Ya if your water is high PPM you probably need a RO, but honestly u are putting this water on dirt.....not like you know exactly whats in the FFOF to begin with....i venture to say growing in soil you will get the same results with 300 ppm base water as with 15 ppm base water. Bu8t if your water is like 500 u may need a RO.
Add minerals? I think your thinking of how the water district and distribution works is off. The water i have in San Diego is 500-600 PPM, this is no because the water district made a conscious effort to add minerals. The reason our water is so high is because it has a lot of dissolved solids naturally and it would be too expensive for the district to filter it out. The water district makes sure you have safe drinkable water, but the allowable limits of dissolved solids is like 500-600 so if its under that that's what you get. Certain parts of the country just have water that is cleaner and has less sediment.
Best option is to not buy water at all & use reclaimed water from a clean dehumidier set up near your grow areas. When you know it's gonna rain put buckets out under gutter downspouts or awnings to collect it. Free clean water is the best to use. If you use reclaimed water which is basically distilled it will have low ppms so you'll need to add cal/mag in low doses but rain has macros as well as microbial life; use it as is. I still sometimes need to trek down to walmart for their RO unit but I can supply most of my grows water needs with just a dehuey and whatever rain I can collect when it does.
I believe its a songs lyrics, "it never rains in southern california" san diego dry as shit, dunno bout where op lives
Have you tested the before and after EC? Doubt there is much of a change but curious.
I just checked my softened water with a Britta filter,
Yes of course if you live in the desert forget everything I said & Walmart is your freind. You can get RO units that will hook up to your garden hose around $100+ but they are super wasteful...had one but it blew up from extreme cold last winter; always store dry in the cold weather lol
Not sure, I do know that they are basically a particle filter that has no ability to grab any thing that would raise EC re salts
all RO filters are wasteful as hell. They use water to clean the filter so its takes like 5-6 gallons of water to make 1 gallon of filtered water.
I'm looking at Nu Calgon system and it seems it just cartridges and no waste
. Going to call wholesaler tomorrow and see what prices are like .... Expensive I fear lol.
pretty sure any RO system creats waste, not an expert thoI'm looking at Nu Calgon system and it seems it just cartridges and no waste
Have a look at the Nu Calgon RO canister, pretty sure it has no waste drain but I could be wrong. That's why I'm calling, couldn't download the install manual.
Man where are you getting your information? 30 years ago they were not very efficient, but no longer. If you have a RO with a pump, rejection is ~ 1:1. A single shower wastes 10xs+++ more than that
It's 3:1 and 1:1 if you put in the restrictor. Our "waste" water is diverted to animal use. There are ways you can redirect the waste water for home use too. Tanked and used for toilets by specific connection. Lawn and garden use, etc.....It's up to YOU to change your world - Not complain about it!
GREAT point on the shower! Beat me to the RO point too!
Mine is like 15 years old, but it def uses way more than 3:1, must be cuz its old.
do they still get the PPM as low if u use 1:1?
If you go looking to buy a RO filter u can still buy my exact filter that takes at least 5 gallons of water to make 1 gallon clean, so its not like i was making some crazy statement, tho glad to hear newer ones arent so wasteful.