Quote Originally Posted by Jiminy
Great thread for the hardware hackers out there.:thumbsup:

But just out of curiousity, a water softener uses salts to soften water correct?

I was always told dont let any plants be watered by any "softened" water, I would assume the water softener will increase the salts in the water while lowering the calcium and magnesium? I forget which elements determine the hardness of the water.

But maybe using the RO as the last leg of filtration will eliminate anything left in the water by the water softener?
Good point to bring up.

Answered with, while softening does indeed remove Ca and Mg, it also removes the bulk of the reason why solubles don't dissolve as thoroughly when the positive charge of Ca and Mg are present. Like detergent for laundry...or nutrients for roots.

Its the the real first stage of what will be the final output of the RO process....Zero'd water.

From there, the nutrients I use, by measured amounts...I'll know approximately how much Ca and Mg (typical ingredients for better nutrient lines) has been put into the solution.

:thumbsup: