No ro water
- Thread starter Blalack55
- Start date
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
RO and Distilled are essentially the same. either can provide < 10ppm water, they just use different methods
You can buy an excellent RO < $300 which you can use as a base for cooking and drinking water as well as to mix nutrients. I add sea minerals for personal drinking
You can buy an excellent RO < $300 which you can use as a base for cooking and drinking water as well as to mix nutrients. I add sea minerals for personal drinking
TacoMac
Well-Known Member
No, they are not.
A good RO unit provides surgical grade water with absolutely ZERO contaminates. Distilled water you buy at the grocery store still has additives like chlorine, fluoride and phosphorus to preserve it. (Not in quanities large enough to effect your plant though, that's for sure.) Pure distilled water, like RO water, only keeps for a few days before it starts going south.
All of that said, you only really need RO or distilled water if you live in a very hard water area. If you don't, it's not really necessary at all. You can use regular tap water with some de-chlorinator drops and you'll be just fine.
Blalack55
Member
The thing is it's stealth so I can't hook up the ro trust me I would already have one lol but I basically just need recommendations on where to buy like bulk distilled or something like that, I was told Wal-Mart or aquarium stores have it I just want to see if anyone else did that too
SouthCross
Well-Known Member
I grow with rain and dehumidifier water. I have 30, one gallon vinegar and Arizona Ice tea jugs filled with water. The dehumidifier empties into a 5 gallon bucket and some of that water is also stored. The majority is rain water.
I haven't bought water in about 2.5 years. I still have the 5gallon jug that came with it. It also gets filled with rain water.
I haven't bought water in about 2.5 years. I still have the 5gallon jug that came with it. It also gets filled with rain water.
Observe & Report
Well-Known Member
Why do they sell deionizing cartridges that go after the RO membrane?
TacoMac
Well-Known Member
To de-ionize it, of course. My RO unit came with one. It's a 5 stage RO/DI unit.
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
Where do you get your info? Prior to the redo of our municipal water system, tap was > 350ppm. The typical RO system reduces the tap water by 90%. adding a booster pump can further reduce the product ppms.. The only way to get surgical grade water is to pass that water through a DI filter and/or UV light
The only way distilled water would have any "additives like chlorine, fluoride and phosphorus" (why would they add phosphorus?) would be if the water did not pass through a post carbon filter, which would not remove said phosphorus
Please explain how either pure water could go south? this simply could not happen when stored in a closed system storage tank.
WeedFreak78
Well-Known Member
Yeah, how does stripped water, in a sealed container, go bad?
grassy007
Well-Known Member
I just want to add that my delivery water company, Pure Flo, puts stuff back into their water. They add Calcium Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, and Sodium Bicarbonate (to raise the ph, no doubt). I'm not sure what quantities of these chemicals they add. They refuse to list details about the exact quantity content of the stuff they add. Instead, all they provide is a .pdf sheet about state and federal water regulations. Anyways, I just wanted to add that not all RO water is completely void of minerals. I add cal-mag anyways. Do all RO water suppliers put stuff back into their RO drinking water, I wonder?
oldfogey420
Well-Known Member
A copy/paste that i think will benefit this conversation:
Does distilled water contain harmful substances that have a lower boiling point than water?
The only reliable way to remove chemicals in our water supply is through distillation. Distillation is a very straightforward concept: You boil off the water, and all the undesirable “extras” are left behind. To do the job correctly, however, takes a little finesse.
Some of these compounds are left behind during the distillation process, no matter how the distillation is carried out. These compounds and minerals make up the residue you'll see remaining in the tray or bottom chamber of your home machine.
The finesse part has to do with the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that boil off before the water. (More properly, the compounds have what's called a lower vapor pressure than water. The effect is the same—they evaporate before the water does.) In a properly made distillation unit, the tap water is preheated to just below the boiling point to drive off the compounds that are lighter than water. Once those compounds have evaporated, the water is heated just to the boiling point and is sent to the condensation chamber to return to its liquid state as pure water.
A unit that doesn't include the preheating phase will evaporate the VOCs along with the water, so they'll condense with the steam and remain in the finished product. While this won’t concentrate the harmful compounds, it will leave the purifying job half done.
If you don't distill your water yourself, you won’t know about the process used—which is why I recommend not just that you drink distilled water, but that you buy a high-quality home distiller unit and use that. Lower-quality units seldom have the preheating step, so I don't recommend them.
It's true that distilled water is acidic, whether it comes from a store-bought jug or a distiller at home. The acidity occurs because carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in the water, creating a very dilute solution of carbonic acid. Distilled water in a container that’s been sitting open for a while could have a pH in the range of 6. (For comparison, vinegar has a pH of about 4, or 100 times as acidic.)
