Water: The Most Essential Compound

mismos00

mismos00

Well-Known Member
doc111 said:
I am only aware of a couple of safe means of chemical disinfection for water: Chlorine and Iodine. Too much of either of these will more than likely create problems for you. The good thing about Chlorine is that it evaporates from the water relatively quickly. Unfortunately it's depndant on how much water you're disinfecting and how much chlorine you use. I honestly don't think that chemical disinfection is the way to go. You could look into one of those handheld water purifiers for camping. They work good but they only filter a relatively small amount of water per day. I found this website which sells UV water disinfecting systems. They are a bit pricey but if you have a lot of plants this shouldn't be too big a problem. :weed:

http://www.expertwatersolutions.com/ultraviolet.html
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What about Hydrogen Peroxide... or bleach even (is that close to chlorine?)... (I think that's what the guy above was referring to, but he typed monoxide instead.)
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
mismos00 said:
What about Hydrogen Peroxide... or bleach even (is that close to chlorine?)... (I think that's what the guy above was referring to, but he typed monoxide instead.)
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What about hydrogen peroxide? I'm pretty sure he was being clever (Hydrogen or Dihydrogen monoxide is the same thing as water). Hydrogen peroxide is H202. Very similar name and a very similar molecule. That's pretty much where the similarities end. Bleach is Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl). The molecule for bleach contains 1 atom each of Sodium (Na), Oxygen (O), and Chlorine (Cl). To answer your question, bleach contains chlorine. bongsmilie

P.S. I'm not really sure about using Hydrogen peroxide for disinfecting water. I'm sure it would work but is it safe?
 
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BudsworthII

Member
doc111 said:
Your water looks pretty good as far as I can tell. Chloramine is pretty conroversial. I've seen articles saying that it is bad for growing and others that say there is no evidence it hurts anything. I'm not a scientist so I've done no experiments of my own in this area (my tapwater is disinfected with chlorine anyway). Grocery stores have water machines which are r/o filtered. If you bring your own jug they are usually about $.25 per gallon. I think you will be ok until you get an r/o filter of your own if you decide not to go that route. You can get r/o filters for cheap on e-bay too. Best of luck and thanks for the compliment. :blsmoke:

P.S. You can try using molasses which is supposed to help keep your beneficials happy. bongsmilie
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Thank you so much.

I've always been told that we have pretty good water here. I am contemplating the water machines at the stores though. I currently just have clippings that I'm trying to get to root...and 5 Mandala Safari Mix seeds that I just put in soil last night...

...and really...I know my anxieties are just first time growers excitement. I'm trying not to over do anything. But that's got my brain spinning from trying to suppress it all. :lol:

Really...thank you for such a great thread. :bigjoint:
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
BudsworthII said:
Thank you so much.

I've always been told that we have pretty good water here. I am contemplating the water machines at the stores though. I currently just have clippings that I'm trying to get to root...and 5 Mandala Safari Mix seeds that I just put in soil last night...

...and really...I know my anxieties are just first time growers excitement. I'm trying not to over do anything. But that's got my brain spinning from trying to suppress it all. :lol:

Really...thank you for such a great thread. :bigjoint:
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No problem. I'm always glad to help. :eyesmoke:
 
mismos00

mismos00

Well-Known Member
doc111 said:
What about hydrogen peroxide? I'm pretty sure he was being clever (Hydrogen or Dihydrogen monoxide is the same thing as water). Hydrogen peroxide is H202. Very similar name and a very similar molecule. That's pretty much where the similarities end. Bleach is Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl). The molecule for bleach contains 1 atom each of Sodium (Na), Oxygen (O), and Chlorine (Cl). To answer your question, bleach contains chlorine. bongsmilie

P.S. I'm not really sure about using Hydrogen peroxide for disinfecting water. I'm sure it would work but is it safe?
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Well it's just hydrogen and oxygen and I've definitely heard of people using it, both for disinfecting and to increase oxygen to the roots. Couldn't be worse than Chlorine or Iodine.
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
mismos00 said:
Well it's just hydrogen and oxygen and I've definitely heard of people using it, both for disinfecting and to increase oxygen to the roots. Couldn't be worse than Chlorine or Iodine.
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Just Hydrogen and Oxygen huh? You are correct. People do use H2O2 for disinfection of things. I don't think chemical disinfected water is preferable over say UV disinfection especialy when used for growing. Hydrogen peroxide in it's concentrated form can be very dangerous. Too much of it can kill off beneficials and can fry your plant. The stuff you buy at the pharmacy is only like 3%. I've never used it for growing but I've been told that it's pretty much useless. Remember, Hydrogen played a key role in bringing the Hindenburgh down. It was Oxygen that basically caused the Apollo 1 capsule to burn violently killing all 3 astronauts. Hydrogen and Oxygen are not harmless. I am not an expert on using peroxide for growing so I can't answer all of your questions about why people use it. It's an oxydizer so it gives of oxygen thereby delivering more oxygen to the roots. If you wish to use it just be careful of highly concentrated forms and maybe try it on only 1 plant to see how it affects it. Best of luck to you my friend. :weed:
 
