I've been using city tap water in my hydro setup from day one I just recently have started to filter my water through a carbon filter, in hopes of bringing down the chlorine content. Which has seemed to really make things happier. In my simple brain the biggest advantage of running RO or distilled water would be to eliminate the chlorine..... Or should I start looking at trying RO water???? Just trying to improve living conditions of my girls any good info welcome
City tap water?
- Thread starter burney247
- Start date
New Age United
Well-Known Member
Ya I would definitely at least try to filter it, you'll probably taste that shit in the bud. If your city water is anything like my city water I would just buy cooler water. I have hard water and a softner so that's what I use cooler water, and I'm growing in soil so if I was doing hydro I would definitely be using distilled water, even a carbon filter is not good enough.
budterrorizt
Member
I did notice with a couple different strains that the tap water actually worked better. the absolute best was using a RO unit.... Then it was just plain water, but as mentioned above, i dod have to compensate for Cal, Mag and Iron !! But everyone has there own little nicks and do whatever works well for them !!!
BobCajun
Well-Known Member
Yeah, like vostock said you just leave the water open for a day or so and the chlorine dissipates. If your water is fluoridated you would need reverse osmosis though. Carbon filters don't remove it and considering how bad fluoride is I really wouldn't want to smoke it in my weed. With hydro, you have to keep topping it up with fresh water so treating it is more important than with pots where it flows right through and impurities don't build up. Unfortunately, RO units are quite costly. Maybe a DIY distillation rig could be made where a glass or metal container is sat on top of light ballasts and tubing goes from its cap to a lower jug for collection. I never tried it but it might slowly distill some. You would then get use from otherwise wasted power.
redi jedi
Well-Known Member
It would have to be very high/hard before you couldn't use it. Hard to say for sure.
DirtyMcCurdy
Well-Known Member
I personally recommend using RO water. City water does have calcium, mag, and iron but at what ratios? And are they even in a form your plants can uptake? I doubt it, especially the iron as it is probably oxidized already. City water can also contain quite a bit of Na, which is not something you want more of. My city water is in the high 300 to almost 400 ppm range and I have no idea what is all in there-needless to say I have to use RO water.
vostok
Well-Known Member
Good Post..! often I bitch to the DWC guys to have their city water checked by a lab, 3-4 times per year,...as this time of year(fall) very little water is evident in most cities water reservoirs, most cities engineers are desperate for water and get it from some of the strangest of places, at least dwc guys should visit and talk with their local water engineer, or like above even buy it in
BobCajun
Well-Known Member
I picked up a Zerowater 23 cup water filter/dispenser today. Nice little unit. Under $50, has a combination carbon/ion exchange filter that takes tap water down to almost 000 ppm. Comes with a nice little TDS pen to check it. Mine came out reading 001, close enough. It started out at 050. You can put about 150 liters through it before you need a new filter, which are 2 for $32, so costs about 10 cents a liter. Might be possible to regenerate the ion exchange beads a few times though, making it cheaper.
Lord Kanti
Well-Known Member
I aerate my water upon fill and also via bubbler. I'm not paying for calcium and magnesium when my city provides it for free. The only thing that needs a bump is the magnesium and sulphur I get from Epsom salts.
Lord Kanti
Well-Known Member
Cities have to test and post what's in the tap water. I know exactly what's in my water. Well, unless there's a conspiracy hiding something, sinister...
eightinthebox
Active Member
Well we are not told EVERYTHING exactly..
hotrodharley
Well-Known Member
If water is left to room air exposure the chlorine turns into chloramine. Any simple carbon filter removes both. Call your water department and ask them to mail you the last two test results on the water you get at the tap. Or to give you the URL to the posted results online.
Michael Huntherz
Well-Known Member
Are we not? Based on what? My local water company is pretty transparent about it, and I happen to know one of the people who does the water quality studies here. Not everything is a cover-up, but there are enough real ones we don't need comments like yours muddying the waters. People are already factually illiterate enough, I think.
Last edited:
BobCajun
Well-Known Member
Oh, I thought it just dissipated. Guess at least a carbon filter is important then. I wouldn't advise using tapwater with just a carbon filter if it's fluoridated though. I don't know exactly what effect it would have on the plants but it's definitely toxic so common sense tells you it should probably be removed. Other stuff in the water that's left after carbon filtration probably wouldn't be too bad. You would just need to check the nutrient solution with a tds meter and make sure it doesn't e above 1500 ppm, preferrable around 650-750. You can get cheap tds meters at Walmart.
budterrorizt
Member
I must be doing alright then with my tap water becuase from the tap my water reads in at 7.1-7.3 ph and 90-110 ppm ..... And thats before its sat out in the res