Detroit Tap water 280 ppm?

The Growery

Active Member
Finally got a ppm meter, tested my distilled tap water reservoir and it reads 280 ppm! do I need to be seriously concerned about this? I'm leaning towards a r/o filter from lowes... does this mean that my plants should be vegging and flowering bigger without all that extra ppm in there? damn myself for not doing this sooner.
 

The Growery

Active Member
you must live in a newer house (jealous) I live in a old-ass 1920's built house so I'm sure that has something to do with it
 

zone5bmi

Active Member
you must live in a newer house (jealous) I live in a old-ass 1920's built house so I'm sure that has something to do with it
If u live in a brick house im the jealous one : ) My house was built in the early 60's late 50's from what im told. I suggest getting RO system if you can. I know I will once I save up the cash to do so. And say hell with the garbage they put in the water. Ill add junk in the water then I cant blame it on no one elsebongsmilie
 

Orlandocb

Well-Known Member
It probably has to with what part of the city you live in, where i live the water plant has like 13 different zones and im most positive detroit is bigger
 

The Growery

Active Member
right? not to mention it should pay for itself in a year or so from not buying bottled water (yeah yeah I know)
 

HomeLessBeans

New Member
Finally got a ppm meter, tested my distilled tap water reservoir and it reads 280 ppm! do I need to be seriously concerned about this? I'm leaning towards a r/o filter from lowes... does this mean that my plants should be vegging and flowering bigger without all that extra ppm in there? damn myself for not doing this sooner.
Distilled tap water? what is your water out of the tap? 280 is not awful!!

that's it, gonna get a ro filter today. even if I wasn't growing, it's nice to have for drinking water
Stop!! that is just what the grow store guy wants you to do..most of what you strip out you will buy back from them...having any lock out problems?? any problems at all??
 

mrbungle79

Well-Known Member
i think the health benefits alone are worth it. seriously, do we need more chemicals? my wife quit buying milk from the store and started buying raw milk directly from a farm at $8 a gallon. sometimes health outweighs cost i guess
 

The Growery

Active Member
no lockout issues, i see what you're saying, I was just thinking I could replace that 280 ppm with nutes for even faster growth. but no go? I respect your opinion so I'll save that money for a rainy day
 

mrbungle79

Well-Known Member
Distilled tap water? what is your water out of the tap? 280 is not awful!!
Stop!! that is just what the grow store guy wants you to do..most of what you strip out you will buy back from them...having any lock out problems?? any problems at all??
i agree thats not too bad i've known people who are north of 400ppm

also agree that the guy at the grow store is there to sell you shit and for the most part thats all they are worried about. but occassionally you get a guy who knows his shit
 

HomeLessBeans

New Member
no lockout issues, i see what you're saying, I was just thinking I could replace that 280 ppm with nutes for even faster growth. but no go? I respect your opinion so I'll save that money for a rainy day
those PPM's are nutes and trace minerals. some possibly from your pipes...as to what the city puts in??? yeah not a fan.. if you bubble your water 24 hours most clorine type stuff will be gone..a little clorine is not bad.
 

st0wandgrow

Well-Known Member
Finally got a ppm meter, tested my distilled tap water reservoir and it reads 280 ppm! do I need to be seriously concerned about this? I'm leaning towards a r/o filter from lowes... does this mean that my plants should be vegging and flowering bigger without all that extra ppm in there? damn myself for not doing this sooner.
Here's the way I understand it ....

Some people claim that the chlorine that is put in to tap water is harmful to your plants. People would let the water sit out in a bucket for 24-48 hrs to allow the chlorine to evaporate out of the water. A lot of cities have switched to using chloramine instead because it does not evaporate like chlorine does, so growers have turned to using RO water now.

The chloramine does not do harm to your plant per se, but there is a theory that it will in fact disrupt (or even kill if high enough ppm) your micro-heard of beneficial bacteria in your soil if you are growing organically.

