Using well water

[Smoking Frog]

My well water is 320 ppm after the softener and i'm using GH trio and Calmag in coco.
After mixing nutes for the second week my ppm are up to 900.
Should i put less Calmag in my mix or how would you deal with the high ppm?
Thanks for any advices!

 

[Archaic]

Ok, I actually do water well geochemistry for a living so let's dig a little deeper. Do you know what kind of formation your well was completed in? Do you know the pH of your well water.

See, if your 320 base ppm is from carbonates then there is a very good chance you already have plenty of calcium. If on the other hand your ppms are chlorides then you probably don't have calcium in excess and might need to add calmag.

pH can tell us a little about that as well, carbonates tend to lead to water with pH above 7.0.

What kind of filter do you have and what is it's purpose?

 

[Frenjamin Banklin]

I’m very lucky that I add carbonates to correct low PH and end up closer to 7.5-8 PH with plenty of calcium. Adding nutrients brings me very close to perfect ph for my DWC. After I take a bit back out with a dedicated charcoal filter for my grow room supply.

@Archaic can you tell me what might be in the bedrock that creates my naturally acidic well water? Curious because I’m not actually re moving it but just correcting PH.

FB

 

[Smoking Frog]

Thanks for the fast reply @Archaic !
PH is 7.52 with just a regular home water softener that use salt.Couldn't tell you more about it...I know it's not a really deep well,about 50 feet i think...

 

[Machamillion]

does salt or high sodium in well water hurt plants if ph is around 7:10?

 

[Archaic]

does salt or high sodium in well water hurt plants if ph is around 7:10?

No, not if we're talking about ppms in the low hundreds. Almost all groundwater, river water, etc has a few hundred ppm of various salts. Perfectly normal and actually how plants get a lot of trace minerals.

Thanks for the fast reply @Archaic !
PH is 7.52 with just a regular home water softener that use salt.Couldn't tell you more about it...I know it's not a really deep well,about 50 feet i think...

Ok, it's hard to tell when you have a water softener, but I'd say based on your pH and the fact that you have hard water that you already have calcium in your water. "Hard" water generally implies calcium/magnesium carbonate.

I’m very lucky that I add carbonates to correct low PH and end up closer to 7.5-8 PH with plenty of calcium. Adding nutrients brings me very close to perfect ph for my DWC. After I take a bit back out with a dedicated charcoal filter for my grow room supply.

@Archaic can you tell me what might be in the bedrock that creates my naturally acidic well water? Curious because I’m not actually re moving it but just correcting PH.

FB

Slight acidity can be associated with a ton of things, it's more common than alkalinity. Wells installed in limestone or dolomite are generally alkaline. Most other wells are slightly acidic. If you smell sulphur then your acidity is related to hydrogen sulphide, it can also be weak metal acids, organics in the aquifer, almost anything not a carbonates or bicarbonate (soda) can lead to slightly acidic water.

 

[Machamillion]

No, not if we're talking about ppms in the low hundreds. Almost all groundwater, river water, etc has a few hundred ppm of various salts. Perfectly normal and actually how plants get a lot of trace minerals.



Ok, it's hard to tell when you have a water softener, but I'd say based on your pH and the fact that you have hard water that you already have calcium in your water. "Hard" water generally implies calcium/magnesium carbonate.



Slight acidity can be associated with a ton of things, it's more common than alkalinity. Wells installed in limestone or dolomite are generally alkaline. Most other wells are slightly acidic. If you smell sulphur then your acidity is related to hydrogen sulphide, it can also be weak metal acids, organics in the aquifer, almost anything not a carbonates or bicarbonate (soda) can lead to slightly acidic water.

0 @Archaic my well water has high sodium the water guys advised that anyone on a low sodium diet should not consume in household. ppe is 386 ph 7:10 is this still acceptable in promix hp? I've been using rain barrel water since May. It's gonna freeze soon. thxs no smell to water at all and not real hard.

 

[Mr.Prospector]

I have well water and a water softener and had switched to buying RO water because of so many issues Ive had that I had associated with my water. Softened water still has a fairly heavy load of ppms... Just different than the "hard water" variety.

Now i use hard well water with MegaCrop and my ladies have never been happier.

 

[Machamillion]

I have well water and a water softener and had switched to buying RO water because of so many issues Ive had that I had associated with my water. Softened water still has a fairly heavy load of ppms... Just different than the "hard water" variety.

Now i use hard well water with MegaCrop and my ladies have never been happier.

I use mega crop also and just wondering if the sodium levels will affect my girls in promix hp.

 

[Arthur]

I have well water and a water softener and had switched to buying RO water because of so many issues Ive had that I had associated with my water. Softened water still has a fairly heavy load of ppms... Just different than the "hard water" variety.

Now i use hard well water with MegaCrop and my ladies have never been happier.

Gonna pop in here. I run RO due to high salt (300-450 ppm) salt in the water here....will lead to a salt buildup in the medium. When using salt based nutes, salt in the water most definitely affects nutrient uptake.