Distilled Water vs Tap Water

[RickyRicardo]

Hello everyone! I am a new grower 8 weeks into my first grow. So far things seem to be going well. Some background info:
2x4 tent
Northern Lights AutoFlowers
2 - 300W Viparspectra Led's
FoxFarms Nutrients
Watering with Distilled Water

My question is this............is spending the money to use distilled water a sensible cost??? Is just using regular tap water an option? At $1.00 a jug I am already about $100 into the grow on water alone. No worries if that is what it takes...............but it seems as though tap water should do the trick as long as I let it sit to let the chlorine escape. Thanks in advance to anyone that helps out.

 

[Damien2003gt]

I'm pretty much a newb but.... Depends on the tap water. What's the ppm of your current tap water? Are you declorinating it? For me personally I've done 3 grows with tap in soil_ and 3 grows with tap in hydro. All turned out just fine. I've done soil and hydro with RO water and didn't notice any difference. Pls note i do adjust my calmag accordingly for the tap water.

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

 

[Dudeski]

Hello everyone! I am a new grower 8 weeks into my first grow. So far things seem to be going well. Some background info:
2x4 tent
Northern Lights AutoFlowers
2 - 300W Viparspectra Led's
FoxFarms Nutrients
Watering with Distilled Water

My question is this............is spending the money to use distilled water a sensible cost??? Is just using regular tap water an option? At $1.00 a jug I am already about $100 into the grow on water alone. No worries if that is what it takes...............but it seems as though tap water should do the trick as long as I let it sit to let the chlorine escape. Thanks in advance to anyone that helps out.

I mix my tap half and half with distilled

 

[Heliman]

As I understand it, there is a big difference between Distilled and RO water. Distilled water has only h2O (much the same as RO/DI water). Unless your tap water is very heavy with salts/Chlorine/Flourine it should be OK to use after it is stood/agitated for a while to remove Chlorine.
Alternatively, a good RO unit can be purchased for less than $100, so you can make your own RO water, free from heavy metals and chlorine (that is what I do). But dont buy an RO/DI unit....this water is too aggressive and will hurt your plants.

 

[Arthur]

Really depends on what comes out of YOUR tap. Not an option for me, 330ppm salt... RO only.

 

[RickyRicardo]

Thank you for your replies. The only water measurement I know is testing PH, I am unfamiliar with ppm and how to test it. I guess it is time to start researching.............can anyone point me towards a good source article? Thanks.

 

[Autotron]

PPM stands for parts per million. This is also called TDS(total dissolved solids). It refers to the amount of minerals in your tap water, in this case. You can buy a meter to test it that looks just like a pH meter for about $10. Take a look on Amazon.

 

[MesaBoogie]

a good RO unit can be purchased for less than $100, so you can make your own RO water,

Do you have any recommends on a RO unit ? I have really hard water at 350ppm .. I let my water sit out 24 hours before using it to get rid of the chlorine. So hard water can be used,, but it makes for difficult growing.

 

[Heliman]

Not knowing where you live, it is difficult to know of a suitable unit. I am in Aus and I got a 4 stage RO/DI unit from PSI water filters, the membrane is rated at 200 litres per day (you can get larger or smaller ratings dependent on your need..... the higher the LPD, the higher the cost !!)...I disconnect the 4 th stage (DI) when I dont need the unit for make-up water for my Marine Reef and make 40 liters of RO water for my "Ladies" !!! I get a TDS of zero with the 4 stages and chlorine and heavy metal free at 32 TDS with 3 stages...works for me.

 

[AutoWonders]

is spending the money to use distilled water a sensible cost??? Is just using regular tap water an option?

A side by side test grow would be a good barometer.

I have a Big Berkey water filter for emergencies. The ppm is about 135 (with two carbon filters). Give it the proverbial "look see".