Is Tap Water Safe For Hydroponics???
Do you want to be using straight tap water for your hydroponic system?
When we talk about tap water we’re talking about the additives & impurities that can directly affect your nutrients and supplements that you are feeding your plants.
We know the water coming out of our taps isn’t pure we can tell this by using a TDS meter and measuring the (Total dissolved solids). Looking at this we can see a number around 200-300ppm, this number could be considerably more or less depending on where you live and where you water comes from. Pure water has a TDS of 0ppm and this is what all your hydroponic nutrients are based off of.
When you mix your nutrients following directions from your label it indicates what you should expect for a PPM based of the volume you’re mixing. These mixing instructions are assuming you are using pure water with a TDS of 0ppm. When you mix nutrients directly into tap water that already has a PPM of 200 do you mix less nutrient or do you just add what’s called for on the label? Most times we simple do the latter and over compensate when mixing our nutrients.
Ideally when mixing our nutrients we want to start with our base water being as pure as possible. Without R/O (reverse osmosis) or other filters is this even achievable? One of the biggest concerns with using tap water to grow plants is the Chorine which it could contain. And a simple method to removing the chlorine is simply to let it sit and evaporate. But here’s something you may not know. You’re water might contain chloramine instead, which means simple evaporation techniques wont remove it. My area uses Chloramine because it services a lot of rural areas and the water can be piped long distances. Using chloramine means the water at the other end will be safe for everyday use.
Chloramine can still be removed from your tap water but it’s slightly more difficult. Using chemical water conditioners, R/O system or even some higher quality under tap mount. It’s possible to end up with some very pure water that would be great for your plants.
Hard water could also pose a problem with your hydroponic system. When you have extremely hard water, your plants can be at risk due to an overabundance of minerals that they only need in small amounts. elements such as calcium and magnesium, both minerals that your plants need to thrive. However from your tap these could either be in excess amounts or the molecule form could be too large for your plant to uptake.
So can you use tap water for hydroponics? Sure! Ideally you’d start from the tap with a range between 200-300ppm. And ideally you’d remove the chlorine & chloramines from your water first.
But your plants have a strong desire to propagate, grow and seed. Using tap water directly won’t be the end of the world and you likely won’t kill off your plants. I personally feel the reason this becomes such a large issue in the hydroponic world and that when we’re talking about hydroponics we’re talking about controlled environments and giving the plants the BEST possible conditions to thrive. Using water that’s “tainted” opposed to pure means we’ve lost control of a part of the growing environment.
Do what YOU feel is best, most convenient and cost effective for YOUR garden. And be happy with your results.
Can you list all the products you use so we can purchase?
I’ve used both filtered water and straight from the tap and my results were the same both ways.
I’m wondering about filtered water. I wouldn’t use tap but the last time I tested filtered I had some kind of algae and I figured that was a bad sign.
I use only tap water right out of faucett,,ppm is 68 and ph is 7 and no clorine cloramine,,works well would definately not go to buying ro or distilled f that,,ro water is ffin bogus,,definately not cost effective to fukin BUY WATER
The stuff out the tap kills plants. I wonder why they think its ok to consume.
Great video , but what about water from water softener??
200 to 300ppm? Wow I feel good about my water, its only like 78ppm. Definally running air through it for a day to kick out the chlorine. Maybe I’ll run some though my zero water too.
Oh yes, I have tap water, but mine is directly from the well, so it does not contain any chlorine,however it is hard water in itself, almost exactly the same shown in your video, the white stuff on that tap is called lime. My PPM is 450-500 untreated, all I do to counter the big particles you mentioned is by using HCl (Hydrochloric acid), it dessolves the lime so clogging is minimized. It does not change the PPM though as all the nutrients are unchanged, so my nutrient PPM with the hcl treated water would end up at around 1144 or so as I mix about 5000l at a time. My setup Also has a 110mm pipe gathering rainwater from the roof directly through a filter to the tank, and that ppm is about 5. Rain water/Reverse Osmosis water swings very easy when acid is added because there is no buffer like lime (hard) water, there is almost no reaction between the molecules is rainwater, so 5ml acid (concentrated) can balance 20litres of rainwater, but 50ml is needed for 20litres of hardwater. Hope this was helpfull to those Hydroponic enthusiasts! And well done bro, your videos are still fresh! Original youtuber!
Is using purified or reverse osmosis water the best to use for hydroponics? Or how much TDS, PH, and EC ranges are recommended for optimal results?
🤔If its not Safe for Plants how is it safe for Humans?
Tapwater doesn’t matter. I’ve been doing it for years you don’t know what you’re talking about.
So you never answered the question at 1:10….. If tap water is being used do you go lighter with the nutes or mix as if RO water was being used????? Thanks in advance.
What do you mean by safe exactly?
My tap is 410😢. I collect rainwater now
So do you subtract the TDS number found in your tap water from the target of 1800 microsiemans?
My ppm is only like 60 ppm
vitamin C removes chloramine. look it up.
Is it okay if I just added a little bit of tap water to the rest of the tank which is already dechlorinated and good for the fish?
The “best” TDS level, generally speaking, is approximately 800. Most plants thrive within TDS levels of 600 to 1000
Do you add more fertilizer if you have hard water.
Great vid
I’ve heard that humic acids can do a decent job of chelating chloramines so that they do less damage to the plant and microbes, what do you know about this?
holy crap is that charlie SHEEN! 1:04
Can I use distilled water?
So do you go easier on the nutes if you start at 300 ppm ?
So glad you are informed and informing others about chloramine. Thumbs up. We have spring water at our place. I run it through RO (10 ppm out of the RO) and find that it takes minute amounts of ph altering chems to adjust ph. In DWC I think this kind of clean solution is a good thing.
My water is 700ppm will my plant be able to live through that?