Question about water

[xodes]

Can anyone help me decipher this emailed water report I recieved.
nitrate + nitrite- non-detect
specific conductivity-340 umhos/cm
alkalinity -170 mg/l @ CaCO3
ph7.75 units

There are two wells on site and one went dry, I started watering with this well thinking it was ph comparibly with the now dry well. I have alot of my ladies showing dif signs of lock out. I gradually lowered the ph over this weeks watering. Is there anything else I can do to get things back on track?

 

[MrMIMedPot]

Water problems

Where did you have your testing done?

 

[Seamaiden]

Can anyone help me decipher this emailed water report I recieved.

Let's see if we can pick it apart.

nitrate + nitrite- non-detect
specific conductivity-340 umhos/cm
alkalinity -170 mg/l @ CaCO3
ph7.75 units

Ok, pH coming out of the well is right there. Alkalinity is a measure of buffering capacity, in other words, the water's ability or capacity to resist pH shift. It appears that they've *only* measured calcareous-based alkalinity (the Ca = calcium, CO3 = carbon, i.e. calcium carbonate). Why only calcium I don't know, there are two main sources of carbonate hardness, magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate. Perhaps the Mg levels were so low they couldn't measure them, I don't know. Also, they're not measuring general hardness, i.e. what else is in there? Iron? Manganese? Arsenic? Lead?

Conductivity is measured in, IIRC, microSeimens, measuring electrical conductivity as, again IIRC, pure water does not conduct electricity very well (don't hold me to that!). Low conductivity, as it appears, relative to the level of calcium carbonate that's in there. Conductivity is what's used to calculate ppm's and TDS, just FYI.

There are two wells on site and one went dry, I started watering with this well thinking it was ph comparibly with the now dry well. I have alot of my ladies showing dif signs of lock out. I gradually lowered the ph over this weeks watering. Is there anything else I can do to get things back on track?

I would filter that water.