# Tap Water, Mineral Water, Purified Water or Distilled Water???



## MrIntricate (Dec 7, 2006)

Which type of water should I use with my aeroponinc system. Yeah, yeah, I know about the Ph and all that jazz. So which is best? Is there even a difference?


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## OmegaVermelho (Dec 7, 2006)

u can use all except mineral water wich has high concentration of ppm....but anyway u should allways check and correct pH and ppm so..


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## Merciless_One (Dec 7, 2006)

I would have to say Distilled water, because there is no chlorine or other chemicals that are added for "taste" like there are in the regular tap. 

You probably don't want to to use "mineral" water either...for reasons that Omega said...you don't know which concentration of "minerals" are added to the water. You could probably go with "purified" water, since that is basically the same thing as distilled. 

I have only been using distilled water, and it's been giving me no issues at all


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## MrIntricate (Dec 7, 2006)

Thanks fellas.


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## OmegaVermelho (Dec 7, 2006)

Merciless_One said:


> ....I have only been using distilled water, and it's been giving me no issues at all....


I only do that 1 time at each cycle in my hydro setups .... 

Veg - i have the plants in a bubbler (20 Litre tub, olds 2 - 4 plants) 
Flower - Ebb n Flow (75 Litre tray 6 - 10 plants)

bealive me that the water bill would a lot cheaper if i use only tap water (after checking pH and ppm of course)...but destiled water or a reverse osmosis system are def the way to go...peace


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## padigreenfinger (Sep 16, 2008)

hi, rain water is super, but not always a possibility.
the reason being its pure, and has a low EC, normally 0.1

this will allow you to add alot more nutrients without destroying the medium. however, tapwater is just as good. especially if you have soft water, or there is a filter on your home. 

ppl say many things about water, but i always use soft tapwater. allow it to sit for 24 hours before use, to rid itself of chlorines, and measure the EC value. the lower it is, the more nutrients you can add. start with 0.6 for vegative stage, and continue to 2.2 till you finish your crop.....hope this was a help....


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## Alaskangrown (Nov 28, 2008)

The only problem with using soft water is that it has a high concentration of salt. Salt is not a problem at first, but if you intend on using the water your whole grow cycle, it will begin to build up within the soil.

The salt build up doesn't damage the plant, but it slows the growth in both veg and bloom.


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## feliks420 (Nov 28, 2008)

I'm no expert on growing... but distilled water is just the steam collected, which is basically pure H20, minus a few chemicals that may slip past the purification process.

And, as far as I thought I knew, plants took iron and other minerals from the water and fed on them as well....which distilled water doesn't have, but tap and spring water do. Am I wrong thinking that?


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## Squarepusher45 (Nov 29, 2008)

No your right, but... thats what nuts are for.
I have a water softener but all it does is take away lime and calcium and replace it with salt so my PPM is the same before and after softening. And PPM is like 400 and the EC is about 750 and ph at 8.0.
I think it's too strong a ppm to start babies with so I am buying distilled at like 89c gallon.
The distilled I get is like 1.2 ppm and 2.3 ec, and ph is 6.0, just seems more manageable at that level.
Gonna check and see how much reverse osmosis is and see if I can afford it.


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## Abnjm (Nov 29, 2008)

I have been mixing my batches with 1/2 very hard tap water (EC 0.9 / 450ppm; 8.4pH) and 1/2 distilled water. This way I can use the full nute mix, and still have some of the trace elements found in tap water. Now that I am in full bloom, and utilizing a fairly high EC, I am using 100% tap water. The mix comes out about 200ppm higher than mixing half and half, but it appears my pH is more stable.


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## BuddhaScientist (Nov 29, 2008)

Forget water...use Hennessy.

This is the beat aqeous solution out there. 

And when you're buds are ready they will be wet with fine cognac.


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## Perfextionist420 (Nov 29, 2008)

for my hydroponics grow i use filtered tap water thats sat out for 24 hours then nutrients added then ph corrected. i have yet to have a problem


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## fat sam (Jan 22, 2009)

you never want to use softened water, thats the worst because all those things do is add salt, if you cant afford a R/O then get a britta filter that attaches to the faucet, i have one and the regular tap has 280 ppm and after the filter it measures between 60-70


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## BUDGI (Jan 22, 2009)

I also use tap water haven't had any major problems so far growing for 8 years just
let it sit for 24hrs or so add nutes check ph good to go


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## rastamanvibration (Mar 27, 2009)

what about stream water does that work well also?


