Well water and softeners?

4plant · Aug 24, 2019

Hey guys,
I haven’t been posting anything for a while now because we finally made a big move out to the country! We went from one of the fastest growing suberbs in the country to a town with a population of 500 for the last 100 years.

Anyways, we love it but I’m getting my grows back up, and am needing some advice on using well water that has been UV treated but runs through a softener. The resulting water has an ec of .9 out of the tap! How do I deal with this? My well water quantity may be limited so a R.O system is not ideal. Any suggestions? Next spring I will be putting up a 20’x40’ greenhouse so I need to dial this in ASAP. Thanks

Brotofsky · Aug 24, 2019

Water softeners use salt like sodium chloride, a plant killer, but great for suppressing hard water. UV sterilization gets rid of bad, but also good. Can you tap your line coming in before both of those? Other option, water delivery service. Our well water was amazing right from the ground in the North east, have you had yours tested?

oldskol4evr · Aug 24, 2019

Brotofsky said:
Water softeners use salt like sodium chloride, a plant killer, but great for suppressing hard water. UV sterilization gets rid of bad, but also good. Can you tap your line coming in before both of those? Other option, water delivery service. Our well water was amazing right from the ground in the North east, have you had yours tested?

i learned something,my well is 500 ft deep the aquifer is in lime stone and caries all the way down,i was thinking of adding a big tank and run the water threw a softner,damn lime tears the plumbing up,never ending,hell im a lazy bastard im sick of toilet and sink repairs hahahah,under cover stoner too hahahahah,my gardens do fine with the water ,but the fixtures in the house hell every other month it seems

CannasaurusR · Aug 25, 2019

I have pretty hard water 250+ ppm well water. use it for drinking etc. but I use rainwater on my indoor plants. Tried everything except reverse osmosis, gave up....I do give them a 3:1 rainwater to well water once or twice a cycle (before the softener output), just for a calcium/magnesium rush.

4plant · Aug 25, 2019

ok, so it’s not just me. IsThere an alternative to add to the softener that doesn’t mess up your plans? Or a inline filter that could remove the salt just to the hose? if not I do have a cistern I could add a pump to try to use that water?

oldskol4evr · Aug 25, 2019

4plant said:
ok, so it’s not just me. IsThere an alternative to add to the softener that doesn’t mess up your plans? Or a inline filter that could remove the salt just to the hose? if not I do have a cistern I could add a pump to try to use that water?

my well has a filter right out of the tank before it goes into lines,when my water pressure starts to slow i change it,there 7 of use on property and what i need is a 5k storage tank,after about 30 min of watering garden ,water slows to a crawl and give it 10 min it refills the pressure tank

CannasaurusR · Aug 26, 2019

Long term, I think a reverse osmosis filter unit, tied in before your softener would be the ultimate solution. Shop around as it will be expensive, make sure you can get replacement parts easily. 0 ppm water will need some amount of cal/mag if you are a bottle nute grower, but you'll adjust. I grow rols style so I just add water, I found the high ppm well water was messing with ph of the mix and obviously salts were building up. No issues since the switch to rainwater. I need a boost pump on y system if I go reverse osmosis. I am still young enough to haul 5 gallon buckets down stairs....for now. Rainwater collection tank is more my style in the long term.

CannasaurusR · Aug 26, 2019

Just a heads up when talking to water filter sales guys.....I'm not a chemist (but college level chem and biology) but when I fill my 18' pool with well water and then chlorinate, I can have a burn your eyes out free chlorine level for 2 months while maintaining a 7.6 ph the whole time. the water is clear and the chlorine is high or normal. But the poolwater is showing an alkaline ph. When faced with these numbers, water guys usually don't have a grasp of what is a buffer solution is, and when there is no chemistry knowledge, their sales explainations and solutions are ill informed. Research pays off.

4plant · Aug 26, 2019

I think I’ve got some plumbing work to do. I was looking at running a dedicated line from the cisterns pressure tank to a hose outside. I’ll have that water tested soon and decide if any filtration is required.

I appreciate the suggestions but I live in southern Ontario where droughts and crazy heat are common so I can’t afford the waste of a ro system. It’s probably better i use the rain water anyways. I figure I should get a towable water tank and fill it in the spring, throw some air stones in it as my main res. I can run my irrigation out of it and pull it over to refill when needed.

oldskol4evr · Aug 26, 2019

my pressure tank has a spikot ,you have to drain tank before you change filter,filters are cheap but damn it starts to add up once a month,i plan on a 5k storage tank,when i get it our make one,the pressure tank gonna be moved by it,i will plum the pipes coming out were i dont have to drain the tank to change filter and turn well breaker off,lmao im lazy ,hell on house fixtures but the soil buffers it for gardens

Aqua Man · Aug 26, 2019

Take some well water in and get it tested. Post the results and I second the RO before this softener if your results are not adequate.

CannasaurusR · Aug 27, 2019

An amazing difference in tolerating and using the elevated ppm well water when the plants are in the ground. All the plants outside this season got it straight from the hose as we got no rain all July and just an inch in August and all are booming. It shows me the real difficulty in replicating mother nature in a container, indoors. Not that I'm going to give up (my soil is 5 years recycled) on trying lol. Just dyin' to post a pic of my legal babies this year, I'll ask the boss lol.

oldskol4evr said:
my pressure tank has a spikot ,you have to drain tank before you change filter,filters are cheap but damn it starts to add up once a month,i plan on a 5k storage tank,when i get it our make one,the pressure tank gonna be moved by it,i will plum the pipes coming out were i dont have to drain the tank to change filter and turn well breaker off,lmao im lazy ,hell on house fixtures but the soil buffers it for gardens

Madbud · Aug 27, 2019

Softeners are always hooked up past the outside spigot or it would be impossible to water the lawn.

oldskol4evr · Aug 27, 2019

CannasaurusR said:
An amazing difference in tolerating and using the elevated ppm well water when the plants are in the ground. All the plants outside this season got it straight from the hose as we got no rain all July and just an inch in August and all are booming. It shows me the real difficulty in replicating mother nature in a container, indoors. Not that I'm going to give up (my soil is 5 years recycled) on trying lol. Just dyin' to post a pic of my legal babies this year, I'll ask the boss lol.

sounds like texas,only rain i get is a green water hose hahahah

Well water and softeners?

Well water and softeners?

4plant

Brotofsky

oldskol4evr

CannasaurusR

4plant

oldskol4evr

CannasaurusR

CannasaurusR

4plant

oldskol4evr

Aqua Man

CannasaurusR

Madbud

oldskol4evr

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