Is R/O Water all that important?

noxiously

noxiously

Well-Known Member
When doing a hydro system, is R/O water that important to use, and if so why? I know tap water has chlorine and other elements in it, but does it make a huge difference once you get the chlorine out of the water? What if I were to just take a sample ppm reading from three different days, get an average, then just add the nutes then? So lets say the ppm is around 450 just from the tap, then why couldn't I just add 600-900 ppm depending on the stage, and leave it at that?

Any advice would be helpful on this. I just don't wanna have to go out and purchase 10 gallons of R/O water to use, and have as back up if I can use tap water without harmful results.
 
ChubbySoap

ChubbySoap

Well-Known Member
tap water has a lot of sodium and minerals that increase the ppm levels and ends up clogging stuff...the nutrient formula can also be easily thrown out of balance and deficiencies and lockouts can quickly become a major issue, any water source over 50 PPM of hardness should be purified. They sell systems so you can just make your own.

you want to give your girls the best of the best.
 
noxiously

noxiously

Well-Known Member
Ahhhh, ok. I figured there was a logical explanation to using R/O water. How much do those systems run, (is it a water purifier)?
 
kevin

kevin

Well-Known Member
my tap water runs anywhere from 350 to 450 and that's what my plants get with no ill effects. i just watch my meters and adjust accordingly. i use the general hydroponics line up and usually if you cut the dosage by half the ppm will be close. there is a pretty good thread by AL B. Fuct if you can find it, it is well worth the read.
 
TruenoAE86coupe

TruenoAE86coupe

Moderator
I will agree Al B. Fuct uses tap water, i will never argue with him, but he is not in the US and i question our tap water quality, how many of us drink bottled water regularly instead of tap? I like knowing exactly what is in my water so i got a 0 ppm Ro system ($100 will provide a link if you want) and now i know exactly what is in there no questions. You can very likely grow great plants using tap water, typically would be an easier set up too, but i personally prefer knowing exactly what is in my res at all times.
 
C

cmt1984

Well-Known Member
i used to get lots of brown spots on my leaves before i got my RO system...dont seem to get them anymore...im assuming it was some kind of rust build up or something.

i would say it depends on your water quality though, where im at, the water isnt all that great.
 
noxiously

noxiously

Well-Known Member
TruenoAE86coupe said:
I will agree Al B. Fuct uses tap water, i will never argue with him, but he is not in the US and i question our tap water quality, how many of us drink bottled water regularly instead of tap? I like knowing exactly what is in my water so i got a 0 ppm Ro system ($100 will provide a link if you want) and now i know exactly what is in there no questions. You can very likely grow great plants using tap water, typically would be an easier set up too, but i personally prefer knowing exactly what is in my res at all times.
Click to expand...

Sure, a link would be great. I would like to check and see what these systems are about and what they can do. I wonder if one of those water filtration systems you put on the end of the faucet can help any. I'm gonna have to go buy one, check my tap before and after and see what kind of results I get. I've already been testing different bottled waters that are on the market, just for fun and to see which one is actually cleaner. So far I have found that Ice Mountain and Dasani are the best, usually run in the low 20's ppm. Next up is Deja Blue, and Fiji lol.
 
drgreentm

drgreentm

Well-Known Member
i have always used tap water for my plants in hydro with no ill effects i do lower the nutes a bit because the water already has some essential elements in it like Ca, Mg and Cl your nutes should have the same in them so i like to lower the nutes a bit to keep from over dosing them with any elements that are already present in the water. chlorine is nothing to worry about ether it is a essential element if you look on your nute's label im sure it has at least .01% chlorine.
 
toquer

toquer

Active Member
lately we've noticed that when using just RO water we see nute deficiency as the water pulls nutrients out of the soil in between feedings. so instead we use RO and tap water to bring the ppm of our "water" down to about 250 for our waterings inbetween feedings. originally we used just tap water and had a huge amount of sodium buildup which locked out Ca, Mg, and K. Then when using just plain RO we see Ca being deficient followed by Mg. So now with the changeover to using partial RO and partial tap the results are much nicer. but in hyrdro...RO all the way.
 
devero420

devero420

Active Member
I have been using tap water for my last two grows. Some swear by RO water because it is a clean slate. You can easilly go to your municipal website and find the exact makup of your tap water. Some tap water is better than others, but mg and a few other minerals are present and the chlorine will help keep your res from stagnating. RO can get pricey especially when you get into flowering and each plant is drinking a gallon of water every three days.

Other will disagree with me I am sure, but here are my two cents:
.01 - After my first RO grow got expensive. I have been using tap water with no adverse side effects. Infact I think my tap plants are doing better at this stage then my PO plants did.
.02 - Tap water contains things that you would otherwise have to supplement like MG.
 
noxiously

noxiously

Well-Known Member
devero420 said:
I have been using tap water for my last two grows. Some swear by RO water because it is a clean slate. You can easilly go to your municipal website and find the exact makup of your tap water. Some tap water is better than others, but mg and a few other minerals are present and the chlorine will help keep your res from stagnating. RO can get pricey especially when you get into flowering and each plant is drinking a gallon of water every three days.

Other will disagree with me I am sure, but here are my two cents:
.01 - After my first RO grow got expensive. I have been using tap water with no adverse side effects. Infact I think my tap plants are doing better at this stage then my PO plants did.
.02 - Tap water contains things that you would otherwise have to supplement like MG.
Click to expand...
I would have to agree with you on that. I keep hearing others say they have to buy this and that to add to their R/O water all the time just so the water is suitable. Now too much chlorine is probably bad though, but with an inexpensive tap filter I'm sure it would help with that. I'm going to go check out one of those water filters that screw onto the faucet and see what all it filters out. The way I see it, I along with everyone I know, uses tap water for their houseplants, flowers, and their gardens with no adverse affects.
 
TruenoAE86coupe

TruenoAE86coupe

Moderator
I use extremely high end nutrients and have never seen any ill effects of the ro water, regardless of how much i push the nutes. I believe if your nutrients are truely complete they are meant to use in RO water.
As far as hooking it up, if you buy a new unit it will come with 2 saddle valves (1 for the supply, 1 for the waste) Needs to be plumbed in using the supplied 1/4 tubing. I use a 55 gallon drum as my res, just installed the included float valve in it and let it store the ro water til i need it. Can get the ones with the res attached, but they are very small. Pretty simple when you have it in your hands, well i guess for me it is, this is the kind of thing i do though.
 
kevin

kevin

Well-Known Member
everything that gets pulled out with the r.o. process has to be replaced. so you are paying for the r.o. system and up keep, then you have to spend money on additives that the r.o. system filtered out? that sounds like a money eating machine. think about what sparkafire had to say. doesn't get to be anymore of a simple explanation.

sparkafire said:
Don't waste your money on R/O if you can drink it you can use it in Hydroponics.
Click to expand...
 
skiweeds

skiweeds

Active Member
you can get RO water for about $2 for 5 gallons at walmart. about $10 for the container but you only buy it once. i used to use only that but lately i switched to tap. i've noticed no difference. the reason i switched is because it was just too much hassle running to walmart all the time especially since my grow op is bigger now. besides that, lake mi water is very clean and im not far from the source. i usually let containers of water sit out for 12-24 hours so the chlorine evaporates.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top