Natural spring water

Hey guys, I'm wondering if its a good or bad idea to water my plants with spring water right out of a spring? There's a spring not far from my place and the water is free so I'm wondering if its a good idea tks in advance

Jimi O'Connor said:

Hey guys, I'm wondering if its a good or bad idea to water my plants with spring water right out of a spring? There's a spring not far from my place and the water is free so I'm wondering if its a good idea tks in advance

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Do you know what the quality is like? Anyone else use it that you know of? If possible I'd see if there is a water quality assessment available for it. Good luck and congrats on the free water!

I would but it needs to warm up a couple days first
Springs are cold

farmingfisherman said:

Do you know what the quality is like? Anyone else use it that you know of? If possible I'd see if there is a water quality assessment available for it. Good luck and congrats on the free water!

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Well idk if anyone uses it for growing, but alot of people go and bottle there own water and drink it so I'd imagine the waters clean enough for human consumption

Ive stopped every time ive driven by just about and got a drink and it's perfectly cold and taste great

So is spring water good to water my plants or what? ( imagine that the water is good)

Tks in advance for your time

Jimi O'Connor said:

Well idk if anyone uses it for growing, but alot of people go and bottle there own water and drink it so I'd imagine the waters clean enough for human consumption

Ive stopped every time ive driven by just about and got a drink and it's perfectly cold and taste great

So is spring water good to water my plants or what? ( imagine that the water is good)

Tks in advance for your time

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A natural spring near Fairbanks yields water with a higher EC than the municipal water there does.

Before I had my well put in I was on spring water for 30 years.. Never a problem..

Yes for outdoor. Indoor, just my opinion, I wouldn't. There could be "things" in that water you don't want multiplying in the medium of your indoor plants. Could be mosquito larvae for example, you never know.

hotrodharley said:

A natural spring near Fairbanks yields water with a higher EC than the municipal water there does.

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Spring water is naturally filtered by passing through different media, like gravel and sand. The filtration may or may not remove harmful contaminants, and also may or may not add dissolved solids to the water passing through. Some of these dissolved solids could be heavy metals, pesticides, or antibiotics. The source/origin of the water needs to be considered too - this spring fed by rain/groundwater from a densely populated area, or possibly waste water from farm fields, or city storm runoff? Are there any industries nearby contaminating the soil?

MissinThe90’sStrains said:

Spring water is naturally filtered by passing through different media, like gravel and sand. The filtration may or may not remove harmful contaminants, and also may or may not add dissolved solids to the water passing through. Some of these dissolved solids could be heavy metals, pesticides, or antibiotics. The source/origin of the water needs to be considered too - this spring fed by rain/groundwater from a densely populated area, or possibly waste water from farm fields, or city storm runoff? Are there any industries nearby contaminating the soil?

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This spring is in the middle of nowhere. EC is .4 so probably the same calcium, magnesium and high manganese found in the municipal supply. It’s totally usable for everything. Just posted this so people think to check EC and pH instead of thinking it’s somehow “pure”. Definitely not RO.

Most definitely, I just wanted to add on to what you were saying. Water is the ultimate solvent. Itl dissolve stuff and take it with it along the way. Unless you actually test it, there’s no way to know whats in it.

Spring water is a crapshoot, sometimes it's fine, sometimes it's not. It can run the gamut from high PH to low PH, from high dissolved solids to low dissolved solids. I have an artesian spring across the street from my house, it's actually better than the water company water, EXCEPT, it has high Manganese, Magnesium, and Boron concentrations. There's also the possibility of Arsenic, Lead, Asbestos, as well as other heavy metals in spring water, depending on the parent rock it passes through. Always best to have it tested.

Use it and find out, seriously tho. Should be fine if its actual spring water. I have to use RO Filtration because my well water is trash but if I had a spring I'd probably be using it.

I’m getting ready to start my first Dwc for my winter grow. I plan to use my tap water which comes from a spring Ph is 5.3 and tds is <100. Any advice?

cindysid said:

I’m getting ready to start my first Dwc for my winter grow. I plan to use my tap water which comes from a spring Ph is 5.3 and tds is <100. Any advice?

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Wow thats a very low pH for such "clean" water (low PPMs). I'd try to find out what makes the pH so low by checking municipal water info, but, generally speaking, if your water supply isn't caustic then your plants can acclimate to it. I say go for it but still try to find out what makes it so acidic. Tap water usually leans alkaline.

My water comes from a natural spring.

What are you testing Ph with ?

I was using an old blue lab. I just took it in to the culligan water people. They said ph is 6.2. TDS is 24ppm

Jimi O'Connor said:

Hey guys, I'm wondering if its a good or bad idea to water my plants with spring water right out of a spring? There's a spring not far from my place and the water is free so I'm wondering if its a good idea tks in advance

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Have watered my plants with nothing but spring water for over 40 years. Where I am here in the Blue Ridge mountains, the spring water has some of the lowest mineral count available. Less chemicals in the water means less chemicals the plants have to deal with

My plants would probably wilt and burn if watered with city water.

cindysid said:

I was using an old blue lab. I just took it in to the culligan water people. They said ph is 6.2. TDS is 24ppm

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I got a free water test from Culligan once, it was worth what I paid.

When asked about ph the guy pulled an inexpensive ph pen from a storage cap containing a rock hard dry sponge and no storage solution.

He said there wasn't iron in the water based on a color chart and tried to sell me a UV filter to kill bacteria and get rid of the orange/pink sediment in the shower.

I then bought a bacteria test for a fraction of what they charged... no bacteria. Never did learn what that pinkish stuff was.

I went back to work after the gov. mandated covid shutdown and told my asshole boss I was done, retired and moved away. No more well water...

Or asshole boss!

PopAndSonGrows said:

Wow thats a very low pH for such "clean" water (low PPMs). I'd try to find out what makes the pH so low by checking municipal water info, but, generally speaking, if your water supply isn't caustic then your plants can acclimate to it. I say go for it but still try to find out what makes it so acidic. Tap water usually leans alkaline.

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5.3 ph sure isn't good for metal pipe or plumbing. It's why city water is over 7.0.