# me not vewy smawt...need help wif PH water



## PUFF MONKEY (Oct 21, 2008)

i have read just about EVERY page in the hydro section...heres my question...when making ph'ed water from tap, how to i make stable water ????is there a britta filter or something i could use??? or do i just add PH up/down accordingly......should i go buy a water tank to store a treated supply ???? please elaborate....


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## pcduck (Oct 21, 2008)

I consider tap water stable after sitting for 24 hours. jmo

Walmart had some cool barrels, on sale too, called Rain Barrel its for storing rain water and its 52 gallons in size


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## HippyInEngland (Oct 21, 2008)

In my understanding of hydro the water PH and PPM are constantly changing and need to be altered every now and again, but hey, what do I know, im an outside grower  


Someone with knowledge will be along soon


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## PUFF MONKEY (Oct 21, 2008)

i understand there are fluctuations in ph levels, but if i wanted to use tap water ,how would i prep it to be as stable as it can be...i have a small water filter that gives a ph 0f 7.2 where the regular waters is 7.5-6.....12 hrs later, the PH jumps to 7.6 and the regular water being 7.8-9.....is it normal for water that has set out to increase in PH ???....these are tests of glasses of water...not from the rez.


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## JBonez (Oct 21, 2008)

pcduck said:
			
		

> I consider tap water stable after sitting for 24 hours. jmo
> 
> Walmart had some cool barrels, on sale too, called Rain Barrel its for storing rain water and its 52 gallons in size



I totally almost bought those exact same rain barrels yesterday! they have a 1/2" valve on the bottom, and a stand for them to sit on, very cool, but i spent 10 bucks on a regular black garbage can, i can put a valve on the bottom myself for way cheaper, but cool nonetheless


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## JBonez (Oct 21, 2008)

Here is what i do, i fill whatever container (usually large) to accommodate the amount of water i need, then i let the water sit for a day at least, usually 3 in a container with a cover ( garbage can in my case) then i test the ph of the water before i put in my nutes, just for satisfaction, ph usually will drop after nutes are added. stir in your nutes and check the ph, then adjust ph from there.
Different tap water will have different tds (total dissolved solids) or ppm (parts per million)

if you are worried about the ph changing with the more time the water sits, do a test of your own. test your tap waters ph, then after 1 day test again, and each day after. that way you can predict the fluctuation in your ph and adjust for when adding nutes and ph up or down.

also, you can us RO water, but reverse osmosis isnt cheap to buy
and you can use a brita water filter or something like that to get out the chlorine, then you can use it right from the tap immediately.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 21, 2008)

PUFF MONKEY said:
			
		

> i have read just about EVERY page in the hydro section...heres my question...when making ph'ed water from tap, how to i make stable water ????is there a britta filter or something i could use??? or do i just add PH up/down accordingly......should i go buy a water tank to store a treated supply ???? please elaborate....



I don't quite understand what you mean by "stable".  You will never be able to keep your ph and ppms totally stable.  Filtering water _generally_ does not change the pH of your water.  It may remove some solids in the water.  But, filters like brita filters will do nothing to remove the dissolved solids in your water.  It is important for you to know the pH and ppm of the water you are starting with.  Whether you need something like an RO depends on the ppms of your tap water.  An RO will have little effect on the ph of your water.  Water should sit out for about 24 hours to allow the chlorine to dissipate.


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## pcduck (Oct 21, 2008)

JBonez said:
			
		

> I totally almost bought those exact same rain barrels yesterday! they have a 1/2" valve on the bottom, and a stand for them to sit on, very cool, but i spent 10 bucks on a regular black garbage can, i can put a valve on the bottom myself for way cheaper, but cool nonetheless



I tried that black garbage can it leaked on me.
So for few bucks extra and and getting the spigot without going to another store. It was worth it for me. I didn't get the stand, it was not on sale.


