Water filtration Recommendations Please

[igothydrotoneverywhere]

I need some recommendations for an economic way to purify my tap water. I would like a device for removing contaminents, bacteria, chlorine, etc.

I have seen chlorine removing compounds and inline filters that are much cheaper than these whole house filters. I would like to spend under 50$? is this possible?

 

[Aleister93]

http://cgi.ebay.com.hk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110461225190&ssPageName=ADME:B:FSEL:HK:1123

 

[biggun]

hey, I am pretty green at this "that was kinda funny" I find good success just letting the water jug that I fill from tap water sit with the top off for 3 days and my tomatoes are doing lovely.

 

[Masterchef23]

I have heard that letting tap water sit for 24hrs or more with airstone in the bucket that should clear the bad elements In the water anyone know if this is true?

 

[GrowinDad]

I use a Pur filter that attaches to my kitchen faucet. Works great. Cheap. And much easier than messing with Brita pitchers.

 

[SableZen]

I have heard that letting tap water sit for 24hrs or more with airstone in the bucket that should clear the bad elements In the water anyone know if this is true?

Most chlorine will be gone after an hour of being exposed to the air, 24 hours with aeration is probably overkill if that's the goal but sure, that'll work for removing it. Waiting/aerating won't really remove anything else however (the minerals found in tap water will remain), boiling doesn't remove anything additional either.

Carbon filters are the most economical way of filtering (it's effective but not 100%). RO units and distilling setups increase the cost a lot but will get you almost pure water.

Personally, I stick with carbon filtering. A single run through a cheap Brita-type filter drops my tap water EC from .2-.3'ish down to under .1 which is good enough for my standards and don't really see a benefit compared to RO/distilled at that level. I don't have a chlorine tester but it removes most of the chlorine as well (although I don't really worry about the chlorine in tap water).

 

[Rocketman64]

Have you ever had your tap water tested? Does your city provide results from their regular testing requirements? I'm only asking because I had a big concern over this when setting up a distilling operation. What I found was the levels of some of the impurities were so friggin small that all the purification in the world wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference. Keep in mind also: the real nasty heavy metals most people are concerned about are certainly not good for human consumption (copper, magnesium, lead, etc..) but the levels I found them to be in my water were lower than the levels found in some fertilizers made to put directly on the plant! Furthermore, some of those things found in municipal water supplies are of a molecular size way too large for a root system to uptake. At worst, there may be a slight buildup in the soil over time. Our city has chlorine levels so high sometimes it tastes like you're drinking pool water. I've always used it for watering every thing in my veg garden as well as my cannabis with no ill effects that I can see.

 

[JohnnySocko]

I wouldn't worry over chlorine...you ever bother de-chloring before you water your tomatoes or whatever? half the frigging outdoor plants would be dead if it was such a big deal....
besides, other oxidizers are used all the time in horticulture (DM Zone, peroxide, et)....even bleach!!!

...but either way, there are definetley nasties other than chlorine in your water ...check out Coralife's 50GPH RO filter on many aquarium supply websites...often its on BigAls for like $125

 

[Magic M]

i agree with whAT EVERYONE ELSE SAID!!! i run ro water in my diy cloning machine and i actually add chlorine to stop negative bacteria growth(slime)! it works like a charm and has no ill effects on the plants, in fact my machine was getting a 0% success rate until i started using it, now 100% success!!!

 

[GroErr]

I need some recommendations for an economic way to purify my tap water. I would like a device for removing contaminents, bacteria, chlorine, etc.

I have seen chlorine removing compounds and inline filters that are much cheaper than these whole house filters. I would like to spend under 50$? is this possible?

Depends on what type of grow really, for soil I just use one of those Brita on-tap filters (similar to what Growindad posted), think it was about $25, filters last about 4 months and cost $12-$15 so use about 1 filter per full cycle. For my aero-cloner I just use tap water, for the same reason someone else posted here, the chlorine in the tap water is actually beneficial in keeping slime and the like at bay.