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## KaliKitsune (Mar 27, 2009)

In preferred order:

RO water
distilled
Purified
filtered
straight tap


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## GanjaEnthusiast (Apr 15, 2009)

KaliKitsune said:


> In preferred order:
> 
> RO water
> distilled
> ...


Kali do you let your RO water sit out over night as well as distilled purified etc.


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## KaliKitsune (Apr 16, 2009)

Generally, no I do not let RO water sit out.


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## Mcgician (Apr 16, 2009)

KaliKitsune said:


> Generally, no I do not let RO water sit out.


Agreed, as there would be no point. The intent of RO water is purely to drop the PPM. Used nothing but RO water for many years, but later on found out through experimentation that there was little if any difference between oxidized tap water of around 450ppm and my previous method (This was true ONLY for this particular strain, and this particular method). IMO, the only way to be safe and truly eliminate any sort of doubt when trying to decifer any sort of deficiency or excess, is to use a purified, distilled, or RO water to eliminate unknown or hard to calculate variables. Remember, when things are going fine, there's little to contemplate, but if and when something throws you a curve ball, reducing the amount of variables in the equation will help to further a quicker conclusion.


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## Giyan (Mar 11, 2010)

That sounds like your happy with that. I will use that


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## HARDBODYyadig (Mar 11, 2010)

Alaskangrown said:


> The only problem with using soft water is that it has a high concentration of salt. Salt is not a problem at first, but if you intend on using the water your whole grow cycle, it will begin to build up within the soil.
> 
> The salt build up doesn't damage the plant, but it slows the growth in both veg and bloom.



Hes growing in an aeroponic setup so the thing he would need to worry about using soft water would be clogging of his spray heads and or pump from salt build up.


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## igothydrotoneverywhere (Jul 15, 2010)

KaliKitsune said:


> In preferred order:
> 
> RO water
> distilled
> ...


I disagree that RO Water is the best, distilled is the purest thing available. But you have to transport the distilled water so a badass RO filter is always your best bet.


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## Harrekin (Jul 15, 2010)

What about naturally soft tap water? That surely wouldnt have the high salt content you speak of?


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## corners (Dec 23, 2011)

rastamanvibration said:


> what about stream water does that work well also?


Like many other water sources it would need to be tested, now a days many streams and rivers are filled with a lot of pollutents. If you see any redissh, or brown like sludge on the bottom of the stream , i wouldn't. Take a stick and stir the bottom a little. Put some in a clear cup and look at it. Id still say its not worth it unless you are far from cities out in the woods, or near mountain streams. 

If it was an outdoor plot, go for it. For indoors, i wouldnt.


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## toooom (Oct 28, 2012)

There is a stream near where i live that is out of town but it has an area with a pump and ppl fill water containers that ppl drink all the time. Would this be my best bet? i could easily take a 55 gallon water barrel and fill it once and that should last me a while.


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## matt7835706 (Oct 29, 2012)

I use my city water. I cant see any difference on to the next.


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## dudeman222 (Oct 29, 2012)

This thread is from 2006


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## toooom (Oct 30, 2012)

:O 2006! Most the time ppl bitch about starting new threads for old questions. So then when i use the search and post my question in the proper thread ppl bitch because its to old? Lol


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## dudeman222 (Oct 30, 2012)

water has changed so much since 2006... all this info is outdated!!


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## wcrazy78 (Jan 10, 2013)

Ok so what's better Purified or Distilled or RO if available?


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## monkey666 (Feb 20, 2013)

wcrazy78 said:


> Ok so what's better Purified or Distilled or RO if available?


(BUMP) Good question, going to buy water today and it seems like a Tesco's job and Distilled far trek to Tesco's how ever :'(


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## Omnispo (Mar 3, 2013)

The state of the art would be to Combine multiple options for the completely detoxification of your tap water. 

For example, for the purest possible water, like record cleaning fluid, procure a counter-top electric Distiller to evaporate+condense your tap water (up to three times- we will have the world's purest water with our triple distilled water haha laboratory reagent grade stored in amber non-leaching glass bottles ), 
this triple distilled water, you must then polish the distillate through activated carbon post filters. Including a 6-Stage reverse osmosis (R.O.) system processing step and a ceramic ultrafilter/microfiltering step won't hurt. The marginal benefits of Deionization media with which I don't bother.

From what I hear... Lead, copper, mercury, contaminants like flurosilicates and chloramines etc are not the best water-bourne nutrients for plants. 

Yes, I am being sarcastic about triple distillation, unless you are trying to water your tomatoes with seawater or Matt Damon frack-town tap water...

Personally I just purchased a Megahome distiller and its great for drinking and watering house plants, 
which is delicious even warm, after beneficialkaline re-mineralization of course, 
to prevent the distilled water from sucking up carbon dioxide into carbonic acid and becoming acidic.