mismos00

mismos00

Well-Known Member
doc111 said:
Just Hydrogen and Oxygen huh? You are correct. People do use H2O2 for disinfection of things. I don't think chemical disinfected water is preferable over say UV disinfection especialy when used for growing. Hydrogen peroxide in it's concentrated form can be very dangerous. Too much of it can kill off beneficials and can fry your plant. The stuff you buy at the pharmacy is only like 3%. I've never used it for growing but I've been told that it's pretty much useless. Remember, Hydrogen played a key role in bringing the Hindenburgh down. It was Oxygen that basically caused the Apollo 1 capsule to burn violently killing all 3 astronauts. Hydrogen and Oxygen are not harmless. I am not an expert on using peroxide for growing so I can't answer all of your questions about why people use it. It's an oxydizer so it gives of oxygen thereby delivering more oxygen to the roots. If you wish to use it just be careful of highly concentrated forms and maybe try it on only 1 plant to see how it affects it. Best of luck to you my friend. :weed:
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Thanks, and yes, those chemicals in pure gas form can be flammable and quite volatile, but I don't think it is poisonous or toxic like chlorine and iodine. I've gargled with H2O2... don't think it would be wise to do the same thing with chlorine or iodine.
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
mismos00 said:
Thanks, and yes, those chemicals in pure gas form can be flammable and quite volatile, but I don't think it is poisonous or toxic like chlorine and iodine. I've gargled with H2O2... don't think it would be wise to do the same thing with chlorine or iodine.
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If your tapwater is disinfected with chlorine then you've not only gargled with it but you probably ingest it quite regularly whether you realize it or not. Iodine is in almost all table salt so you are undoubtedly ingesting it as well. The H2O2 you gargled with is like 3% tops. It's all about levels. Almost anything in too high a concentration or high enough a dose is dangerous. Certain things are more toxic than others but when you take a rather harmless element and combine it with another relatively harmless element you can get something which is not so harmless. Like I said, do some research on Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2). I think you will find that pharmacy H2O2 is not concentrated enough to be of any real benefit. The stuff you get at the hydro shop is more like 30% (maybe more, I've never used it). It can be dangerous so do your homework and be sure not to use too much of it. :leaf:
 
edwardtheclean

edwardtheclean

Well-Known Member
my plants drink plenty of water, i also have good grows only changing the water and cleaning the container twice a full grow, in a hydro system of course,
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
edwardtheclean said:
my plants drink plenty of water, i also have good grows only changing the water and cleaning the container twice a full grow, in a hydro system of course,
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That's what they do. Cleanliness is a preventive measure. If cleaning your res. twice per grow keeps problems from occurring then it sounds like you're all good. bongsmilie
 
doc111

doc111

Well-Known Member
riddleme said:
I did a lot of research into H202 and this is a permalink to my post with what I found

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/284736-goin-loco-first-colorado-medical-5.html#post3604625

Like you said it can be very dangerous if misused cause it kills things

but used properly has a lot of benefits :bigjoint:

By the way Doc this is a great thread, thanks for doing this!
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Thank you my friend, for the link and the compliment. It was my pleasure. I've not used H202 for growing but the firefighter in me knows a little something about dangerous chemicals. I'm fairly sure that the concentrations used for our purposes will cause some skin irritation and burning and same with the eyes. It won't kill you but I just don't want people thinking it is harmless because their knowledge of peroxide is the brown bottle that mom kept under the sink and put on our scrapes. At that concentration peroxide is fairly benign and also useless for growing, or so I'm told. The stuff at the hydro shop you should be a little bit more careful with. :weed:
 
P

Potato42

Member
Great info in here! In wanting to find out more about my tapwater, I found I could contact my local supplier for an CCR, or Consumer Confidence Report which outlines just about anything I could want to know about my tapwater. This is good news because I don't have to guess about what is in it, nor do I have to pay for testing equipment or someone to run tests on it. The only downside is the report is only released once a year, and the test data will be from the previous cycle. I am only looking for general information anyway so that shouldn't be too big a deal.

You can start your search as I did here http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/ccr/whereyoulive.html?OpenView

I couldn't find mine in the list so after a quick google search and phone call I had a .pdf file in my email! Give it a try and see what's in your water.:bigjoint:
 
edwardtheclean

edwardtheclean

Well-Known Member
whats the best option for a hydro grower? distilled water is a dollar a gallon, id like to get the osmosis system but its 250, im sure ill spend that in water here soon. buying gallon after gallon after gallon....
 
T

Teereg

Member
Oh....so bunch of knowledge here about proper growing. Thanks. I've learned a lot. It is nice to know man that there are certain ways how you gonna successfully grow marijuana. Yeah!
 
tat2ue

tat2ue

Well-Known Member
Doc,,,My water basically comes from the end of the line from the Mississippi river. Its ppm out of the tap is 190 to 210 and the ph varies from 6.8 up to as high as 8.0+ at times.My water really sucks so whats my best alternative?? Keep in mind the total gallons for all my nute tanks are around 180 gallons total. And i refill and top them off straight from the hose and add an off the shelf chemical that remove chlorine and chloramine from ponds and fish tanks. I have been treating my water this way for about a year and have not had any water related problems yet. Thanks for any help Hydro Master
 
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