Frustrated with water

Indoor Growing
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Hello,

This is my first grow, and by FAR, my biggest frustration is the amount of water that I am going through, and how difficult and time consuming it is.

First, I don’t know what’s in my tap water. It’s Vermont - so it’s probably okay - but I don’t know. Right out of the tap, I think it’s about 150 ppm.

So, I got a filter; I set up a filtering system with a bunch of five-gallon buckets. That works great - but I can’t get water now - the filters take time. It takes a couple of hours for the water to go through the filter and fill a five-gallon bucket.

So, I bought an RO water system - an iSpring five-stage with an electric pump. I thought the flow-through would be faster than it is. I can get about a gallon and a half pretty quick (that’s what’s in the storage tank) - but then it slows down to a mere trickle.

To flush all four plants in my tent, I need 40 gallons of water.

I’m also considering moving to hydroponics in my next grow; I estimate I’ll need 55-60 gallons of water, between the containers and the reservoir.

How are all you people getting all the water you need in a timely manner?

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Open the tap let it flow… Ph adjustments and good to go. Im growing in soil…

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@Medmaker. I fill a bunch of milk jugs with tap water every week, let them sit at least 24 hours and adjust pH after adding nutrients if needed.

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Oh, I forgot to add. I’m growing in ProMix HP.

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I make a run to the neighborhood water station (RO water) and buy 5 gals for $1, much faster than using my own RO filter.

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@hellraiser - I would need 10 of those to fill up the hydro system I’m looking at.

I need a new solution.

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That would take me 2 trips (I have 5 bottles) and would be done in less than 20 minutes, not seeing a problem.

If my tap water was 150ppm as you said, I’d just use that, my tap is about 470ppm so I use RO.

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I’m in Vermont as well and can say from my experience of just moving around to a few different locations in the county I’m in that water quality has varied a LOT. 2 places with dug wells, 1 with a spring well and municipal water at another.

My house’s water currently has a fairly high pH of 8.0 and high tds as well. Last place it was more like 6.8 and tds under 200 and those two spots are just across town from each other. Get your water tested if you’re on a well or request the yearly required test results if it’s municipal. Don’t assume.

I don’t treat my water. Actually I have a softener and a carbon filter for the whole house but I bypass it all and just water my plants wth raw untreated well water. Works well (see what I did there) for me but I grow OG in soil so I don’t really worry about that stuff too much.

If your water isn’t compatible with your grow plan maybe change the plan…your water isn’t gonna change.

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I use a Hydrolife C-85 filter attached to water hose. It runs about 5 to 7 gallons a minute and filters chloromines and heavy metals.

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I use brute 32gal garbage cans and fill it with tap water, mix my nutrients ph the water then add airstones to keep water oxygenated. Drop in my submersible pump and using a remote control outlet I walk around my room with a hose like it’s coming straight out the water bib. I couldn’t be happier.

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Rain water is free ?