Letting Water sit out

Stop doing it... I read that all the time on here and it's a little rediculous. Since h2o is the only thing that evaporates from your container, all you are doing is making it worse for your plants by making your water more concentrated with more crap. Think about it, you lessen the amount of water while keeping the same amount of minerals.
Now if you collected the evaporated water from the original container, now you're talking about a more pure source.

it is a good idea because the chlorine can evaporate in a day or two with minimal water evaporation and you can cover the container to prevent more water loss. The amount of water that does evaporate would raise the ppm's by a few points at most, if any.

AKRevo47 said:

it is a good idea because the chlorine can evaporate in a day or two with minimal water evaporation and you can cover the container to prevent more water loss. The amount of water that does evaporate would raise the ppm's by a few points at most, if any.

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about sums it up

AKRevo47 said:

it is a good idea because the chlorine can evaporate in a day or two with minimal water evaporation and you can cover the container to prevent more water loss. The amount of water that does evaporate would raise the ppm's by a few points at most, if any.

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QFT. I use distilled water in my DWC grow. By distilled I mean I leave the tap water out for 24 hours to evaporate the chlorine. I've never noticed a loss in water. Furthermore, chlorine AND minerals evaporate. I developed a mag/cal deficiency as a result.

AKRevo47 said:

it is a good idea because the chlorine can evaporate in a day or two with minimal water evaporation and you can cover the container to prevent more water loss. The amount of water that does evaporate would raise the ppm's by a few points at most, if any.

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except that is generally not true at all. Most municipalities use chloramine, not chlorine. Chloramine will not evaporate no matter how long you let it sit out. So doing so is useless.

420n00b said:

QFT. I use distilled water in my DWC grow. By distilled I mean I leave the tap water out for 24 hours to evaporate the chlorine. I've never noticed a loss in water. Furthermore, chlorine AND minerals evaporate. I developed a mag/cal deficiency as a result.

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minerals do NOT evaporate. They get more concentrated as the water evaporates. Chlorine evaporates because it is a gas that wants to escape. That is why most places stopped using chlorine decades ago and switched to chloramine which will not evaporate.

And unless you run your water through a vapor still, you are not getting distilled water.

wittaker said:

Stop doing it... I read that all the time on here and it's a little rediculous. Since h2o is the only thing that evaporates from your container, all you are doing is making it worse for your plants by making your water more concentrated with more crap. Think about it, you lessen the amount of water while keeping the same amount of minerals.
Now if you collected the evaporated water from the original container, now you're talking about a more pure source.

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a lot of the bs you read on here is just that, ridiculous bs. But people hear these ideas and keep repeating them without actually knowing the facts.

Kerovan said:

except that is generally not true at all. Most municipalities use chloramine, not chlorine. Chloramine will not evaporate no matter how long you let it sit out. So doing so is useless.

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No need to get disgruntled, alot of info here is good info with the amount of experimentation and experience everyone brings to the table. Its like stereotyping, while not true for most, in many situations it can be. Id rather let my water sit out and evaporate out whatever 'harmful' chemicals it can instead of using water straight from the tap or paying out the ass for filtered water. Not to mention, not all municipalities use chloramine, so it would be best to check your water utility for the quality rather than just issuing out a blanket statement of how a citys water is treated. To each their own...

Either way, my plants love tap water. They tell me and show me how much they do everyday!

And just for a little extra info:

Chloramine can be removed from tap water by treatment with superchlorination (10 ppm or more of free chlorine, such as from a dose of sodium hypochlorite bleach or pool sanitizer

So the chlorine in the water helps to remove the chloramine, but of course, nothing is 100%

2 birds, 1 stone

AKRevo47 said:

No need to get disgruntled, alot of info here is good info with the amount of experimentation and experience everyone brings to the table. Its like stereotyping, while not true for most, in many situations it can be. Id rather let my water sit out and evaporate out whatever 'harmful' chemicals it can instead of using water straight from the tap or paying out the ass for filtered water. Not to mention, not all municipalities use chloramine, so it would be best to check your water utility for the quality rather than just issuing out a blanket statement of how a citys water is treated. To each their own...

