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water distilled water question

jerrymart

jerrymart

Hi everyone,
Last season I had a big problem with my water so this year I decided to use distilled water. The problem is that with over 20 plants to water is getting very expensive. Distilled water is working great for me but is getting expensive . Living here in Los Angeles the water is very hard so my question is there any way that a water filter will help out in this situation or any of you guys have a good experience with filters or anything you guys recommend..any advise will be very appreciated thank you guys ...
 
50/50 mix of RO/distilled with tap water? Bubbling/sitting out will get rid of chlorine, but the hardness (minerals) is still there, some of which you want.
 
If you buy an RO make sure you figure how much water you use compared to the RO output. Nothing worse than waiting for a tiny water line to fill up a huge tank :D
 
Using bottled distilled water going to be a massive, and in my opinion unnecessary, expense.  You would be better off collecting 1-gallon jugs and filling them from city water (tap) and then allowing them to outgas the chlorine over a 24 hour period (leave bottles uncapped).  I keep about 8-10 gallon jugs in constant rotation to have a plentiful quantity of de-chlorinated water for seedlings and AACT brewing.
 
Unless you have EXCEPTIONALLY hard water from your city supply de-chlorination is all you should really have to worry about.
 
Most of the minerals in hard water are not a problem - if anything, they are beneficial.
 
I suppose salt buildup may become an issue by the end of the season.  If you're worried, try a distilled water flush once every other month.
 
If you're worried about chlorine, toss a pinch of ground up vitamin C in with each bucket.  Let sit for a few minutes and you're good. This works on both chlorine and chloramine, which some cities have begun using in place of chlorine gas.  Chloramine does not outgass anywhere near as well as chlorine, so the old 'let it stand for a day' won't work.
 
You don't need much - municipal chlorine levels are generally in x or xx parts per 1,000,000.  Just a small pinch - a quarter of a typical tablet is overkill -  will neutralize a multi-gallon container of tap water without causing any secondary issues.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine#Ascorbic_acid
http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/html/05231301/05231301.html
 
Another solution is to toss a handful of potting soil in the water, giving the Cl something other than your plants to attack.  Stir well, then let it sit for a while as the chlorine reacts. 
 
Have you heard of duckweed? I know this may sound crazy but duckweed will remove hard water minerals. Aqua phonics might be some thing you should look into.
 
pshngo said:
dechlorinating  los angeles tap water isn't enough. the PH is probably around 8-9.
Click to expand...
Thanks everyone for the great information .. Pshngo is right the Los Angeles water is really bad ..
 
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