Rain water and tap water discussion

[HempKat]

I agree with the sentiment that a lot depends on your location. Well water can be good sometimes but it can be bad sometimes, it all depends on what's getting into the source of that well. Unfortunately there have been wells that were once good but then became contaminated by manufactures dumping toxic chemicals that eventually find their way into the source a well taps into. City treated tap water can likewise be decent enough to use if the source of that water is relatively clean and doesn't require a bunch of things added to clean up the water to make it drinkable. Rainwater is the same, since it gets up into the air it's mostly cleaned by nature and the evaporation process the concern is more about what else is getting into that air and what it has to pass thru on it's way down, if you live in the country or more rural locations your rainwater is probably mostly okay, it may have picked up some contaminants along the way but they likely are at a low level. The real worry is if your rain is falling in a heavily industrialized area with manufacturing and chemical plants pumping lots of pollution in the air that the rain then has to fall thru. If you want to be sure there's absolutely no unwanted elements in your water then either use distilled water or an RO system. The thing is though, some of the stuff in water is good things like the various nutrients and minerals we feed our plants. If you start with pure H2O then you're probably going to need to add more of something, usually this ends up being calcium and magnesium, most other things come in sufficient quantities in the products we feed our plants but calcium and magnesium is something that few products have in sufficient quantities which is why so many end up using CalMag supplements. There was a time back in the early days of man when all rainwater was the best water to use but unfortunately mankind has disrupted the environment sufficiently over the years that you can't take that as a given for all areas like you used to be able to do. It's still a good source though and usually better then treated tap water. I live in a small city which has no real manufacturing plants polluting the skies and I've had good success using rain water from time to time but I also have good well water and that's generally easier for me to use so that's what I use mostly.

 

[aliceklar]

Its impossible to categorise "tap water" or "rain water" as a single thing. You need access to an analysis of your tapwater, and to test your rainwater, to find out what you've got. My rainwater is pH 7, 60ppm. My tapwater is pH 7.8+, 320ppm, with lots of calcium carbonate. Your rainwater, and your tapwater, will be different - and they can change over time. As others have said, the time of year, and the location and method of rainwater collection, can affect the quality and composition of the water. Chemicals added to local tap water supplies can change from time to time too.

After lots of experimentation, I settled on a ratio of 5 parts tap water to 7 parts rain water, with nitric acid added to the tap water at 3ml / 4.5 liters to bring the pH down. I killed a lot of plants whilst working this out, but it works for me! I could have gone with just rain water, but the calcium and micro nutrients in the tap water are beneficial, once the crazy-high pH is sorted out. I'm currently growing in coco (which is essentially the same as hydro). If you are growing in soil, its a different story.

My advice is to get a meter to measure ppm, get a *good quality* meter to measure pH, get hold of an detailed analysis of the chemical composition of your tap water, and go from there. Once you have some hard data, then folks here will be able to give you better advice for your setup.

 

[mexweed]

I would say the majority of nutes people use are designed to be used with municipal tap water, at least in the U.S.

 

[Three Berries]

Rain picks up Nitrogen too as it falls. I'll take it at 15 ppm count compared to my 450ppm well water no matter what it drags along with it.

It's pretty easy to make a three bucket filtering system gravel>sand>charcoal which can last a long time. Won't take out minerals though.

 

[blondie]

Good stuff everyone thanks. I’ll share a true story here that is concerning to me. I live in a heavily populated area and water is tested by the various agencies. An official in a nearby town would shut down the well he knew was contaminated a month or so before an inspection. After passing, the well was turned on again sending unsuitable drinking water to very large population. I wonder how often this happens.

The purpose of my question here was to determine if it’s worth the extra effort to gather/store/use rainwater. Comments have been helpful. Still haven’t decided. I do live in known contaminated ground water area and hope officials testing it aren’t crooked...

 

[aliceklar]

Good stuff everyone thanks. I’ll share a true story here that is concerning to me. I live in a heavily populated area and water is tested by the various agencies. An official in a nearby town would shut down the well he knew was contaminated a month or so before an inspection. After passing, the well was turned on again sending unsuitable drinking water to very large population. I wonder how often this happens.

The purpose of my question here was to determine if it’s worth the extra effort to gather/store/use rainwater. Comments have been helpful. Still haven’t decided. I do live in known contaminated ground water area and hope officials testing it aren’t crooked...