Does distilled water contain harmful substances that have a lower boiling point than water?
The only reliable way to remove chemicals in our water supply is through distillation. Distillation is a very straightforward concept: You boil off the water, and all the undesirable “extras” are left behind. To do the job correctly, however, takes a little finesse.
Some of these compounds are left behind during the distillation process, no matter how the distillation is carried out. These compounds and minerals make up the residue you'll see remaining in the tray or bottom chamber of your home machine.
The finesse part has to do with the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that boil off before the water. (More properly, the compounds have what's called a lower vapor pressure than water. The effect is the same—they evaporate before the water does.) In a properly made distillation unit, the tap water is preheated to just below the boiling point to drive off the compounds that are lighter than water. Once those compounds have evaporated, the water is heated just to the boiling point and is sent to the condensation chamber to return to its liquid state as pure water.
A unit that doesn't include the preheating phase will evaporate the VOCs along with the water, so they'll condense with the steam and remain in the finished product. While this won’t concentrate the harmful compounds, it will leave the purifying job half done.
If you don't distill your water yourself, you won’t know about the process used—which is why I recommend not just that you drink distilled water, but that you buy a high-quality home distiller unit and use that. Lower-quality units seldom have the preheating step, so I don't recommend them.
It's true that distilled water is acidic, whether it comes from a store-bought jug or a distiller at home. The acidity occurs because carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in the water, creating a very dilute solution of carbonic acid. Distilled water in a container that’s been sitting open for a while could have a pH in the range of 6. (For comparison, vinegar has a pH of about 4, or 100 times as acidic.)
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
If using a distiller (though I don't now why one would) a pre carbon filter is essential to remove the chemicals before they become VOCs. Home distillers are problematic as the hardness minerals collect in the boiler, requiring frequent cleaning, plus the electric cost to operate and the time it takes to make a gallon, let alone 3+. I had one long before ROs were commercially available. My RO has a booster pump, which not only provides a more pure product water, it also makes the membrane more efficient
Blalack55
Member
My problem is I don't have access to ro water so I'm trying to find out what the next best option is
SouthCross
Well-Known Member
Better description.....it go's stale...lacking of a fresh smell.
Add 1ml, 3% H202 per gallon to keep it fresh-ish. Add it every 30 days. If the water is acidic.(dehumidifier water test at 4.5ph). Bubble it for around three or more days. The PH will raise to a neutral 7.0.
I use tap water which is actually hard. Ive had no problems relating to using said water (but ive checked my water report for chlormine etc)
Ive tested using Distilled and RO and not seen any adverse affects of using my tap, I would recommend using what you have and seeing how it goes, it saves you a big pain if sourcing RO is an issue and you need to buy Distilled.
Ive tested using Distilled and RO and not seen any adverse affects of using my tap, I would recommend using what you have and seeing how it goes, it saves you a big pain if sourcing RO is an issue and you need to buy Distilled.
WeedFreak78
Well-Known Member
So it goes anaerobic and needs aeration before use, a common problem with any sitting water. I've had sealed bottles of distilled water around for years, that weren't any different than the first one I opened.
I have to
any time someone says water goes bad. If your in soil, dump that shit in, fuck PH unless it's got nutrients in it.
SouthCross
Well-Known Member
So it goes anaerobic and needs aeration before use, a common problem with any sitting water. I've had sealed bottles of distilled water around for years, that weren't any different than the first one I opened.
I have to
It won't go bad but it sure will go funky.
Jimdamick
Well-Known Member
Or you can fill a 5 gal bucket with your city tap water, and allow the chlorine to evaporate overnight, which it will.
RO is only needed if you have really fucked up well water, otherwise it is a waste of money in my opinion.
WeedFreak78
Well-Known Member
As long as your waters stable, you can accommodate fairly high EC tap water. Our water fluctuates too much, 0.3ec one day, 0.6 a few days later, PH between 7 and 8.5, varying levels of chlorine. RO was the best investment I made, but I was all hydro at the time. Took out a big variable in my garden. I've considered trying tap again now that I'm back in soil, but I figure I bought the RO might as well keep using it. I think it costs me around $200/yr, over the cost of the tap, for filters and cal mag. Small price for consistency.
Blalack55
Member
Dude you are right and I actually have bag seed that I'll test out! I mean I will test my water and do the best I can but you're absolutely right at least I'll try it first and I plan on using coco I heard it's a good buffer and leaving more fan leaves on will help if water isn't the best.