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## kushykushkush (Mar 6, 2013)

MrIntricate said:


> Which type of water should I use with my aeroponinc system. Yeah, yeah, I know about the Ph and all that jazz. So which is best? Is there even a difference?


I'm fairly new to indoor growing and was getting dizzy at all the different suggestions, so I decided to test myself starting with my clones. I use an oxyclone system with 2 additional air pumps so I have crazy bubble action going on. All my clones are taken from the same mother. Here were my results:

1) Distilled Water - PH Level 6.5 - General Hydroponics rapid start added - Rooting time: 3 Weeks (Roots 4-6 inches long)

2) Spring Water - PH Level 6.5 - General Hydroponics rapid start added - Rooting Time: 1.5 Weeks (Roots 4-6 inches long)

3) Plain old tap water - PH Level 8 (Did not adjust levels) - GH Rapid start added - Rooting time: 1.5 Weeks (Roots 4-6 inches long)

got the quickest rooting results and greener fuller clones with spring water and tap water. The distilled water was slow and the clones did not seem to thrive at all. They stayed small.

The spring and tap water plants now in veg are quicker growing and really green!

Distilled in Veg are about half the size.

I decided since the tap water and spring water have had almost identical growth I will save my money and use tap water. I did not leave it out for 24 hours so I will see if that has any effect during flowering.


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## Solidasarock (Sep 28, 2013)

"minus a few chemicals that may slip past the purification process"

lol


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## JonnyAppleSeed420 (Sep 29, 2013)

I have been helping growers for over 20 years now and if its one thing I have learnt is only use a R/O system if you really need one. Most tap water that is meant to drink will be fine for your girls. Just like everything else , once that rumor starts...everyone jumps on the band wagon. If you live on a farm or use well water or there are advisories in your area then maybe think about it. Where I live there is no disenable difference from tap to pure..._JAS_


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## wascaptain (Oct 4, 2013)

padigreenfinger said:


> hi, rain water is super, but not always a possibility.
> the reason being its pure, and has a low EC, normally 0.1
> 
> this will allow you to add alot more nutrients without destroying the medium. however, tapwater is just as good. especially if you have soft water, or there is a filter on your home.
> ...


so rain water is super?!! that's what ive been using for my soil and dwc. my rain water is 7ish ph and low ppms. but shit is alive in the water, you look in the drum and its full of life. should I filter first?...I go right from the drum to the watering or bucket.


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## BunnyK (Feb 19, 2014)

My tap water ph is 7.2,ppm is 250.I mix nutrient to 400 ppm by the formula then ph to 5.8.After that PPM rised to 1000.what happen to my things ? Acid sulfuric for ph-ing


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## Mithrandir420 (Feb 19, 2014)

Tap water is fine. If it's OK for you to drink, it's OK for your plants. I don't even let it sit out. Fill the res, mix the nutes, ph the sucker. 

RO wastes a tremendous amount of water and is only really needed if you have really bad water, or have high enough mineral content that it blocks sprayers, etc.

JAS above has the right of it.


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## midnitetoak (Feb 19, 2014)

I'm using tap water with my aero setup- no problems to report- I think the best water to use is from the source that is easiest for you. Mineral water is not for growing though. I bought distilled water and spring/purified water my first few grows but found it's a waste of $$$ if your tap water works fine.


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## BunnyK (Feb 19, 2014)

midnitetoak said:


> I'm using tap water with my aero setup- no problems to report- I think the best water to use is from the source that is easiest for you. Mineral water is not for growing though. I bought distilled water and spring/purified water my first few grows but found it's a waste of $$$ if your tap water works fine.


I live in an Asian country and the water source here has been filtered before I use to fill the res.Always around 7.0-7.2 .The only thing I can't control is the PPM of solution,like wat I said,PPM up to 1000 from 600(200 is base of tap water) after a few drop of h2so4 98% to lower ph from 7.2 to 5.8 !
all that make sense ? Please figure me out this case and what should I do.So tired of thinking about soil growing,pain in the ass...! Btw that the rockwool I got here is "fire insulation",they need a step by step preparing to use,not easy as the other preparing guides on the internet.Well washing under pressured water to make it wet,use a salad spinner to get the water out without damage the cutted cubes,soaking in ph-ed water over nite then get the water out again and let seeds in.This is my first time growing hydroponic so many troubles through !!!!


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## DoctorDelta9 (May 6, 2015)

So question. Ro system or ro/di? The price isn't much different. Can the DI be detrimental in any way?


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