One additional parameter that would be of interest is the calcium
concentration. If the calcium concentration is high enough, it and the HCO3
can be reduced by boiling the water and decanting from the precipitate (CaCO3)
that forms after cooling.

Dave

Ray @ First Rays Orchids ) wrote:
: I would vote for B, adjusting the pH downward to the 6.0-6.5 range via
: fertilizer alone, or other pH-adjuster additions. The fact is, there's not
: THAT much difference.

: The HCO3 content may be due to carbonates in the water source's geology, but
: can be somewhat affected by gases absorbed from the atmosphere, so may
: change. The µS/cm (microSiemens/cm) is a measure of electrical
: conductivity, which is related to the dissolved ionic species, hence the
: TDS, and both seem fairly high.

: --

: Ray Barkalow First Rays Orchids
: http://www.firstrays.com
: Secure Online Ordering & Lots of Free Info!


: "Wendy" wrote in message
: news:kOJza.52826$MJ5.47347@fed1read03...
: ----- Original Message -----
: From: Reka
: Newsgroups: rec.gardens.orchids
: Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 10:54 PM
: Subject: Water quality
:
:
: Hi, folks! I am looking for some help from the "scientists" out there. I
: have two sets of water data and would like to ask which one is better for
: orchids and why, plus what simple things I could do (obviously not RO or
: anything spendy) to make it better.
:
: Here are the data:
:
: A B
: pH 7.8 8.14
: µS/cm 420 353
: °D 15.26 12
: °F 27.3 21.5
: mg/l HCO3 296 250
: Nitrate mg/l 7 5.5
: Chloride mg/l 2 1
: Fluoride mg/l 0.1 0.1
: Sulfate 12 6
:
: Am I correct in assuming B is generally better? Any help will be
: appreciated.
: --
: Reka
: http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html
: "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
: --Winston Churchill
:
:
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