reverse osmosis

Does anyone use reverse osmisis water for plants canivourus inparticular I am interested in the use of this and like some info if you have some

 

Hi Stumorphmac. I have never heard of reverse osmosis being used to produce water for plants.

My understanding is that reverse osmosis is simply a method of removing salts from water - such as removing salt from seawater.

I think its one way of getting very pure water. The other methods being distillation and ion exchange. I don't know what the costs are - but it could be a bit expensive if you want a lot.

 

I think its more about the PH and whats in the water Pete, flytraps like a PH of 5.5 and a tds less than 100ppm. Rain water is the easiest option unless your lucky enough to live in a soft water area

 

lots of guys who grow stuff using hydroponics use reverse osmosis water, aswell as people who keep fish such as koi etc

one of the probs in some places of the USA and other countries, is that the water companies add chloramine to the water, which is very difficult to remove, aswell as fluoride

chlorine is not so bad, as it evaporates after a few hrs if kept in a container or bubbled with an airstone

If I could afford it, I would install a system in my home (especially to use as drinking water)

 

You can get a system on ebay from £34.99

 

is that a complete system with the filters etc?

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260981845452
Let me know your views

 

reply from the ebay supplier
Hi, the difference between r/o water and di water is r/o water is filtered to a rate of 90 to 95%, di water is filtered to 100% purity.
The 4 stage unit in this listing is for a r/o and di combination so basically the water produced would be 100% purity.
All of the filters and resin used in the system are food grade and are suitable for all applications from window cleaning and aquairum use through to drinking water.

 

sounds very good and could be a bargain ...

where do you store the water? ... do you need to purchase a resevoir aswell (it produces 50 gallons per day)

the seller is a 5 star, with 100% feedback, so everyone is happy who has bought his items ... and 49 of these have been sold so far

but before buying, you need to check the following as stated on the ebay advert:

Temperature must be less than 45 degrees Celsius

• Iron content no more than 0.1 ppm ​
• Water pressure must me a mimimum of 40 psi (2.75 Bar) To acheive maximum water production you would require the optimum 80 psi of water pressure ​
• PH not less than 3 and not more than 11 ​
• TDS under 1000 ppm recommended ​
• 
  and what is the price of replacing the filters ... he makes mention of buying a spare set of pre-filters but does not give the price of the replacements or tell us how long they last
  
  so, don't click the buy button now ... get the info from your water company, and ask the seller some questions before buying
  
  but also keep us updated .... I'm very keen to find out more, and that unit may be a really good bargain
  
  our water here is thick with limescale​

 

The filters last 4-6 months or longer depending on use , you dont have to prodce 50 gallons you can prodce what you like from 1 to 50 gallons in a day . I have checked my waters tds its on 225ppm, pressure is ok not sure about iron and will need to check pH we get quite a lot of limescale to

 

My basic £40 odd quid 3-stage r/o system takes my 500+ppm hardwater down to less than 10ppm, no sense shelling out more cash on a 4 or 5 stage system if its mainly for horticultural use. I store mine in a 100L slimline waterbutt parked in a brick shed. I bought my r/o system and fittings from Vyair (.com)

 

whats the quality of the water from your r/o system compared to rainwater?

it's most probably a dumb question, but I am keen for one of these aswell, as I brew AACT (compost tea), and the quality of the water is very important

 

Rain water quality can be variable if you live near an industrial center, volcanic eruptions, ash clouds and other airbourn pollution can make a difference. Not forgetting the rainwater can pick up all sorts from the roof tiles/guttering on its way to the water butt. Bird muck, spores, insect eggs, bugs to name but a few..i wouldnt want to drink it

 

fianally decided to buy a system the one on ebay works great, getting TDS readings of 000