Is RO a Must Have?

Jay Johnson

Active Member
Hi, I just recently made the jump to TLO (True Living Organics) and am trying to abide by the basic principles but have run into a kink. In past grows I thought that bubbling the water was all I needed to remove whatever was harmful in the water. Now i find out the Chlorine can evaporate in that time but Chloramine and flouride will still remain. Is there any safe way to get rid of these things, as I hear they can completely kill my hopes of trying to build a big myco population within my soil?

Does distilled water work just the same as an RO system? They are very expensive
Can something like a Pur/Brita Filter do any good or is that just wishful thinking?
Thank you all very much in advance

P.s. Does anyone know how I would go about contacting whoever to find out what is used to clean my water? I live in the midwest USA and I hear sometimes they just use chlorine which would be great.
 

wiseguy316

Well-Known Member
Look at your water tests provided by the city or county you live in. What are your ppm? Find out whats in your water before you decide to go RO. Most water is just fine for our plants. Some sucks ass and thats when you want to look onto RO.
 

wiseguy316

Well-Known Member
Go to the city or county you live in's website, most likely public works. And they have an annual water test and provide the results for everyone to see.
 

puffntuff

Well-Known Member
If you use ro you will have a cal/mag def. So don't forget you are taking everything out of the water not just the harmful shit.
 

wiseguy316

Well-Known Member
If you use ro you will have a cal/mag def. So don't forget you are taking everything out of the water not just the harmful shit.
That is true. There are beneficial things in the water they provide us in some places. If you are on well water you might want to consider RO. If you are in the city you are probably fine. Do you drink the water? If so your plants will be fine.
 

Jay Johnson

Active Member
Alrighty... thanks wiseguy I found the report but dont quite know what to make of it! There were a couple more #'s but hopefully someone can tell me Im good just bubbling! I dont have an idea what these measurements are in, PPM i think!
Chloramines =0.07 - 2.18
Flouride=0.63 - 0.65
Chlorine Dioxide= 0 - 26
Chloride= 18 - 27
Hardness= 90 - 154
Sodium= 12 - 16
 

wiseguy316

Well-Known Member
Alrighty... thanks wiseguy I found the report but dont quite know what to make of it! There were a couple more #'s but hopefully someone can tell me Im good just bubbling!
Chloramines =0.07 - 2.18
Flouride=0.63 - 0.65
Chlorine Dioxide= 0 - 26
Chloride= 18 - 27
Hardness= 90 - 154
Sodium= 12 - 16
look for another report, that one sucks, there is much more in your water than that.
 

wiseguy316

Well-Known Member
i will post mine and show the difference. Give me a minute.
I tried to edit out the info on the location and it wont let me.
 

Jay Johnson

Active Member
oh yea, my bad i just took what i thought was important, but here:
5BCMFPG%FUFDUFE$POUBNJOBOUT
Inorganic Materials Violation Units MCL MCLG Level Detected Range Sample Date Typical Source of Contamination
Barium No ppm 2 2 0.05 0.043 - 0.050 7/8/08 Erosion of natural deposits
Chloramines No ppm MRDL=4 MRDLG=4 2.18 0.07 - 2.18 daily Water additive used to control microbes
Chlorine dioxide No ppb MRDL=800 MRDL=800 260 0 - 260 daily Water additive used to control microbes
Chlorite No ppm 1.0 0.8 0.56 0.36 - 0.56 daily By-product of drinking water disinfection
Fluoride No ppm 4 4 0.65 0.63 - 0.65 7/8/08 Erosion of natural deposits
Selenium No ppb 50 50 1 <1 - 1 7/8/08 Discharge from petroleum and metal re&#64257;neries; erosion of natural
deposits; discharge from mines
Thallium No ppb 2 0.5 1 1 7/8/08 Leaching from ore-processing sites; discharge from electronics, glass
and drug factories
Organic Disinfection
By-Products
Violation Units MCL MCLG Highest RAA Range Sample Date Typical Source of Contamination
Halocetic Acids No ppb 60 N/A 20.4 12.0 - 28.7 monthly By-product of drinking water disinfection
Trihalomethanes No ppb 80 N/A 13.0 6.24 - 19.1 monthly By-product of drinking water disinfection
Secondary Contaminants/
Other Monitoring
Violation Units MCL SMCL Highest level
detected
Range Sample Date Typical Source of Contamination
Chloride No ppm N/A 250 27 18 - 27 monthly Erosion of natural deposits
Hardness (as CaCO3) N/A ppm N/A N/A 154 90 - 154 daily Erosion of natural deposits
Sodium N/A ppm N/A 10000 16 12 - 16 quarterly Erosion of natural deposits
Solids, Total Dissolved N/A ppm N/A 500 218 179 - 218 monthly Erosion of natural deposits
Sulfate N/A ppm N/A 250 52 40 - 52 monthly Erosion of natural deposits
 

wiseguy316

Well-Known Member
on you report I dont see barium , nitrate, Total organic compound, Turbidity, Total Trihalomethanes, Haloacetic Acids, Lead, Copper, calcium, mg or Total Coliform Bacteria.
Maybe they are not in there. I highly doubt it.
the report before you posted before me. I would use that water.
 

