tap water PPM is 900! can i still grow (DWC)

A Gardener

A Gardener

New Member
so my ppm reading is 900 can I still grow in a DWC set up.now I am new to this whole ppm thing. so if my ppm of my tap water read 900 then it do I add that to my ppm readings? for example do I need to add in the PPM or minus the PPM to get to my target number ?

Example: if i want a ppm of 300
(900 +300 = 1200 ) meaning i need to shoot for 1200 to get my ppm reading of 300?

I hope someone can help with this . I am also on the 700 ppm scale if that even matters.

-A Gardener.
 
C

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Did you calibrate your meter?

The starting ppm is part of the total. If you want a ppm of 900, you have to start with 900 tap, and add nothing.. lol
 
panhead

panhead

Well-Known Member
Switch your meter over to EC & give us that reading , 900 ppm on either scale s too high to use , are you sure your meter is calibrated properly ? 900 ppm water has to be extremely hard well water & smell like rotten eggs & farts .

Our summer house has well water thats about 400 ppm before its treated & it smells like ass , our house in the city has public water & is normally under 200 ppm & smells clean & tastes clean , somethings wrong at 900 ppm , either your meter is way off or your water purification system is malfunctioning .

If you truly have 900 ppm water your gonna want to invest in a Reverse Osmosis system .
 
A Gardener

A Gardener

New Member
No i calibrated my meter its a blue lab ppm pen. It reads my tap water at 900 ppm.

I see these charts that show certan plants for early veg at 350 ppm. but how do I achieve that if my ppm on my tap water is reading at 900 ppm?
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
You will not be succesful with your tap water. You can get bottled water or buy a RO filter. That water may not be safe to drink.
 
panhead

panhead

Well-Known Member
If your starting with 900 ppm water you cant achieve a ppm of 350 , any nutes you add to that 900 ppm water will push it over 1,000 ppm , which is terribly high for clones & small plants .

When i mix my 50 gallon rez i have a rough estimate i use , for every 10 ml of nutes added the ppm raises by 10 ppm so if i add 100 ml of bloom nutes my ppm will raise by a figure of 100 , those figures will only hold true with my water & my brand nutes , different nutes are different strength , different water ect .

You shouldnt be using water with that high ppm to bathe in or feed to animals .

Something is wrong somewhere , do you have very old galvanized plumbing in the building ?

No matter you need a different water source weather from an RO system or bottled water , 900 is just too high a starting point .
 
Flagg420

Flagg420

Well-Known Member
Hundred bucks on amazon, get a small RO filter comes with like a 3g tank. Installs easy, can even just rig the output line from the end polishing filter straight to a float valve in a brute trash can... boom, constant 30gal supply of water @ 0-50ppm.... (get cal-mag to buffer that back up to a good 150... the filters do REALLY good, and you want some of them minerals back)

My uncle is having the same problem, I am in the city now so I am gonna give him my filter system and start using tap thats been bubbled for a few days....

You aren't putting this water in your body are you? Once you go over 500ppm, even the government starts gettin worried about just whats in the water... If you are on a well, it may be time for a deeper one, if you aren't... I would wonder too.... whats in the water?
 
O

old shol4evr

Well-Known Member
dude if you have no way to get RO water try this ,put about a gallon in a pot boil that shit ,let it cool off and measure your ppm see if it helps ,you got some messed up pipes some were i think your getting waste water threw the pipe some were. also try a few drop of bleach
 
O

old shol4evr

Well-Known Member
if i bring it down to manageable range then you just let it sit out for a day or use airstone to bubble it a day to get chlorine out
 
Flagg420

Flagg420

Well-Known Member
(Really.. all kidding aside... take a water sample for testing with your local county health department (they do this for ant public swimming pool or new drinking water source) theres paperwork, and a fee of like 15-30 bucks.... You may have contaminants from some pretty bad stuff.... the HD will have testing kits for collecting as well as detailed instructions on how to collect the sample)


You will find yourself spending a lot @ about $1/gal if u wanna use bottled water... my last 5g bubble bucket was drinking 1.5gal a day @ week 6....
 
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