FILTERED WATER VS RO WATER

[squiggly]

I use the water from my dehuey with no issue. Apparently AC discharge can be nasty and full of bacteria and other bad things, but dehuey water seems to be fine. I've had no problems.

outwest

Depending on the type of humidifier you have--it is basically an air conditioner that moves air more slowly and condenses considerably more. Whereas an A/C unit is like a Dehuey that moves more air and condenses less water out.

Long story short--I don't believe there is much of a difference in terms of water quality. Window A/C units are closer to the outside and likely to collect MORE bacteria and the like. The dehuey water should have essentially the same bacteria, but just less of them (think of the A/C as a prefilter and the dehuey as a fine filter).

Of course this all depends on which products you are running.

I would be careful using this water, maybe ozonate it first?

 

[smokie]

This is a interesting discussion.
I used to have 70 ppm tap water, then my town switched to ground water (well water large scale).
Now it is 550ppm so i grabbed a growonix it does the job. But RO is a waste and it is so dam slow. Is there a better way besides the OBS solution, i do not have room for that.

 

[El Cerebro]

irrigating with condenser water, legionnaires' disease, etc. was discussed in some detail on another thread

 

[azmmjadvocates]

I use the water from my dehuey with no issue. Apparently AC discharge can be nasty and full of bacteria and other bad things, but dehuey water seems to be fine. I've had no problems.

outwest

Cool thanks, i wonder what those low ppms are though, i cleaned it out real good and still the same ppm, it's low enough though.. perhaps i'll get it tested and find out conclusively. I kinda thought there may be some de ionization going on and from what I recall can have an effect on meters, but as an add back to the rez it equals exactly what the plants consume of h2o.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

Depending on the type of humidifier you have--it is basically an air conditioner that moves air more slowly and condenses considerably more. Whereas an A/C unit is like a Dehuey that moves more air and condenses less water out.

Long story short--I don't believe there is much of a difference in terms of water quality. Window A/C units are closer to the outside and likely to collect MORE bacteria and the like. The dehuey water should have essentially the same bacteria, but just less of them (think of the A/C as a prefilter and the dehuey as a fine filter).

Of course this all depends on which products you are running.

I would be careful using this water, maybe ozonate it first?

So how would i go about ozonating the water? The H2o2 or Chorine should take care of any bacteria as well? with El cerebro bringing up legionaries disease that got my attention lol. It's a brand new machine and the rez on it is easily accessible, and seems really clean perhaps i could spray it with h202 and uv it after every once in a while. But better safe than sorry to consider.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

irrigating with condenser water, legionnaires' disease, etc. was discussed in some detail on another thread

Thanks, that is something to research for sure. I did a search and this thread is the only one that came up, can you recall who posted the thread?

 

[El Cerebro]

yeah I went through the same thought process a while back, maybe ok with ozone (another keyword to check). couldnt find the thread either but will link back if I run across it again. whole thing made me think about what's living in my AC..

 

[guy barnes]

I am looking at removing my RO filter and changing it for a regular carbon filter to remove chlorine/chloromines.

I am interested in the hydro logic big boy with kdf filter. Too much wasted water using an RO. I would rather change a filter.

Can any other seasoned vets provide some insight on the difference? I was gonna try aptus boosters and they recommend tap water. Also, I am going to have my water analyzed so I can tweak my formula based on the results (mostly adjusting Ca I guess).

I have hard water wher i live so i went to home depot and bought a zero filter system was pretty cheap and ive had great success using it we use this water for hydro and regular promix mediums it ph adjusts fine and the filters need to be changed every 4 to 6 months and beleave me hundreds of gallons go through it in this period so I would definatly recomend this filter system

 

[cemchris]

The only reason I was using RO was for DWC and Tables. Now that I am in soil again I too am looking to move away from RO. Thanks everyone on the good advice.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

So I ended up going with a single chamber white filter from the company outwest suggested (pure water products), and a large single 4.5" x 20" single garden filter as well http://www.purewaterproducts.com/gardenhosefilters2.htm.

For the small filter, which will be my post filter, I purchased the FC707, the doultan sterasyl http://www.purewaterproducts.com/products/fc707, which claims to eliminate all bacteria and pathogens from the source water. I like the sound of that. I also like the fact that the rep at pure water told me it doesnt really ever need to be replaced.

The larger filter will be my pre filter. I purchased it from a separate site (filtersfast). I found a filter made by pentek called the CRFC20-BB while I was surfing around. http://www.filtersfast.com/Pentek-CRFC20-BB-GAC-Filter.asp?gclid=CJ_zuebpkLICFWWCQgodyTAATQ

They did not offer this filter at pure water products but I think they should. Maybe I'll call them tomorrow. This filter is designed to remove chlorine and chloramines, and has a 25,ooo gallon capacity. Its basically the FC207's big brother. At roughly 500 gallons of res change a week, this filter will last me almost a year. I will no longer be using RO water, as I do not like wasting.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, and I think the debate on RO vs. filtered should continue. This thread is barely going and I have been lovin the useful info coming out of it and the overall tone of the thread itself.