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## JBonez (Oct 21, 2008)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> I don't quite understand what you mean by "stable".  You will never be able to keep your ph and ppms totally stable.  Filtering water _generally_ does not change the pH of your water.  It may remove some solids in the water.  But, filters like brita filters will do nothing to remove the dissolved solids in your water.  It is important for you to know the pH and ppm of the water you are starting with.  Whether you need something like an RO depends on the ppms of your tap water.  An RO will have little effect on the ph of your water.  Water should sit out for about 24 hours to allow the chlorine to dissipate.



Hey HG, what for example is your tap waters ppm? and if your tap water ppm theoretically is 50, and you didnt want to excede 500 ppm for your solution, would you just add nutes that are equivalent to 450 ppm?


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## JBonez (Oct 21, 2008)

pcduck said:
			
		

> I tried that black garbage can it leaked on me.
> So for few bucks extra and and getting the spigot without going to another store. It was worth it for me. I didn't get the stand, it was not on sale.



which can, the rain collector with the premade valve? or the regular can?

i have a regular can with a valve like i use on my dwc buckets, works fine for me, no leaks at all.


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## PUFF MONKEY (Oct 21, 2008)

JBonez said:
			
		

> if you are worried about the ph changing with the more time the water sits, do a test of your own. test your tap waters ph, then after 1 day test again
> 
> this is what i did to determine that the ph of my tap was rising with time


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## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 21, 2008)

JBonez said:
			
		

> Hey HG, what for example is your tap waters ppm? and if your tap water ppm theoretically is 50, and you didnt want to excede 500 ppm for your solution, would you just add nutes that are equivalent to 450 ppm?



This is funny, because the ppm of my tap water _is_ 50.  While there may be some beneficial things in your tap water, if you start out with a high ppm, you don't really know what that ppm consists of.  When you start out with a low ppm, you are controlling the nutes your plants get, not just "guessing" on what might be in your water already.


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## JBonez (Oct 21, 2008)

JBonez said:
			
		

> if you are worried about the ph changing with the more time the water sits, do a test of your own. test your tap waters ph, then after 1 day test again, and each day after. that way you can predict the fluctuation in your ph and adjust for when adding nutes and ph up or down.



umm.. i thought you wanted to know what to do, ive already done that, my ph does increase, but not by much, i thought you wanted to know what you could do. sorry for the mix up.


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## PUFF MONKEY (Oct 21, 2008)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> I don't quite understand what you mean by "stable". You will never be able to keep your ph and ppms totally stable. Filtering water _generally_ does not change the pH of your water. It may remove some solids in the water. But, filters like brita filters will do nothing to remove the dissolved solids in your water. It is important for you to know the pH and ppm of the water you are starting with. Whether you need something like an RO depends on the ppms of your tap water. An RO will have little effect on the ph of your water. Water should sit out for about 24 hours to allow the chlorine to dissipate.


once again , you've saved me  a real headache....so basicly all i can do with tap water is let it sit out for a few days to get rid of most of the clorine....and the dissipation of which causes the PH to rise from the initial reading..is that right ??? my hanna ec/tds/temp meter will be here in an hour or 2 along with ALL of the calibration solutions ...and some REAL ph up/down


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## JBonez (Oct 21, 2008)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> This is funny, because the ppm of my tap water _is_ 50.  While there may be some beneficial things in your tap water, if you start out with a high ppm, you don't really know what that ppm consists of.  When you start out with a low ppm, you are controlling the nutes your plants get, not just "guessing" on what might be in your water already.



Yo HG, im officially making you my MP E-Girlfriend:hubba:, you help way more than you know and answer my questions with flawless execution. Just wow.


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## PUFF MONKEY (Oct 21, 2008)

JBonez said:
			
		

> PUFF MONKEY said:
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## JBonez (Oct 21, 2008)

PUFF MONKEY said:
			
		

> once again , you've saved me  a real headache....so basicly all i can do with tap water is let it sit out for a few days to get rid of most of the clorine....and the dissipation of which causes the PH to rise from the initial reading..is that right ??? my hanna ec/tds/temp meter will be here in an hour or 2 along with ALL of the calibration solutions ...and some REAL ph up/down



gonna love that meter, have the same one as well, perfect for hydro!


