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To Tap or Not to Tap

NAKEDGARDENER

NAKEDGARDENER

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For the longest time I had thought I would never use tap water in my grow because I just wasn’t sure of its suitability for growing weed. A friend said one day, about 5 weeks into my current grow, that tap water was safe since if it’s safe for us humans it must be safe for plants. I had been using nature’s spring water, which is almost neutral in its ph and has a tds number of about 160 ppm. As I said I had been feeding the seedlings with this water and throughout most of their veg stages until about three weeks before flowering.

I tested my tap water one day to find that it didn’t need ph ing at all as it was always at a ph of 6.45. To 6.55. So I used it thinking it wou,d save so much time money and effort not having to make my spring water more acidic every time. (Although if using fox farm trio nutes, this is great due to the high acidic content when using all three r even the bloom nutes)

Today I got a top notch ec/ppm meter.. and tested my well water for total dissolved solids. And was shocked... I now think I know why some of the leaves on my fat budding plants are turning at the tips and half of some leaves turning a lime green color, the contaminants in my well water! The reading I got was far from the standard for safe drinking water. It contains heavy metals, and some other contaminants. My landlord will be hearing from me tomorrow about having the well water tested and me seeing the results on paper...

Again. If you’re thinking of using your tap water, know it’s source, know when it was last tested and what the detailed results of that test was.. before even drinking it yourself, and to add the ‘town water’ here is worse since it contains other man made additives which won’t be good for long term use in growing weed..

The More You Know.
 
You went from tap water (which I assume you mean treated drinking water) to well water (which I assume isn’t treated; just raw water). Which did you use on your girls? Both?
 
No sorry I was using bottled spring water, to tap/well water, the well water ph is great but a detailed analysis of the water tds is needed. My meter suggests it contains high levels of zinc and traces of others.
 
So tap and well are 2 very different things in most cities. Well water comes from an aquifer located beneath the ground (from a well) it is raw and untreated. Tap water comes from the faucet and it is treated chemically by the city water treatment plant.
 
I only use tap for my grows, PHed properly. The town where I live the water is tested every year,and all home owners get a report. My girls don’t seem to mind at all😁
 
Got some of the best drinking tap water in Canada here. Chilliwack BC continually wins this contest most every year.

We have the good ole USA to thank for that - specifically Mount Baker in Washington State.
 
Toker1 we have a choice of local town water or our own well water. It is pumped up via the aquafier, as you say. My landlord said it had been tested and was very clean. The town water he decided not to go with this summer. We have town water only between the months of end of April through to October 3rd. I don’t live anywhere near a city, nearest town is pop of only 2 to 3 thousand in winter.
 
I've always used my tap water, but it's real soft without much salt. I don't drink it, tho: I got an alkaline machine.

If I still lived in TX, I wouldn't use it because it was so full of shit that it stained peoples' teeth permanently when they were growing up. I seen it with my own eyes.
 
Well the difference for me I guess is that I live in a very rural area, and on a peninsula. This means that town water is only provided from April to October. After that you must have a well. This year instead of having the town water hooked up he decided not to and just keep using the well. It’s only now after testing it myself that I have seen with my own eyes that the well water is far from just raw and untreated, but positively dangerous to human health. Which was my point. Back to spring water f or me, which is what I only drink anyway. But no more well water for my plants eithe
 
Got it. So you have raw water (untreated) coming out of your tap. So how do you remove pathogens from the water prior to consumption? Those aquifers can harbor quite a bit of Bactria. I would be concerned about contracting dysentery or Hepatitis E from drinking raw water that has not been cleaned or filtered.
 
Look into active carbon filters. I think you can get spring water quality from your well water if you filter it. The cost of maintenance and purchasing equipment is minimal. I think you will be saving $$$ in a matter of a few months after the switch.
 
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Exactly. If we were in Flint MI we would be killing ourselves and our plants with plain tap water. Location is the most influential factor in this equation. You need a good water source to have good water quality in your home.
 
Toker1 on your point of water sanitation from this well, it is something I need to talk with the Landlord about, they are probably not aware of its condition but I am sure that it must be treated somehow. This I will find out next week, however I think I will purchase an RO machine, which I was gonna do months ago but convinced myself it was a piece of kit I didn’t need and it was just my own huberous me wanting one. Now I can thoroughly justify the two to three hundred dollars on a triple RO system. Thanks.
 
Now you are on the right track. Although RO maintenance cost and equipment costs are higher. Also the membrane requires 1-2 gallons of wasted water in order to produce 1 gallon of clean water. At least you will be removing all contamination. Something to consider is adding cal-mag back into the water after treatment. Pure water will actually strip you (or your plants’s) minerals (electrolytes) away if you consume it. That is not good either.
 
Yep the calcium and mangnesium stripping with RO is something I’m aware of also, thank you. Again the cost of bringing the well up to standard is not up to me but my landlords, only thing I can do for now is to use bottled water or go RO and bottled is cheaper by far.
 
I’m just wondering if your bad well water is seasonal? Wells not drilled deep dry out during dry spells, or just sucking up the dregs?
 
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