Fantastic Thread, you've got me considering this route.
The Chloramine filter you linked to states it "reduces" chloramine, I know the standard dose of ascorbic acid is 1gr pre 75gal to get rid of it without filtration. So i assume you would add less ascorbic acid, perhaps squiggly could give a dose suggestion? This would still be beneficial not having to use so much vitamin C

 

[budfarmer]

After having plant problems I had my water analyzed which showed 70 ppm sodium which I take to mean salt so I'm stuck with using RO water, plants love RO but it's a pain in the ass.

 

[sdgrower]

Found this company and am looking at grabbing a small Torrey Pines Model.
http://www.sandiegopurewater.com/#!home/mainPage

 

[buddahslave]

I have hard water wher i live so i went to home depot and bought a zero filter system was pretty cheap and ive had great success using it we use this water for hydro and regular promix mediums it ph adjusts fine and the filters need to be changed every 4 to 6 months and beleave me hundreds of gallons go through it in this period so I would definatly recomend this filter system

Can you post a picture of the zero water system. Is it a real system or the small one they sell at target?

 

[buddahslave]

Found this company and am looking at grabbing a small Torrey Pines Model.
http://www.sandiegopurewater.com/#!home/mainPage

Dam I would have to sell one of my kids to buy that filter. Maybe you should shop around a little!

 

[sdgrower]

Dam I would have to sell one of my kids to buy that filter. Maybe you should shop around a little!

$700 for 100,000 gallons is a bargin IMO. Plus no waste water run-off which is a huge plus in so-cal.

 

[buddahslave]

$700 for 100,000 gallons is a bargin IMO. Plus no waste water run-off which is a huge plus in so-cal.

O I didn't see the Torrey Pines Filter, but still a little to rich for my budget might have to sell my dog instead. Good luck to you and Go Chargers!!!!!!

 

[reeldrag]

I built a system out of a 50 gal bucket some sand and peat moss at the advice of another farmer on this site it works freaking awesome believe it or not! super cheap super easy no waste water entire system ran me about 100 bucks I already had the barrel but worked freaking amazing ph's great and has low ppm's just a great design from another of the farms awesome members.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

Carbon filters will allow ultramicrobacteria and some of the smaller bacteria through--depending on the size. It goes down to about 0.5 micrometers depending on the grade of the carbon. Carbon is activated with a positive charge so that it is good at removing negative ions (like chlorine) from solution.

It does not remove minerals well because it is positively charged (as are the mineral ions). It removes smaller chain hydrocarbons, fats, waxes, and pigments (which are usually negatively charged, it seems) pretty well--depending upon their composition.

It leaves heavy metals in, and radioactive substances--which your marijuana plants are VERY adept at taking up (hemp is often used to remediate contaminated soil).

The difference is that all of what carbon *mostly* removes, RO removes all the way--in addition to removing everything else that carbon doesn't.

Squiggly I kept thinking bout where my belief that carbon filter leaching from a new cartridge was bad for filtering for use with nutes and remembered where I got that opinion from. I guess fish people like the carbon filters for odors and cleaning the tank but limit their use when they grow plants in the water. It was purely conjecture on my part and again im no expert. Do you think there could be enough carbon in even a RO that has a carbon polish?

 

[squiggly]

Squiggly I kept thinking bout where my belief that carbon filter leaching from a new cartridge was bad for filtering for use with nutes and remembered where I got that opinion from. I guess fish people like the carbon filters for odors and cleaning the tank but limit their use when they grow plants in the water. It was purely conjecture on my part and again im no expert. Do you think there could be enough carbon in even a RO that has a carbon polish?

I think its more likely that the aquaculture dudes don't use the carbon filters because it filters their nutes out of the water and doesn't leave any food for the plants. Because we're adding nutes to water after we filter, this shouldn't be an issue for us. I can't think of any negative property carbon could impart to the water through filtration. Carbon doesn't hurt, well, anything :)

 

[azmmjadvocates]

I think its more likely that the aquaculture dudes don't use the carbon filters because it filters their nutes out of the water and doesn't leave any food for the plants. Because we're adding nutes to water after we filter, this shouldn't be an issue for us. I can't think of any negative property carbon could impart to the water through filtration. Carbon doesn't hurt, well, anything :)

Thanks for "clearing" that up, lol I recalled carbon being used in the manufacture of nutes i thought potassium or ammonia, so in addition to that figured it had some effect. I'll give it a try, I have a couple ro machines close to me that have post carbon polish, for .75 for 5gal seems pretty cheep not going on my water bill, I'd drive to a couple machines so as not to be seen filling a bunch of 5 gal jugs. I'd rather get half there and the other through my home ro which drags ass. wally world is to expensive 27 cents a gallon, it comes in about 7-8ppm.

I do like the idea of filtering too, what about filtering a rez change, would that be just to expensive, I'm thinking if the sand and peat works you could have two barrels, one for the nute scrub then run it through the second, any thoughts? I was also thinking about a big distiller made from a 50 gal barrel.

I know its recommended to dump used nutes in a field, fields are impractical where I live, ive always been a bit paranoid that some day water treatment folks would test for high nitrate runoffs from residential neighborhoods.