Need Help Understanding Water Analysis Report!

[Max Frost]

Hey!

Thanks for dropping in to help out. I have just set up a small grow in a new town and have been trying like hell to get some kind of water analysis report. I couldn't find anything online, and even the water department itself said they didn't have a current report for distribution. (Sounded kinda fishy to me)! A friend suggested I go to companies that offer water filtration products in my area. Chances are they'd have the info as an aid to sell their product(s). I hadn't found any luck there either. (I've moved to a tiny town in the mountains. Our water dept. probably consists of the girl who answers the phone, and her cousin. A beer-bellied redneck in a pickup who'll shut off your meter if you don't pay the bill). I was able to locate a place I could send off a sample to and pay to have it analyzed. I had decided to go ahead and do that, when this morning this water quality report showed up in my mailbox. I guess it was sent out by our aforementioned redneck's other brother, Darryl and they forgot to tell their sister/cousin who works the phones.

Anyway...I know nothing about any of this! I'm a soil grower, but it would be helpful to know the ppm of my water before I add anything...and also to know if there's anything I should know...ya know? If anyone can actually read and understand this, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me:

1. What is the starting ppm of my water?
2. Is the ph listed here somewhere, and I'm just not seeing it?
3. What...if anything from this report could effect my grow, and what can I do about it?
4. If you see anything else here I should know?

Thanks so much in advance.I'm not seriously trying to berate my fellow townsfolk, they are by and large a wonderful group of people! And this town may be tiny, but the water actually tastes good right out of the tap. This is funny for me, because I usually won't drink anything but bottled. Again...thanks!

Best,

Max :wacky:

 

[jammie]

wow- what a ripoff. there should be total ppms/ec, calcium levels, magnesium levels, chloramines. at least the sodium level is low. you should be able to check ph with litmus paper if you don't have a meter

 

[sky high]

Dunno where ya are....but it sounds as if they are a public water system....so some of this may apply.

http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/ccr/index.cfm

Farmers.....there's a link on this page to see if your water system offers an online report.

 

[Max Frost]

wow- what a ripoff. there should be total ppms/ec, calcium levels, magnesium levels, chloramines. at least the sodium level is low. you should be able to check ph with litmus paper if you don't have a meter

Yeah man, that's kinda what I was thinking too! There just doesn't seem to be allot of very useful info in the report. But now that I've checked out sky high's link...I understand why! It's a Consumer Confidence Report! We can't have anything in there that might give the confidence reason to wane!

Best,

Max :wacky:

 

[Max Frost]

Dunno where ya are....but it sounds as if they are a public water system....so some of this may apply.

http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/ccr/index.cfm

Farmers.....there's a link on this page to see if your water system offers an online report.

Thanks allot SH! That explains mucho! It's basically advertising propaganda...NOT a useful report. Well...hopefully someone can tell me something from it. That's good to know about the sodium level being low. (One less thing...lol). Can you tell from it what my overall starting EC level would be? (I have a ph pen, I just assumed ph would be a part of a water report, and wanted to see if what they are claiming matches up with what I'm seeing). Thanks!

Best,

Max :wacky:

 

[sky high]

Here locally (mountains/West slope) the water supply changes according to the season from surface water to well water. There is a noticeable difference in water quality/hardness here, especially during Spring runoff.

Whether you consider it propaganda or not, my guess is that they are reporting what the law/standards require them to report. My wife works for the local water utility and I know for a fact they have to meet rigorous standards and are constantly testing all parameters of the system. I also know the ppm's can vary widely with the source and the season and the amount of heavy metals that may be present in the area you live in.... and that the readings taken at the plant will be different than in your home.

From the info furnished...it looks like the lab you hired was inept/merely printed out what the water supply should offer for free (IMO). Did they furnish the bottles and give specific instructions how to collect a sample/etc? Something is fishy with that test....

 

[Max Frost]

Here locally (mountains/West slope) the water supply changes according to the season from surface water to well water. There is a noticeable difference in water quality/hardness here, especially during Spring runoff.

Whether you consider it propaganda or not, my guess is that they are reporting what the law/standards require them to report. My wife works for the local water utility and I know for a fact they have to meet rigorous standards and are constantly testing all parameters of the system. I also know the ppm's can vary widely with the source and the season and the amount of heavy metals that may be present in the area you live in.... and that the readings taken at the plant will be different than in your home.

From the info furnished...it looks like the lab you hired was inept/merely printed out what the water supply should offer for free (IMO). Did they furnish the bottles and give specific instructions how to collect a sample/etc? Something is fishy with that test....

Sorry Sky, I may not have been clear enough...the report IS from the local water utility. I was planning to send off a sample to a lab to get an analysis, when this report showed up in my mailbox. From what I'm hearing, I should probably still go ahead with the lab analysis! The link you gave me took me to a site that explained the report. You're correct, all public water utilities that serve more than "x" number of customers per year are required to send this report out to their customers. It's not really a useful report for growers it doesn't look like though. If you saw the other side of the post card...it's more of a marketing piece! They give a small bit of generalized info on where contaminants come from, why are there dissolved minerals, etc. Then they go into all they do to keep us safe...blah, blah. Not saying they don't work hard and do a good job, just that I wish their report was a bit more complete and not just the minimums they have to publish. Thanks again!

 

[Papa]

you just can't trust that the water you get from your tap is anything like what the local water dept. reports, even with a decent report. like sh says, the water may change from season to season. also, they are testing effluent water from the treatment facility. the water you get may have sat in degraded reservoirs and gone through miles and miles of old corroded pipe before it got to you, changing everything along the way.

the solutions are to send samples out for testing or treat the water yourself.