Well water quality issues

[iscrog4food]

I recently moved into the country because a neighbor of mine complained to me about the smell of my grow (Understandable he has kids and even though I am legal and have a small grow I respect him raising his seeds). Since I have moved I have been plagued with deficiencies and after using multiple ph pens to check I am still having issues (From what I can tell they are cal or mg def but I am not sure.) My water is only about 330 ppms from the well at about 7.2 ph but it has a slight smell of Sulfur. Also when I store my ph meter with a bit of water, after a day of it being closed off in the water and I open it and it really smells like rotten eggs strong. The defencies have been relatively mild thus far but I want to eliminate the problem prior to flipping the girls. I was considering an RO but I am not sure if it will help or solve my issues. ALso I have done some research and it is not iron reducing bacteria because if I let the water sit no iron bits appear. Also I have been using the water straight from the well and not letting it aerate at all and I was feeding at 56 degrees which I have stopped recently because MG is locked out at 55 or so. My main question is has anyone had a rotten egg sulfur smell in well water and had it affect their grow and did an RO help?

Edit: I am feeding Home and garden 2 part coco at about 3mm / gallon and adding Cal mag at 1/2 strength, NUTS humic acid, silica, and RE phing to 5.9 a method which has never given me problems in the past.

 

[Cort]

Send some water off to have it tested for content?

Never used well water to grow, but do have hard water about 350. Thats why I use RO,

 

[iscrog4food]

Hmm... im not sure where I would send it. What Ro do you use or recommend? I need on to do about 50 gallons a day but would prefer to buy bigger.

 

[TokinWhiteGuy]

I recently moved into the country because a neighbor of mine complained to me about the smell of my grow (Understandable he has kids and even though I am legal and have a small grow I respect him raising his seeds). Since I have moved I have been plagued with deficiencies and after using multiple ph pens to check I am still having issues (From what I can tell they are cal or mg def but I am not sure.) My water is only about 330 ppms from the well at about 7.2 ph but it has a slight smell of Sulfur. Also when I store my ph meter with a bit of water, after a day of it being closed off in the water and I open it and it really smells like rotten eggs strong. The defencies have been relatively mild thus far but I want to eliminate the problem prior to flipping the girls. I was considering an RO but I am not sure if it will help or solve my issues. ALso I have done some research and it is not iron reducing bacteria because if I let the water sit no iron bits appear. Also I have been using the water straight from the well and not letting it aerate at all and I was feeding at 56 degrees which I have stopped recently because MG is locked out at 55 or so. My main question is has anyone had a rotten egg sulfur smell in well water and had it affect their grow and did an RO help?


Your rotten egg smell could be Hydrogen Sulfide Gas. There are multiple reasons why there might be H2S in a water supply. (look it up. Common if you're near an oil field or lpg plant) In large quantities H2S is deadly! Try leaving it out for a day, it may end up evaporating from the water similar to how chlorine evaps from water. Had a similar problem once. Hope it helps.

check out http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/wq/wq-11.html

 

[Cort]

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/build-your-own-reverse-osmosis-system.html

Dont pay for that hydro store crap.

 

[Seamaiden]

Scrog, I'm on a well and I was forced to go with RO (I did RO/DI) after two dismal runs in coir using my well water. The county where you live should have a well report on hand, but it's likely to be old, or as old as the well. I would contact the county to ask about that, and to ask about testing because they may be able to help you pretty well there. (get it? sorry)

I bought my RO/DI unit from purewaterclub dot com. My husband hates the unit, feels it was very cheaply made. He's right, it cost me a buck twenty, not several hundred. It works just fine. Oh! I did add a permeate pump to help increase efficacy.

 

[LexLuthor]

I think an RO system would probably fix your issues, or even a filter for the faucet.

 

[pork]

Go RO...Well water has too much (well here at least) calcium in it (and probably other things too). This results in calcium levels going to the plant that are out of proportion to Mg and N (for instance) and change the balance of the food they are being fed. I switched to RO and plants haven't looked happier...The Ca in my well water was interfering with the Calcium Nitrate I use, and the sulfates in my other salts...Plus, too much Ca late into flower delays maturation...

 

[iscrog4food]

Yeah I am thinking too high of CA because when I swapped MG in for Cal Mag they are greening up. I just sucks because the garage I am in doesn't have water inside or a drain so I will need to figure some way to run a RO.

 

[Cort]

Kinda Off topic:

Went to replace filter and membrane for my cheap ro unit, balked at cost. Followed SMs tip and got a 5 stage 0ppm system, with float and auto turn off for 125 delivered. Ordered Sunday night, received Tuesday. Works great. It uses more water to make a gallon of RO than old unit, but auto turn off will save my forgetful ass tons.

Thanks Sea!

 

[Cort]

Yeah I am thinking too high of CA because when I swapped MG in for Cal Mag they are greening up. I just sucks because the garage I am in doesn't have water inside or a drain so I will need to figure some way to run a RO.

It dont take nothing but some of that very small hard plastic line, about the size of drip irrigation line. Homey D's has it. As for a drain, set up waste line to water trees or other plants.

 

[iscrog4food]

Yeah my problem is the location of my water and the fact that I live in a very cold climate. I am going to work it out one way or another. Which units in particular do you recommend? I want one with little waste if possible

 

[Seamaiden]

With regard to reverse osmosis, there's always going to be waste. The best ratio I could find (claimed) was 1:1. I don't know if *I* get a ratio that 'good', but I added a permeate pump to the rig to help ensure I get best efficiency.

 

[iscrog4food]

With regard to reverse osmosis, there's always going to be waste. The best ratio I could find (claimed) was 1:1. I don't know if *I* get a ratio that 'good', but I added a permeate pump to the rig to help ensure I get best efficiency.

I feel like everytime I buy something I have to learn an entirely new set of jargon (Permeate pump, DI, pcb free, ect). What brand do you use sea? also do you use pure ro water or do you cut it with 20% tap? This will be my first run with RO as my previous places had good municipal water.

 

[Seamaiden]

For indoors, I use mostly RO/DI or rainwater, and will cut with tap if I need to get the pH up. I got a very cheap unit from pure water club dot com, and my husband wasn't happy with the difficulty of installation. But, it's still running fairly ok three or four years later. Once I started saving rainwater I used a lot less RO, and again once I stopped growing indoors I used even less. My OD irrigation is 100% UNfiltered or treated in any way except for regulating pressure, since it's quite a ways down the hill from the well head itself. Last year I blew out three hoses.

A permeate pump increases efficacy in situations where water pressure feeding into the unit is sufficient for operation (around 70psi, IIRC?) and uses the water pressure itself to work. If incoming pressure isn't sufficient, then an electric booster pump is needed, again to increase efficiency. The problem is, reverse osmosis is an inefficient way to get the cleanest water possible outside of distillation, and get a consistent product. And the thing is, my indoor growing problems were eliminated once I bit that bullet and went with a certain, clean water source.

 

[iscrog4food]

Nice thanks for the tips sea. I am actually considering a tankless RO system because for the price of a medium flow with a res I think I could just buy a tankless and fill my res in an hour or so.

 

[iscrog4food]

something like this perhaps:

 

[pork]

i wish i could pony up for the RO1000...filling my tank in a hour vs a day would be epic...RO on demand essentially...

 

[Cort]

Pork, I started a RO only res. I dropped a pump in the bottom of a hard sided tote, put a float for the RO turn off on the tote and BAM! more RO than I need at one time always at my fingertips. just flip on the power strip and pump away.