 

[Squidbilly]

I also freaked out about the quality of my water and was thinking about the exact same thing, "How do I cheaplly filter my tap water?" Rocketman hit the nail on the head. See if you can get a report online about what is in your tap water. I found mine after googling for about 10 minutes. I wasn't worried so much about chlorine as I was about CHLORAMINE, which can't be evaporated out. After seeing the report I realized that I didn't need to do anything special with my water. That being said...

I bought a big rubbermaid container and put an air stone in it. I like to keep it half way full and every time i water I top it off and leave it open for a night. If the air stone does anything it helps evaporate chlorine, but more importantly oxygenates and aerates your water. I hand water in hempy buckets and use GH FloraNova nutes. My tap water ppm is 200-230 and ph is 7.1. I haven't had any problems.

Also, I never have any Cal or Mag issues. A lot of people who use RO water have to supplement this. If you can use your tap water it will save your a lot of time and money in the long run. If your a serious hydro/aero grower, then I can see the need for RO. Otherwise, if you can use your tap water just by letting it sit out overnight thank the green gods! JMHO.

 

[Rocketman64]

I have read that higher levels of chlorine can kill or at least slow the growth of mycorrhizal networks in soil atmospheres. I have no legit studies to back that up or any way of knowing what levels are considered dangerous. It makes sense but I don't think we're dealing with those kind of levels out of tap water. If you're concerned the best answer is to allow the water to sit overnight or give it some good aeration for a couple hours. Squidbilly brings up the very thing we as growers need to be aware of when we're talking about tap water- CHLORAMINE. This is sometimes used in drinking water as a replacement for Chlorine. It doesn't evaporate and is more effective in disinfecting a water supply so it's considered a cost saver. Problem is, it also increase the likelihood of being exposed to other contaminants in the water supply such as lead. As an avid home distiller I'm always concerned about Chloramine because it most definitely will cause an off taste in a quality distillate. Simple cure for this: crush up a couple Vitamin C tablets and add them to your water before using. This will completely dissipate the choramine with no fear of it returning. Don't use ascorbic acid as it's only a temporary fix, Vitamin C works permanently.

 

[atxlsgun]

I use a hydrologic tall boy works great also have city water

Sent from my C6606 using Rollitup mobile app

 

[Observe & Report]

Get an RO/tank/tap system for drinking because it's delicious and way cheaper than bottled or a Brita. Then use it for your plants because you already have it.

 

[Magic M]

I have read that higher levels of chlorine can kill or at least slow the growth of mycorrhizal networks in soil atmospheres. I have no legit studies to back that up or any way of knowing what levels are considered dangerous. It makes sense but I don't think we're dealing with those kind of levels out of tap water. If you're concerned the best answer is to allow the water to sit overnight or give it some good aeration for a couple hours. Squidbilly brings up the very thing we as growers need to be aware of when we're talking about tap water- CHLORAMINE. This is sometimes used in drinking water as a replacement for Chlorine. It doesn't evaporate and is more effective in disinfecting a water supply so it's considered a cost saver. Problem is, it also increase the likelihood of being exposed to other contaminants in the water supply such as lead. As an avid home distiller I'm always concerned about Chloramine because it most definitely will cause an off taste in a quality distillate. Simple cure for this: crush up a couple Vitamin C tablets and add them to your water before using. This will completely dissipate the choramine with no fear of it returning. Don't use ascorbic acid as it's only a temporary fix, Vitamin C works permanently.

hey Rocketman thats great advice . i love learning new things!!

 

[Rocketman64]

hey Rocketman thats great advice . i love learning new things!!

My pleasure Magic Man!!

 

[sunny747]

PUR water faucet attachment is pretty good. I did a lot of research on it a while back. It filters 36 elements if I recall correctly. Actually, now that I think of it the Culligen filters ranked higher and were cheaper. http://www.amazon.com/Culligan-FM-15A-Level-Faucet-Filter/dp/B00006WNMI

What worries me about PUR is that it adds back in a mix of minerals for taste.. I have been meaning to ask if this could mess up my soil. Does anyone know the answer to this?