the title of this thread is insidious, and phrased in a way to cause disagreement. (which the thread starter would then happily squash).
This is clear and to the actual point. Well Done.
Titles like this, make growing seem more complicated that it is.
i think thats the root idea of this thread... mostly straight tap water has excellent buffering capabilities and higher alkalinity than RO water. therefore being a PH nazi is not needed like it is with RO water... on the other hand without having an expensive water screening of your tap water, theres not telling what all chemicals and nutes are dissolved in your water... so why not raise the alkalinity of your RO water increasing its buffering capabilities? either way, i dont think RO is absolutely needed and many people out there prove that. the question is, will using RO water with added alkalinity be more effective than straight tap water? i think so as we are starting with a clean slate and injecting our nutes how we see fit. not starting with 300-700ppm water and adding nutes to that... who knows what the fuck is in there? unless we send our water into a lab for expensive screening...
This is clear and to the actual point. Well Done.
Titles like this, make growing seem more complicated that it is.