Trying to understand my water

[Boscoe]

I've run some tests and this is what I'm getting:

Raw Tap Water: PH= 7.7 EC= 787 Chlorine= ~2ppm

Filtered Tap Water: PH= 8.2 EC= 682 Chlorine= 0ppm
(FIltered through Boogie Blue + RV filter, 5 gallon bucket standing 24hrs with aeration)

Distilled: PH= 7.1 EC= 1.5 Chlorine= 0ppm

Spring Water: PH= 7.6 EC= 164 Chlorine= 0ppm

I don't want to go the RO route if I can avoid it. Is my tap water useable at all? lol

 

[exploziv]

Out of theose spring water looks like your best bet. EC is way too high for the others, and distilled is probably too expensive to be worth it and also needs more calmag to fix whats been taken out.

 

[stiff]

If I was you I'd just befriend the idea of a getting a reverse osmosis unit.
Tab water and spring water can change.

I still agree to explosive, spring water would be cheaper.
I grow on coco and like to know exactly what put in though..control freak syndrome

 

[nepalnt21]

Out of theose spring water looks like your best bet. EC is way too high for the others, and distilled is probably too expensive to be worth it and also needs more calmag to fix whats been taken out.

should i be reading the spring e.c. as

.164

??

otherwise i'm lost

 

[Rexel]

should i be reading the spring e.c. as

.164

??

otherwise i'm lost

You're posting a Siemens scale value. 1000 Siemens = 1.0 EC. It's the same scale with different conversion.

Cheers!

 

[exploziv]

Well.. most of the times EC is on ppm500 scale, so 1ec = 500ppm. You most probably have about 75 ppm of stuff in there, which should be mostly calcium and magnesium anyway, so not something bad for the plant.
Well water mineralisation does vary by season and by rain or drought periods, so it might not stay that low all the time.
That's the water I would try first.

 

[Cannabis Critically]

If you’re in hydro or soilless mix using mineral salts you might consider using a more acidic fertilizer if using water with an alkalotic pH.

The pH readings you are getting make me wonder how accurate the measurements are. The distilled water should have a pH no larger than 7.0, and the EC should be zero.

Another measurement you may want to question is the pH of the tap and or the filtered tap water. The filter should not change the water’s pH, and after aerating the water overnight, the pH should drop from the carbonic acid that forms when the water absorbs CO2. Yours went up by a buttload.

I don’t know enough to know what the EC changes in the filtered water mean, but I cannot think of any reason for potable water to drop 0.11 mS/cm. What am I missing?

One other thought; every time I’ve ran a water test (pluperfect) , I learned something.

Peace…Jeff

 

[Lester Beans]

Once you get an RO system you will wonder how you ever lived without it. From horticulture to drinking water

 

[Boscoe]

Thanks for all the replies! I just realized I'm an idiot. I didn't know that my pen was auto adjusting between MicroSiemens and MilliSiemens. So my filtered tap water is 0.682ec. MUCH more reasonable. (facepalm)

I'd consider RO, but I don't like the idea of having to install something into my plumbing and I also live in a desert and the idea of 50% waste water doesn't feel like the right thing to do.

 

[Cannabis Critically]

Thanks for all the replies! I just realized I'm an idiot. I didn't know that my pen was auto adjusting between MicroSiemens and MilliSiemens. So my filtered tap water is 0.682ec. MUCH more reasonable. (facepalm)

I'd consider RO, but I don't like the idea of having to install something into my plumbing and I also live in a desert and the idea of 50% waste water doesn't feel like the right thing to do.

I'm like you. Even with all the great benefits, I hate the idea of using something that wastes water.
I say that, but I use run to waste fertigation which is wasting an extra 20% nutrient solution/water. I rationalize it by saying's not very much in total.

Were your meters good compared to a known standard?

P.S. Do you know which would be least wasteful? RO system could be less impactful if you consider gas, plastic bottles, etc.

Peace...Jeff

 

[exploziv]

0.6 ec as you put it is still 300 ppm, which is a lot. (if you want to be in control of what you feed your plants.)

 

[Boscoe]

0.6 ec as you put it is still 300 ppm, which is a lot. (if you want to be in control of what you feed your plants.)

True, but not as bad as the 341,000 I thought it was! lol What I'm thinking is that since I'm going to have distilled around to run through my humidifier anyway, I can cut the filtered tap with 50% distilled which brings it down to 0.3 and also brings the PH down a bit. I'm in a 2x4 tent using Pro Mix (as opposed to rockwool or coco), so the extra cost isn't such a big deal. I know it's not optimal, but I think it'll work.

