firstimegrower1
New Member
What is RO water, I know it stands for reverse osmosis but what is it really? What is the benefit and how is it different then normal water
What is RO water
- Thread starter firstimegrower1
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SnapsProvolone
Well-Known Member
Reverse Osmosis is almost pure water no junk.
firstimegrower1
New Member
so how is it different then distilled water
churchhaze
Well-Known Member
twostrokenut
Well-Known Member
distilled is evaporated....ro is filtered.
firstimegrower1
New Member
thanks dickhead
twostrokenut
Well-Known Member
Smoke a j......look at it from the outside, it was pretty funny.
WhiteRooster
Active Member
A Reverse Osmosis water filter will bring your water from whatever ppm level your tap water is at down to zero... So if you have a bunch of shit in your water and your ppm level is 250 that's 250ppm of shit that might cause damage to your plants so by removing it you have 0ppm and now you can mix your nutrients and have 1250 ppm of pure nutrients not 1250ppm of nutrients and 250ppm of shit then you would have a ppm of 1500 and that might cause nutrient lockout
ScoobyDoobyDoo
Well-Known Member
pretty much what White Rooster said. r/o water is close to 0 ppm. not exactly zero with most residential and small scale r/o filters, but close enough. the idea being that you want to eliminate all of the minerals in your water so that you determine exactly what goes in your nutrient mix. just a way to be that much more precise with what you feed your plants. depending on where you live your tap water or even distilled water may contain an abundance of a mineral without you knowing about it and then you end up feeding your plants too much of that mineral when you mix your nutes.
distilled water that you buy off the shelf usually has a ppm of 30-45. it's not as pure as r/o water.
distilled water that you buy off the shelf usually has a ppm of 30-45. it's not as pure as r/o water.
churchhaze
Well-Known Member
Nope, distilled water is the gold standard of pure water.
RO units are used to save money over distilled. Distilled is more expensive, but slightly more pure.
RO units are used to save money over distilled. Distilled is more expensive, but slightly more pure.
ScoobyDoobyDoo
Well-Known Member
get a ppm meter and a jug of distilled water then come talk to me. not even close. a good residential r/o filter will reduce your water to about 10% of what it was. so if you have 150ppm water then you will end up with 15ppm. a pre-filter will reduce that even further.
maybe you should buy a dictionary..."almost" and "close to" aren't the same as "is". learn how to read first.
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
Depends on your definition of "almost"
Most municipal water pressure is < 50 psi. When 50+, typically an RO will reject ~ 90% of tap TDS when new. Unless the RO is equipped with an auto-flush that uses the RO water, it will soon begin to clog.
Most tap is > 300, so the chances of getting a product water of 30 ppms (as new) is slim to none.
But, let's say you have ideal conditions, calling 10% 'almost' is not scientifically 'close'
Most municipal water pressure is < 50 psi. When 50+, typically an RO will reject ~ 90% of tap TDS when new. Unless the RO is equipped with an auto-flush that uses the RO water, it will soon begin to clog.
Most tap is > 300, so the chances of getting a product water of 30 ppms (as new) is slim to none.
But, let's say you have ideal conditions, calling 10% 'almost' is not scientifically 'close'
ScoobyDoobyDoo
Well-Known Member
i get about 45 psi out of the line i have on my r/o filter. that is after it comes through a pressure booster system. water pressure here in costa rica is notoriously low. before filtration i have water that is 145-160ppm. unfortunately here you can't get mineral concentrations from the municipal water companies so i decided to filter my water. i bought a hydro logic big boy pre-filter and the hydro logic evolution 1000 r/o filter. my water after filtration is between 8-12ppm. i've had the unit for 2 years and still haven't changed the cartridges on the pre-filter or the r/o filter. when growing bud i would call anything under 30ppm close enough. under 15ppm is pretty darn clean to me in comparison to what you start with. most r/o units are designed to stay charged so clogging is not an issue. we're not trying to do "scientific" tests here. we're trying to grow a plant.
TonightYou
Well-Known Member
... don't need r/o water if your tap is 140 or even 250. R/O water isn't really necessary if you don't have ridiculous hardness or well water which is high in minerals. The same stuff you are removing using to is some if the same stuff you end up putting back in. If you have good tap water save money and use that. A fool will find a million ways to over complicate an other wise easy thing.
ETA almost all water companies gave reports on the water quality. If it's not posted on their website, call and ask I'm sure you can get your hands on it.
ETA almost all water companies gave reports on the water quality. If it's not posted on their website, call and ask I'm sure you can get your hands on it.
ScoobyDoobyDoo
Well-Known Member
depends on what that 140 or 250ppm consists of. i'd love to know exactly what is in the 150ppm in my water but down here the water company doesn't tell you. so, to be safe i just filter it anyway. plus, i drink r/o water. a line goes to the ice makers and i fill up 5 gallon bottles for the water cooler with it. if you have the concentration reading from a municipal water company then you can adjust for any deficiencies or abundances. you may also find that your water contains something you don't want your plants drinking so you may want to filter it anyway. the pre-filter on my unit takes out chlorine and fluorides which i don't want my plants getting and saves me from having to let my water sit overnight or aerate to dissipate the chlorine.
TonightYou
Well-Known Member
That's true regarding what the numbers consist of, but if I'm not mistaken water companies have to publish these reports, so the information should be available. The amounts of chlorine and fluoride are negligible and are not harmful to the plants in the amounts available. Plus most things in the composition of 140-250 are small ranges of things plants actually like such as calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals. There are many more sensitive issues to deal with before blaming the water source.
ScoobyDoobyDoo
Well-Known Member
i live in Costa Rica most of the year. down here they don't publish the mineral concentrations of the water. depending on where you live sometimes the chlorine can be an issue in the water; especially in arizona and new mexico from what i hear.