@goingtoguano From your first post in this thread, I see that you are using R/O water. I'm curious what kind of R/O filter you bought, and how you use it? ie: Does it take like an hour to fill a 5gal bucket, or do you just pour as needed and it's pretty fast? I'm just curious how the whole operation worked out.
Also, have you checked the ppm of your R/O water?
My tap water has low alkalinity... around ~45ppm (I have a meter), with a perfect 6:1 calcium/magnesium ration (per city's public water reports). I think I'm just going to run my tap water as-is, but am tossing the R/O idea around.
Dang, dude, that's pretty perfect tap water. I want to live where you live haha. My ppm WITH my RO filter (I actually use the same brand The Rev does, Pure Water Products, but I use the under-the-sink model, which is a little more expensive than the one he uses) are around 30-40. Without the RO, ppm's are 250.
It would take about three hours with the unit I use to fill a five gallon bucket, so I just kind of fill up a one gallon bucket here and there and dump that into my five gallon buckets. I don't mind letting my water sit around for a day or so. The reservoir of my RO actually empties after about two gallons and then takes about an hour to refill completely. It might take less time, I've never checked, I just usually wait about an hour to start using it again. But judging from what you said about your water, I'd say that an RO unit would be superfluous and maybe even detrimental, especially considering the cal/mag ratio of your tap water. I mean, if you got an RO unit, all that
Ca/Mg would be leached out of the water and then you'd have to figure out a way to replace it (read: spend money). Just use your tap water, let's see what happens haha. I don't think chlorine will be an issue. And ordinarily I'd say,"Fuck the city! You can't trust them!" re: the
Ca/Mg ratio, but if your ppm's are that low, then it sounds like your city can be trusted.
You don't have to tell me what city you're in, but what state do you live in, at least? It sounds like y'all have really good water there, which in my mind, anyway, reflects really well on the people who are running/living in said state. I'm super-curious.