Either way, my plants love tap water. They tell me and show me how much they do everyday!

And just for a little extra info:

Chloramine can be removed from tap water by treatment with superchlorination (10 ppm or more of free chlorine, such as from a dose of sodium hypochlorite bleach or pool sanitizer

So the chlorine in the water helps to remove the chloramine, but of course, nothing is 100%

2 birds, 1 stone

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I didn't get disgruntled. Like the OP stated, a lot of people let water sit out so that the chlorine can outgas. You then stated it is a good idea. And if it just plain old chlorine in the water you are correct, it will outgas that way. I just pointed out that most places have switched to chloramine, and chloramine will not evaporate, so letting it sit out won't matter if that is what is being used in your tap water.

And I didn't say that there was not good info here. There is a lot of good info here, that's why I've been a lurker here for so long, but there are myths, old wives tales and plain old bs here also. Just like any forum you find on the web. People need to learn that just because they read something doesn't make it true. Even some of the growbooks that are quoted have the same old myths in them also. People hear something and it gets repeated in various places until people start quoting it as gospel truth without doing the proper controlled experiments to find out the real truth. It "sounds"plausible, so they believe it.

If somebody is worried about chlorine/chloramine or anything else in the water, the best thing you can do is get a good RO unit to purify your water. If you can't afford that, or don't want to do that the best thing you can is just ignore the fact that it's in the water, since as you pointed out, your plants love tap water anyway.

i just read on wikipedia that actually boiling the water removes this chloramine but shit who has the time to do that?

ok i just read on wikipedia that chloramine can be removed from water by boiling it for 20 minutes and also for a much bigger supply like 40 gallons one could dissolve 1000 mg of vitamin c in the water

I let my water sit before using it or use bottle water only beacuse the water goes to room temperature but dont believe it make a difference mineral wise..

well never mind i just read somewhere else that boiling the water also concentrates other inorganic impurrties

so how long do u let the water sit im currently oxygenating mine with an airstone

Haha i usr straight tap water with no probs so why change?!!

I let mine sit 24hrs or day before i water and then the water is good temperature instead of cold and shockin roots

Chlorine will outgass
Minerals are present in the form of salts and wont evaporate.
Boiling or standing the water will not concentrate the salts unless a significant amount of water is vaporized.
Distilled water is made like moonshine liquor, the water is evaporated and recondensed, leaving all the non volatile components behind.

Kerovan: There is a lot of good info here, that's why I've been a lurker here for so long, but there are myths, old wives tales and plain old bs here also. Just like any forum you find on the web. People need to learn that just because they read something doesn't make it true. Even some of the growbooks that are quoted have the same old myths in them also. People hear something and it gets repeated in various places until people start quoting it as gospel truth without doing the proper controlled experiments to find out the real truth. It "sounds"plausible, so they believe it.

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Yes! A lot of superstition and myth mixed in with real knowledge. "Plausibility" is the most insiduous. Many things that sound plausible are wrong or the effects are so weak as to be insignificant. Until someone has done a controlled experiment you dont know. 'Plausible' is just an educated guess. My favorite example is this current fashion about gardening in phase with the moon.

Think about swimming pools. When they are treated they will not let life grow. Let it go for a good week. Bam! life signs all over that thing in the form of green slime. let it go long enough and it will look like a full on pond. You can use plant life to treat water. Look up green water treatment plants.

Haha this thread still goin on all i av to say is leave the 1s that want to waste money on distilled water i mean fuck me if i had to do that id need pallets of tje stuff every week lol i ve used both in my time and in my experience neva had a problem with straight tap water with a little boiled water to raise the temp a little neva left water to sit for 24 or 48 hours and i neva will !!

my plants love tap water