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## NorCalHal (Oct 21, 2008)

Heres my 2 cents on water.

Most tap water is around 7.0 Good city water will be around 70 ppm. I have seen it as high as 200 ppm. A good idea is to check your ppm in a str8 glass of tap water to get an idea. If it is under 150, I wouldn't trip Puff for your Hydro application.

Low ppm water,Reverse osmosis water and paying for bottled water to get a 0 ppm to start is really only needed if you run Aeroponics. DWC needs low PPM also to be successful, imo.

Hemp Goddess is right on, as usual. It is a good idea to let your water sit for 24 hours to let the chlorine burn off. If this is feasable, then do it.
I use WAY too much water to do that. But, if your water changes are 55 gals or less, then it's a great plan.

PH. Don't trip on what your tap water PH is to start. Don't adjust it.
Add your nuits ( and use half for now due to just starting out), THEN check your PH. See where u r at. If it is 5.5-6.0, leave it alone. In veg, nitrogen is more readily available with a ph close to 5.5
So, after you feed a couple of days, check again. As long as it doesn't go over 6.3, I wouldn't trip.

See, heres my gig. I used to track ppm's, PH, water temp, water level, what the ppm's were that I fed the plant to what the runoff was, and I made a custom Excell chart that kept track of all this and tracked EVERYTHING. I would flush once a week. You name it. I was SUPER geek tech freak tryin' to win the Nobel Prize in MJ botany.

What it taught me was it's all crap. Keeping your PH at excatally 5.8 will not be the difference in a sucessful grow.
I can't say it was all crap. I learned ALOT. I did this for 3 years str8.

Here is what I learned about PH. I NEVER add PH up or down anymore. I use my nuits to adjust my ph. Let me explain. So, as we stated, Tap water is around 7.0 After I add my nuits, it is allways around 5.5-5.8
No adjustments needed. If it was a little high, I would add a little more GH Micro. I use GH 3 part btw. But I know that all other nuits will also LOWER your PH. I have been usuing the same recipe for so long, I haven't even checked my PH in over 3 years. No Joke.

So I guess what I am saying Puff, is don't trip too hard on your PH and water. IMO, adding PH up and down just adds usless ppms to your nuit mix. MJ can handle a pretty wide PH range.

But you REALLY do need to keep an eye on it and check, and keep us posted as to how they flucuate. It will take time and experience to balance out your nuits/ph/ppm. If you stay low on the ppm's u will be fine.

My rant above only really applies to Flood Tables or drip feeds. DWC and Aero are less tolerant.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 21, 2008)

PUFF MONKEY said:
			
		

> JBonez said:
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## NorCalHal (Oct 21, 2008)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> IMO, a little ph drift is good and helps with the uptake of nutes that are taken up on the high and low sides of our recommended ph range.


 
THANK YOU!


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## PUFF MONKEY (Oct 21, 2008)

NorCalHal said:
			
		

> Heres my 2 cents on water.
> 
> Most tap water is around 7.0 Good city water will be around 70 ppm. I have seen it as high as 200 ppm. A good idea is to check your ppm in a str8 glass of tap water to get an idea. If it is under 150, I wouldn't trip Puff for your Hydro application.
> 
> ...


very cool to hear. i was planning on geeking up during the first few weeks but i guess i can relax a little...i too am using the GH flora 3 part, so thats good too i guess..tell ya what, i'll trade you an entire army of those flying monkeys for a little more of your hydro knowledge..sound good ???they have been trained to drive tanks and jeeps....oh, i'm using E&F btw


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## JBonez (Oct 21, 2008)

My tap water ph's at about 7.9-8.2, after i add nutes, it drops to about 3.9-4.2

So that being said, i absolutely have to check my ph, or else i wont have happy plants, and we want our plants to be happy so we can be happy.


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## NorCalHal (Oct 21, 2008)

Do be sure to check your ph though. Like JBonez has a big swing when he adds nuits, and his tap ph is high. You need to check that all out.


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