Using Dehumidifier Water Bad Idea?

Cangrow613

Cangrow613

Member
Just wondering if using water from dehumidifier to water my 3 week old plants growing in soil is bad for them or not?

They have been only getting distilled water with 1/2 strength base nutrients with calmag and silica at 1/4 strength. I'm all out of distilled water and not sure when I will be able to get more as it is in low supply in my area.

What minerals are in dehumidifier water? Tested at 50 ppm. My tap water is around 100 ppm. ppm.jpg

IMG_4026.jpg
 
Harvest76

Harvest76

Well-Known Member
Dehumidifier water is not recommended for plants you will eat because of microbes, bacteria, and aluminum and copper leeching, and I would apply that same caution to things you will smoke too. Use it to water well-established house plants and flower gardens, but dont use it to water food plants or soul plants. :bigjoint:
 
JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
Whats wrong with your tap water to the point that you think you need to buy bottled water? Almost all tap water is just fine for plants. Gotta evaporate the chlorine off municipal water but thats easy, look it up.
 
Harvest76

Harvest76

Well-Known Member
JoeBlow5823 said:
Whats wrong with your tap water to the point that you think you need to buy bottled water? Almost all tap water is just fine for plants. Gotta evaporate the chlorine off municipal water but thats easy, look it up.
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A lot of municipalities (mine included) are using chloramines as a secondary disinfectant. It cannot be removed through evaporation. Not all tap water is created equal either. Some use surface water (lakes, streams, springs, etc) and some use wells. Both require different treatment methods and present unique problems as well. For me, where we have gone round for years when our town rejected our lake water source from a neighboring city and built a well system, our water went from manageable to caustic enough to eat appliances and fixtures. My PPM out of the tap is around 500. Just tested it, and it is 400 today...a good day. I use RO and amend as necessary. I dont drink it nor give it to my pets. I'm eternally jealous of those who have good tap water.
 
JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
Harvest76 said:
A lot of municipalities (mine included) are using chloramines as a secondary disinfectant. It cannot be removed through evaporation. Not all tap water is created equal either. Some use surface water (lakes, streams, springs, etc) and some use wells. Both require different treatment methods and present unique problems as well. For me, where we have gone round for years when our town rejected our lake water source from a neighboring city and built a well system, our water went from manageable to caustic enough to eat appliances and fixtures. My PPM out of the tap is around 500. Just tested it, and it is 400 today...a good day. I use RO and amend as necessary. I dont drink it nor give it to my pets. I'm eternally jealous of those who have good tap water.
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Oh trust me i dont drink my tap water and i dont give it to my dog. I do however trust it once it has passed through this filter.
I do run my water through a second Britta, just in case. And i like keeping water in the fridge- i like to drink water right at 33 degrees.
 
ilovereggae

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
Just found this thread wondering about using DH water. Getting so much at the moment seems like a waste to dump down the drain. Makes sense about possible leaching of metals from the unit itself.

Regarding chloramine I was worried and went thru a bunch of options until someone told me to get my local water report. LA has really thorough testing and you can get results from your local area. Anyway, the amount of chloramine they use was such a trace amount, it wasnt even in the range where plants and micros/benes would be affected by it.

I dont have all of the numbers handy as I did all of this research last summer. I went ahead and got a Berkey light filter for our drinking water anyway. I was using it for my plants too, but then after testing it with my Bluelab pen, I realized the Berkey was taking my tap from 7.2ish to 7.9. Again fine for drinking but wrong direction for plants. Went back to using straight tap.

I dont disagree that treated water can be bad all im saying is dont believe the hype and get a water test to find out before you spend a whole bunch of $ on filters you dont need.

2 things solved any issues I had that I thought was from my water or PH. first was using Recharge. but once i switched from FFOF/Bus/ewc to just using the BAS light soil, I dont even bother with recharge. I think having a healthy microbial population and enough minerals/elements is the main thing.
 
Harvest76

Harvest76

Well-Known Member
I use the dehumidifier in the basement room to fill the humidifier inside the tent during veg. I got a regular biosphere down there.
 
J

jrs302

Member
While on the subject may I ask what dehumidifier you guys are using? I'm new to growing (in a small closet) and my humidity is between 70-85 and I need to lower it for sure. Any recommendations?
 
Cinco

Cinco

Well-Known Member
jrs302 said:
While on the subject may I ask what dehumidifier you guys are using? I'm new to growing (in a small closet) and my humidity is between 70-85 and I need to lower it for sure. Any recommendations?
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Brands will vary. Get a bigger one than you think you need, one that retains its settings when unplugged (so it can be used with a controller), and with a connection for continuous operation so you can drain it without having to continuous dump it.

I run a 50 pint in a 12x12 room and wish I had a slightly larger one so it would run less often. But, it has been a humid summer, even indoors, and I don’t have AC. It is a Whirlpool I picked up used for $40 US.
 
H

Hippieryan

Well-Known Member
Harvest76 said:
A lot of municipalities (mine included) are using chloramines as a secondary disinfectant. It cannot be removed through evaporation. Not all tap water is created equal either. Some use surface water (lakes, streams, springs, etc) and some use wells. Both require different treatment methods and present unique problems as well. For me, where we have gone round for years when our town rejected our lake water source from a neighboring city and built a well system, our water went from manageable to caustic enough to eat appliances and fixtures. My PPM out of the tap is around 500. Just tested it, and it is 400 today...a good day. I use RO and amend as necessary. I dont drink it nor give it to my pets. I'm eternally jealous of those who have good tap water.
Click to expand...
I had a friend talk to me about this the other night. I thought our new RO system i. Town would help, I can still smell chlorine after two three days of sitting, not the chlorine I need to worry about anymore,, scary shit
 
Harvest76

Harvest76

Well-Known Member
Hippieryan said:
I had a friend talk to me about this the other night. I thought our new RO system i. Town would help, I can still smell chlorine after two three days of sitting, not the chlorine I need to worry about anymore,, scary shit
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Beyond scary.
 
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