Is Hard Water an issue???

My garden is outside, i am on a domestic well, no city water.. but my water is very hard... it stains glass and will even ruin paint, Is it ok to run my drip system straight from my well or do i need some kind of softener but then how does salt effect the plants?? Thanks!

Welcome to RIU!! Yes hard water can be really hard on plants. Here in Alaska most all the water is hard right now.

Yes, hard water is bad and will easily cause a build up of salts in the soil. You need to test for ppm on the water and if it's over 250-300 ppm, you'll need a reverse osmosis machine to remove everything so you are at a good starting point before adding fertilizer.......

Definate case for an RO if its staining glass and ruining paint, It'll pay for itself your first harvest.

Can these things be ran outside? Or is it something i need inside my house then transport water outside? I have a $300 drip system i just bought for my garden so i was hoping to get its use!

Whats an RO?

2012dmax said:

Whats an RO?

Click to expand...

reverse osmosis .. few pics to explain:



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Duh.... Must be past my bed time, anyone purchased one before? I would like a quality one but google shows to many at different prices.

Counter units can be put on outside water bibs if you have enough pressure in your system. I use a kitchen counter unit and it produces around 20 gallons in about 6 hours. The water going in has a ppm of over 450, coming out it's 30 ppm. Enough said, it's quite effective.

Reverse Osmosis is a process of running water thru various filters to clean/scrub everything out of the water. This is where I buy my devise, and there is a lot of good info there and numerous other places if you search: www.freedrinkingwater.com

Ebay has many units for sale....just buy one that uses good quality filters, some there do and some there DON'T.