Jay Johnson

Active Member
Sorry bout that they were on a different chart I wish it would stay in chart form tho:
5BCMFPG%FUFDUFE$POUBNJOBOUT
Microbiological
Contaminants
Violation Units MCL MCLG Level Detected Range Sample Date Typical Source of
Contamination
Total Coliform
Bacteria
No % No more than
5% positives per
month
0 Highest monthly
percentage: 0.52%
1 positive sample out of 2,268
total samples collected for the
year, or 0.04%
January Naturally present in the
environment
Turbidity Violation Units TT Requirement MCLG Level Detected Range Sample Date Typical Source of
Contamination
Turbidity
1
No NTU Maximum 1 NTU
for any single
measurement
N/A Highest turbidity for 2009
was 0.09
5/12/09 Soil runoff, river sediment,
provides a medium for
microbiological growth
No % In any month,
at least 95% of
samples must be
below 0.3 NTU
2
N/A 100% of samples were
<0.3NTU
NA
Radionuclides Violation Units MCL MCLG Highest Level Range Sample Date Typical Source of
Contamination
Combined Uranium No ppb 30 0 3 1 - 3 7/8/08 Erosion of natural deposits
Gross Beta particle
activity
No pCi/l trigger level = 15 0 6 5 - 6 7/8/08 Decay of natural and
manmade deposits.
Lead and Copper Violation Units Action Level MCLG 90th Percentile Range Sample Date Typical Source of
Contamination
Copper No ppm 1.3 N/A 0.246 0 out of 65 sites sampled
exceeded AL
2008 Corrosion of household
plumbing systems
Lead No ppb 15 N/A 4 0 out of 65 sites sampled
exceeded AL
2008 Corrosion of household
plumbing systems
 

Monkeyfloss

Active Member
oh yea, my bad i just took what i thought was important, but here:
5BCMFPG%FUFDUFE$POUBNJOBOUT
Inorganic Materials Violation Units MCL MCLG Level Detected Range Sample Date Typical Source of Contamination
Barium No ppm 2 2 0.05 0.043 - 0.050 7/8/08 Erosion of natural deposits
Chloramines No ppm MRDL=4 MRDLG=4 2.18 0.07 - 2.18 daily Water additive used to control microbes
Chlorine dioxide No ppb MRDL=800 MRDL=800 260 0 - 260 daily Water additive used to control microbes
Chlorite No ppm 1.0 0.8 0.56 0.36 - 0.56 daily By-product of drinking water disinfection
Fluoride No ppm 4 4 0.65 0.63 - 0.65 7/8/08 Erosion of natural deposits
Selenium No ppb 50 50 1 <1 - 1 7/8/08 Discharge from petroleum and metal re&#64257;neries; erosion of natural
deposits; discharge from mines
Thallium No ppb 2 0.5 1 1 7/8/08 Leaching from ore-processing sites; discharge from electronics, glass
and drug factories
Organic Disinfection
By-Products
Violation Units MCL MCLG Highest RAA Range Sample Date Typical Source of Contamination
Halocetic Acids No ppb 60 N/A 20.4 12.0 - 28.7 monthly By-product of drinking water disinfection
Trihalomethanes No ppb 80 N/A 13.0 6.24 - 19.1 monthly By-product of drinking water disinfection
Secondary Contaminants/
Other Monitoring
Violation Units MCL SMCL Highest level
detected
Range Sample Date Typical Source of Contamination
Chloride No ppm N/A 250 27 18 - 27 monthly Erosion of natural deposits
Hardness (as CaCO3) N/A ppm N/A N/A 154 90 - 154 daily Erosion of natural deposits
Sodium N/A ppm N/A 10000 16 12 - 16 quarterly Erosion of natural deposits
Solids, Total Dissolved N/A ppm N/A 500 218 179 - 218 monthly Erosion of natural deposits
Sulfate N/A ppm N/A 250 52 40 - 52 monthly Erosion of natural deposits
I give you six months to live, tops.... just kiddin
 

wiseguy316

Well-Known Member
Use it , no worries. I would recommend a good water filter for under the sink. Cheap insurance for you and your plants.
 

Jay Johnson

Active Member
It says that they are well below allowed levels...so that means I should be good? No problems with killing off beneficials in the soil?
 

Jay Johnson

Active Member
Do you have any recommendations for a cheap under sink water filter? Dont really know what im looking for. Thats not the same as a RO unit?
 
Top