 

[exploziv]

True, but not as bad as the 341,000 I thought it was! lol

Oh man, I am pretty sure you would know just by looking if your water was 34% anything other that H2O.

 

[Boscoe]

Right?? I was so baffled that I was honestly hoping someone would say "dude, call the warranty dept for your pen."

 

[Boscoe]

The pH readings you are getting make me wonder how accurate the measurements are. The distilled water should have a pH no larger than 7.0, and the EC should be zero.

Another measurement you may want to question is the pH of the tap and or the filtered tap water. The filter should not change the water’s pH, and after aerating the water overnight, the pH should drop from the carbonic acid that forms when the water absorbs CO2. Yours went up by a buttload.

Well, the distilled PH was 7.1, so that's at least close. I agree the EC should be zero. I need to test that again because that's just weird. But I have two EC testers, the Apera that I just bought and an old cheap-ass Ubante that I've had for ages and the readings were pretty close. Both the PH and EC pens are brand new Apera and were calibrated with the included solutions, but who knows what quality control is like.

With the filtered, it's even worse than you think because that water has been sitting for a couple days with an airstone in it. Maybe the airstone itself is messing with the PH? I think I'll run my tests again and this time I won't put the airstone in it.

Thanks for the insights!

 

[Cannabis Critically]

Well, the distilled PH was 7.1, so that's at least close. I agree the EC should be zero. I need to test that again because that's just weird. But I have two EC testers, the Apera that I just bought and an old cheap-ass Ubante that I've had for ages and the readings were pretty close. Both the PH and EC pens are brand new Apera and were calibrated with the included solutions, but who knows what quality control is like.

With the filtered, it's even worse than you think because that water has been sitting for a couple days with an airstone in it. Maybe the airstone itself is messing with the PH? I think I'll run my tests again and this time I won't put the airstone in it.

Thanks for the insights!

Cool. Let us know what you find out.

Peace…Jeff

 

[Ca++]

Don't use the filtered water. The RV one is almost certainly ion exchange. Lockouts will follow.

You are in soil, so the ec nearing 8, might be fine. It's presumably Calcium and Magnesium, and many soil feeds miss them out. The pH is low for such a thing, but you may well of broke it using it in distilled water. You need to get a handle on that. Distilled is more like 6.5 as you can't get a lot more air exposure, than vapourising your water. Apply that logic to your taps EC, and the pH meter is dead.

Check your feed for the presence of Ca + Mg, because your water might fix that omission nicely.

 

[LostTribe]

I always run RO now. Have for almost 20 years. Just dont drain into cast iron floor drains and you will be good. Newer plumbing has pvc sewer line. You can run the drain through a gravel limestone container to neutralize the ph.

Can you catch rainwater runoff from a roof via gutters?

 

[Cannabis Critically]

Don't use the filtered water. The RV one is almost certainly ion exchange. Lockouts will follow.

You are in soil, so the ec nearing 8, might be fine. It's presumably Calcium and Magnesium, and many soil feeds miss them out. The pH is low for such a thing, but you may well of broke it using it in distilled water. You need to get a handle on that. Distilled is more like 6.5 as you can't get a lot more air exposure, than vapourising your water. Apply that logic to your taps EC, and the pH meter is dead.

Check your feed for the presence of Ca + Mg, because your water might fix that omission nicely.

BOOGIE BLUE PLUS+ (High-Capacity Filter)​

Resin-Ion Exchange Carbon + Maximized KDF Content = 45k gallons​

@Boscoe if you do get water testing done, try to use the same lab every time. I use Logan Labs. I think JR Peters has a lab also. If you’re concerned about chlorine, you could always skip filtration and let your water off gas before using it. Aerator speeds up things.

You might try messaging @Ca++ to go over your new findings. Sounds to me like he’s seen this before. Nothing like knowledge combined with experience.

 

[Cannabis Critically]

True, but not as bad as the 341,000 I thought it was! lol What I'm thinking is that since I'm going to have distilled around to run through my humidifier anyway, I can cut the filtered tap with 50% distilled which brings it down to 0.3 and also brings the PH down a bit. I'm in a 2x4 tent using Pro Mix (as opposed to rockwool or coco), so the extra cost isn't such a big deal. I know it's not optimal, but I think it'll work.

Missed this post, so half of what I said is irrelevant, and the rest may be the babbling of an old man.