If you have a roof and a guttering downpipe, its worth fitting a water-butt. for other reasons than growing weed. Its a relatively simple job to fit one (so long as its not a cast iron or asbestos downpipe), so long as you measure carefully and cut accurately, and the butt is on a solid base. Very sensible too from a self-sufficiency point of view. If the municipal supply does go down, or gets badly contaminated (which sounds distinctly possible where you are), then you have an emergency water source that you can boil if necessary.

 

[EastCoastGambit]

Good stuff everyone thanks. I’ll share a true story here that is concerning to me. I live in a heavily populated area and water is tested by the various agencies. An official in a nearby town would shut down the well he knew was contaminated a month or so before an inspection. After passing, the well was turned on again sending unsuitable drinking water to very large population. I wonder how often this happens.

The purpose of my question here was to determine if it’s worth the extra effort to gather/store/use rainwater. Comments have been helpful. Still haven’t decided. I do live in known contaminated ground water area and hope officials testing it aren’t crooked...

I would think well water is more easily polluted by groundwater and the water table, soil runoff, heavy metals etc. than rain. But that said if I lived in a heavily industrialized area I might be tentative to use rainwater as well. I use tap but would prefer to use RO when I upgrade. Never considered rain but now I am. Question to the rain harvesters if you are using barrels or something doesn't that stagnant untreated water have a chance to grow undesirables like (algae, mosquitoes, bacteria, etc?)

I have a berkee filter for personal consumption - I feel like it would make a nice filter for any kind of water. Though its a slow drip.

 

[EastCoastGambit]

I'll show you some rainwater buds too. I'm just starting to get where I'm not scared to take photos.Show me your buds Blondie

Is that dog hair on the 3rd pic or something?

 

[St. Phatty]

I wonder what the water is like near this natural uranium reactor in Gabon West Africa.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com...estern-africa/

If you grew pot there how would it affect the smoke ?

I have a tiny amount of Copper in my own water, related to the local geology.


Uranium shows up with Iron, Calcium, and/or Lead (natural lead) attached to basically a sand molecule ( Si 8 O20 AKA Silica-ish )

If you filter water through that ... well I can see why people would be concerned about possible Lead, and definite Uranium and or Thorium.

2 Billion years ago, there was a deposit of natural uranium, that fissioned, melted everything etc, is thought to have run for about a million years.

Then as the land and continents moved around, it ended up in what is now Gabon West Africa.

I bet there's some pot growers in Gabon West Africa.

 

[@peace]

https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/b...er-on-edibles/

That is a link to Clemson University for using rainwater on vegetables and fruits for the home gardener. If you google "harvesting rainwater" and look for university sources, especially from US universities as they have excellent extension programs, you will get some good information on how to use harvested water and how to treat it if necessary. Bleach is what is used generally to keep out algae, we use it in our larger 3000 gal water tanks at our farm that sit out side, they will build algae if you don't. If you are using it right away I would not use bleach, only if the water is going to sit a while.

Edit: This is a response to EastCoast.

 

[f-e]

People asking Canna have been told that filtering tap water, is a waste of good stuff.

 

[Creeperpark]

Rain picks up Nitrogen too as it falls. I'll take it at 15 ppm count compared to my 450ppm well water no matter what it drags along with it.

It's pretty easy to make a three bucket filtering system gravel>sand>charcoal which can last a long time. Won't take out minerals though.

There is 75% nitrogen in the air we breathe and in every breath of air.

 

[Creeperpark]

Holy fuck. Creepy fart don’t post if you only know how to insult. Your holier than thou attitude has no place here. Maybe rainwater is better and maybe it makes no difference... And no I don’t know if others ph rainwater constantly or test or anything. Its why I asked, not to be insulted or listen to you insult others. If you feel attacked move on to another thread. Nobody is attacking you. I had hoped you would contribute positively. Guess I was wrong.

everyone else thanks for the info. Do you guys test regularly or essentially trust the rainwater ph? Areas of industry and nuc plants, things like this seems rainwater can’t be the best? I know somewhat close to me there are coal fired plants. Not sure in reality how worrisome this kind of thing is, unless you are on top of it.

I can easily get a few 5 gallon pails of snow at the moment and looks like the ph is closer to what is needed, at least for me in my area. I’m not sure it’s worth me lugging around though, especially if it still requires adjustment. I’m not really healthy and the prospect of gathering snow seems it may be a waste of energy.

