collection container that is tough to fully clean out, and corroded condensation coils.

If you use the drip pan that comes with most units, they usually have a small opening and are hard to really get clean inside. The small amount of remailing water is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Either collect it directly into a different container, or wash the original one out with bleach on a regular basis.

Corroded condensation coils can do the same thing, and can also allow excessive copper to build up in the soil. The 10 or so PPM you get is usually copper. If the coils aren't kept clean, this number can quickly rise.

One last thing to keep in mind is that a standard dehumidifier runs on a compressor. As such, you will be adding additional heat into the room in which it is operating.

 

[Blunt_69]

OK well What a kickass read.. I dont really have a major need for this unit as my tap water sits perty good. 73ppm.. But It's such a cool DIY im going to build it anyways!! thanks for the write up Pipedream, awsome, simply awsome.

 

[Phantom594]

Hey pipe just bought one will let you know what the results of the test are, one question some people addressed a concern with a calcium or mag deficiency as a result of the autodry. Do you have that problem? I have the GH micro, grow, bloom combo, if there is a calcium or mag deficiency would i need to get epsom salt or something or do the nutes provide those ions.