I have been using tap water for my plants for a long time, and I have seen no adverse effects from it. I do let the water sit out for 24+ hours before using it, but honestly I don't even know if that is necessary. Perhaps the only benefit to that is allowing the water to reach room temp before using it.

If you're growing organically, then you should check with your city to see if they are using chlorine, or chloramine. If they are using chlorine, let your water sit out before using it. If they are using chloramine, you may want to consider a RO unit. If you are not growing organically, then my hunch would be you have nothing to worry about.

I'm trying my hand at organics as we speak. I will let you know if I see any adverse side effects form the water....
 

The Growery

Active Member
Here's the way I understand it ....

Some people claim that the chlorine that is put in to tap water is harmful to your plants. People would let the water sit out in a bucket for 24-48 hrs to allow the chlorine to evaporate out of the water. A lot of cities have switched to using chloramine instead because it does not evaporate like chlorine does, so growers have turned to using RO water now.

The chloramine does not do harm to your plant per se, but there is a theory that it will in fact disrupt (or even kill if high enough ppm) your micro-heard of beneficial bacteria in your soil if you are growing organically.

I have been using tap water for my plants for a long time, and I have seen no adverse effects from it. I do let the water sit out for 24+ hours before using it, but honestly I don't even know if that is necessary. Perhaps the only benefit to that is allowing the water to reach room temp before using it.

If you're growing organically, then you should check with your city to see if they are using chlorine, or chloramine. If they are using chlorine, let your water sit out before using it. If they are using chloramine, you may want to consider a RO unit. If you are not growing organically, then my hunch would be you have nothing to worry about.

I'm trying my hand at organics as we speak. I will let you know if I see any adverse side effects form the water....

I hear ya there about the tap water not sitting out, for a long long time I fresh watered my plants from a hose straight from the tap and never saw any difference compared to letting it sit out for 24 hours
 

silusbotwin

Well-Known Member
Here's the way I understand it ....

Some people claim that the chlorine that is put in to tap water is harmful to your plants. People would let the water sit out in a bucket for 24-48 hrs to allow the chlorine to evaporate out of the water. A lot of cities have switched to using chloramine instead because it does not evaporate like chlorine does, so growers have turned to using RO water now.

The chloramine does not do harm to your plant per se, but there is a theory that it will in fact disrupt (or even kill if high enough ppm) your micro-heard of beneficial bacteria in your soil if you are growing organically.

I have been using tap water for my plants for a long time, and I have seen no adverse effects from it. I do let the water sit out for 24+ hours before using it, but honestly I don't even know if that is necessary. Perhaps the only benefit to that is allowing the water to reach room temp before using it.

If you're growing organically, then you should check with your city to see if they are using chlorine, or chloramine. If they are using chlorine, let your water sit out before using it. If they are using chloramine, you may want to consider a RO unit. If you are not growing organically, then my hunch would be you have nothing to worry about.

I'm trying my hand at organics as we speak. I will let you know if I see any adverse side effects form the water....
There is no "theory" to it, it's just simple Biology. Chlorine will kill off the soil food web (microbes).

Let's say you and your entire village get fatally toxic acid rain floods, how well would the productivity of your village be after said rain takes place and a huge portion of the population has been killed off?

Also, if chloramines are the only thing you're worried about, you don't need RO, you would only need a chlorine snatcher. They are about a 1/4 the price of an RO unit and they remove chloramines with a carbon filter element. RO units give off waste water, chlorine snatchers do not.

If you aren't true living organic, stop worrying.
 

Rising Moon

Well-Known Member
I get my RO water delivered on the west side of the state. It's Pretty affordable @ .25 $ a gallon, and I don't need to buy/change expensive filters

But I grow with soil so don't use tons of water anyways.
 

Dr.funkenstien

Active Member
I know this is old sorry, my ppm meter just got here. I tested my tap, it said 107. I'm on the west side. My meter says calibrate with NaCI but there is no place for the little screwdriver or anything else. Is 107 acceptable?
 
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