Show everybody your plants! I remember you Blondie back last year when you were crying about your sick plants in the infirmary. You were using rain or RO and wasn't adding any Cal-mag. I told you what to do and you got pissed off and said you were going to THCFarmer or THCtalk with your problems and was leaving ICmag. I've been growing weed for 50 years and have been in the horticulture and landscape business for many of those years and with only one eye! If you want to grow weed you need to open your mind to methods already tried and true.

 

[Creeperpark]

Clean rain water site.
https://www.drinkheartwater.com/is-rainwater-clean/
If you want to harvest rain water to drink then check out this site.
https://www.drinkheartwater.com/is-rainwater-clean/

 

[Creeperpark]

Is that dog hair on the 3rd pic or something?

I only have one eye and that eye only has 20/90 vision with a corrective lens and without glasses, I'm totally blind. I'm legally blind by Veterans administration standards and get a check every month from them. I wouldn't be surprised if you see a hair or two on my buds. Sorry if I could have seen I would've passed that photo up. Thank you for the negative criticism and pointing that out to everyone.

 

[HempKat]

I only have one eye and that eye only has 20/90 vision with a corrective lens and without glasses, I'm totally blind. I'm legally blind by Veterans administration standards and get a check every month from them. I wouldn't be surprised if you see a hair or two on my buds. Sorry if I could have seen I would've passed that photo up. Thank you for the negative criticism and pointing that out to everyone.

Don't let stuff like that get to you bud, if you live with pets and/or work with animals never having a hair get stuck to a bud is a pretty difficult thing to do unless you want to get really anal about it by not only filtering all air going into your grow plus showering every time you enter your grow and changing your clothes, plus humans shed too so you have to also wear a hairnet, use gloves and dress in clothing that covers every part of your body. Most hair that gets stuck to a bud will be removed in the drying/trimming/curing process anyway and if you only grow for yourself then why should anyone else care? I mean there are all sorts of gross seeming things that can end up on your buds if you don't have a sealed room with serious filtration on the intake. If nothing else there is always the chance for some dust to stick to the bud and since it takes a good bit of time for that to build up to a point of being visible for most people you'll never even see it and yet dust consists all sorts of things and is usually a mix of sloughed-off skin cells, hair, clothing fibers, bacteria, dust mites, bits of dead bugs, soil particles, pollen, and microscopic specks of plastic.

 

[Creeperpark]

Thanks Hempcat, here's a photo of my two dogs, I miss them a lot they both died. I have a therapy service dog now.

 

[exploziv]

I like threads where knowledge is shared, but totally dislike beefs like this that happen for no reason at all. It would be much easier if we all tried to be nicer to one another. We have same hobby and we share the love for this plants, lets grow togheter and help eachother where we can. Play nice!

 

[Three Berries]

There is 75% nitrogen in the air we breathe and in every breath of air.

Yes a much higher percentage than CO2. When water is first condensed it is pure but only last milliseconds. They say water is the most powerful solvent know to man. So it easily picks up nitrogen as it falls and if you are lucky enough to have some lightening too that really supercharges the rain.

I have three barrels laid horizontal and stacked on top of each other. Comes in the top though a screen and out the bottom. It does collect organic material from the gutters and roof. A lot of trees around me. So once a year I clean it out. Wonderful mucky stuff comes out for the garden. I grow in soil so don't worry too much about chunky, living water. Last October we had 10 inches of rain. Kept the barrels well flushed out.

I've been using most this winter for the ultrasonic humified collect it as the snow melts in the gutters. I run it though a screen then coffee filter first and add a few drops of bleach. Coffee filters are suppose to be around 20 microns.

Currently I use well water to start with no nutes, then 50/50 well/rain to finish the veg then rain water in flower. My well water also has what is called 'bacterial iron'. It will coat everything with a slimy iron stain it left to accumulate. Other than that it comes from a dep aquifer that is feed through limestone. Local limestone is mostly Calcium with 7% Magnesium.

 

[blondie]

This is shaping up to be a good thread. For the small amount I grow having large storage barrels is overkill. But.. a small system for a few plants seems to be an attractive concept.

In support of bleach (to a point) some who travel the oceans in pleasure craft refill water tanks with rainwater. The rule of thumb is to add some amount of bleach to the tanks. Seems an identical concept that peace is saying.