R/O water systems

as more time goes by i start to realize how important it is to use good water when growing. seems as tho every serious hydro grower uses R/O water. which leads me to my question.

what type of R/O system do you have 3 stage, 4 stage? it is a portable system or a permanent system with res? how many gpd does your system filter? also do you also use a DI filter?

i have been searching on fleabay for a system. looks like some good prices but not sure on the unit i need. looking at a portable 3stage that filters 100gpd or so. all i want to feed are my house plants, and my water garden.

i was hoping to get away with a smaller 3stage filter system since im going to install a water softener (which i already own). i was thinking that the water softener will soften water for the whole house from there i would want to filter a small amount of water into R/O water. with the water softener doing most of the scrubbing i was hoping i could get a smaller 3stage R/O system and possibly extend filter life of the R/O system.

i could be all wrong tho, thought i would make a post and see what others do for there water systems. any info would be great!

I use a very simple two stage Spectra Pure and end up with water at 15 ppms. I use it for my plants and my fish. It does 50 gpd which is plenty. Lose your "water softener" for your RO system.....it's pretty pointless.

I don't use a DI system; I asked about it when I bought the system and was told it was better just to use the RO system for my needs.

PS...I dont' drink the water so that may make a difference with the DI.

thx, weedhound. for the input.

i have pretty bad hardwater problems here. thats why there is a water softener in the loop, just simply need one around here.

but i was hoping with the addition of the softener i could get away with buying a smaller stage r/o system. sounds like your 2stage works just fine!

weedhound could you post me some specs of your tap water before it runs through the filter and after its been r/o'ed. like ph and tds? if not no prob.

Warning: ... don't be as gullible as I was, upon getting your RO system ... I was under the mistaken belief that RO water is neutral-pH ... I got lazy, didn't bother to check pH, almost destroyed my plants ...
my city water, after the RO, is 4.5, highly acidic ... research led me to discover that tapwater chlorine breaks down into CO2, which acidifies the water, PLUS, the RO unit removes calcium, further acidifying, and removes magnesium ... this calcium and magnesium needs to be replaced somehow ... now, I no longer use my RO water for the plants ... it's easier for me to let the tapwater chlorine evaporate for a day or two, than it is to add the calcium/magnesium, and pH problems ... check your pH !!! ... :smokin:

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Originally Posted by the image reaper

Warning: ... don't be as gullible as I was, upon getting your RO system ... I was under the mistaken belief that RO water is neutral-pH ... I got lazy, didn't bother to check pH, almost destroyed my plants ...
my city water, after the RO, is 4.5, highly acidic ... research led me to discover that tapwater chlorine breaks down into CO2, which acidifies the water, PLUS, the RO unit removes calcium, further acidifying, and removes magnesium ... this calcium and magnesium needs to be replaced somehow ... now, I no longer use my RO water for the plants ... it's easier for me to let the tapwater chlorine evaporate for a day or two, than it is to add the calcium/magnesium, and pH problems ... check your pH !!! ... :smokin:

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I have kind of the opposite problem There's something in my tap water that buffers the pH way higher than I want, around 8.0. I was having a lot of pH problems, discussed here, until I started using RO.

Water supplies can differ a lot and sometimes it's just trial and error that tells us what works and what doesn't.

In any event, do like the Reaper says and check your pH - often!

PC :smokin:

They are both absolutely right. If your plants do well on tap water.....by all means continue to use it. When I looked into RO systems I was told (by someone with very good knowledge) that "regular" water is very good for your plants....IF....as the guys above me state.....you can control the ph. With my well water I couldn't control the ph which was why I went to RO water.

PC's link to the ph discussion is very good and goes very much into detail about different types of water and ph issues. i'd post a photo but you really wouldn't see anything....the water looks the same both before and after.
The numbers go pretty much like this....
Well water........ppm 150-180, ph 6.5-8ish
after RO...........ppm 10-15 ph 6.2-6.7 (ish)

I don't do anything else to my water before I use it.... besides adjusting ph and making sure the temp is good for my plants and fish. ;)

What if you can control the PH of your tap water but the ppm is so high off the tap you cant add nutes without too much EC/TDS?

i use both tap mixed with distilled, when i mix i try to mix it 50/50. I cant prove it scientificly but it seems to keep my super high ppm water down to a descent level.

If you have good tap water stick with it (< 200ppm), RO water will just decrease the amount of PH up and down you use since the buffering capabilities are gone. As far as RO PH...around 7 for sure for pure water, now since its pure and has no buffering capabilities any small amount of an acid or base will cause a huge swing.

Cl doesnt break down...its an element, it will leave the water on its own in a gas state, any carbonic acid in your water will be made from CO2 in the atmosphere reacting with the pure water.

DI is just the last step in super pure water....you or your plants wont notice a difference....FYI DI water is so hungry for shit to dissolve it will eat though 6mils of stainless steel every year.

Your taking everything out of the water(almost) when you run it in an RO system so you have to add everything in turn...its just better control and you know exactly whats in your water.

Oh and TDS is just a measure of conductivity, so its really not measuring the total dissolved solids really accurately. Take some tap water and measure the TDS, now take distilled water with some PH down in it...doesnt take much. That PH down will cause the pure water to conduct electricity much better than the tap...your pure water may even read much high on your TDS meter than the tap even tough the amount of TDS is less.....temps can cause the same effect....you will notice conductivity (TDS reading) will drop in a linear fashion with temperature.

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Originally Posted by Cyclonite

If you have good tap water stick with it (< 200ppm), RO water will just decrease the amount of PH up and down you use since the buffering capabilities are gone. As far as RO PH...around 7 for sure for pure water, now since its pure and has no buffering capabilities any small amount of an acid or base will cause a huge swing.

Cl doesnt break down...its an element, it will leave the water on its own in a gas state, any carbonic acid in your water will be made from CO2 in the atmosphere reacting with the pure water.

DI is just the last step in super pure water....you or your plants wont notice a difference....FYI DI water is so hungry for shit to dissolve it will eat though 6mils of stainless steel every year.

Your taking everything out of the water(almost) when you run it in an RO system so you have to add everything in turn...its just better control and you know exactly whats in your water.

Oh and TDS is just a measure of conductivity, so its really not measuring the total dissolved solids really accurately. Take some tap water and measure the TDS, now take distilled water with some PH down in it...doesnt take much. That PH down will cause the pure water to conduct electricity much better than the tap...your pure water may even read much high on your TDS meter than the tap even tough the amount of TDS is less.....temps can cause the same effect....you will notice conductivity (TDS reading) will drop in a linear fashion with temperature.

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does a TDS meter read by conductivity, too ? ... I thought the EC meter worked on that principle ... ??