Adjusting RO water
 

I have well-water and it is totally ruined with nitrates, nitrites, and
probably other chemicals due to living next door to a poultry farm, and also
land that has been treated with bad farming chemicals. I have been going
five miles to get water and carrying it inside.

I finally decided to purchase an RO system. It has not arrived. I have
read some about RO water not being the best thing for plants (and some
fish). What I'd like to know is, what is the best way/product of restoring
the good chemicals to the RO water? I know of Kent RO Right. Will it do
the trick nicely? Any suggestions or help will be very appreciated.

My tap water is pH 7.0 (approx). I have a Sword and Anacharis, and looking
to get a variety of plants from TAP. I have 1/3 fluorite susbrate, and
will be using PMDD and TMG. Probably DIY CO2 eventually.

thanks,

bob

Adjusting RO water
 

I finally decided to purchase an RO system. It has not arrived. I have
read some about RO water not being the best thing for plants (and some
fish). What I'd like to know is, what is the best way/product of restoring
the good chemicals to the RO water? I know of Kent RO Right. Will it do
the trick nicely? Any suggestions or help will be very appreciated.

Yup. Rift salts will work too.


--
Richard Sexton | Mercedes Parts: http://parts.mbz.org
http://www.mbz.org Mailing lists: http://lists.mbz.org
250SE/C 300SD Mercedes Classifieds: http://ads.mbz.org
2 x 280SE Watch list: http://watches.list.mbz.org

Adjusting RO water
 

Bob A wrote:

I have well-water and it is totally ruined with nitrates, nitrites, and
probably other chemicals due to living next door to a poultry farm, and also
land that has been treated with bad farming chemicals. I have been going
five miles to get water and carrying it inside.

I finally decided to purchase an RO system. It has not arrived. I have
read some about RO water not being the best thing for plants (and some
fish). What I'd like to know is, what is the best way/product of restoring
the good chemicals to the RO water? I know of Kent RO Right. Will it do
the trick nicely? Any suggestions or help will be very appreciated.

My plant tank flourishes on pure RO water. I reconstitute as follows, per weekly
20 gallon (30%) water change:

2 teaspoons Kent RO Right
1 teaspoon sodium bicarbonate (actually baking soda, restores KH)
2ml Prime (neither RO filter nor charcoal prefilter removes chloramines)

This keeps my tank at KH2, GH2, perfect for breeding soft water fish.

Recommendation: Pick your target GH, probably around 4, and reconstitute your
water with RO Right to meet that target according to the label directions. 4KH
is also a pretty good, as it gives you a good buffer for future CO2 usage. If
you have evaporation between water changes, refill with pure RO.

Here are two really good discussions of the relationship of KH, CO2 and pH from
Google Groups:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...rev=/&frame=on

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...rev=/&frame=on

Adjusting RO water
 

Dave Millman wrote in message ...

My plant tank flourishes on pure RO water. I reconstitute
as follows, per weekly 20 gallon (30%) water change:

2 teaspoons Kent RO Right
1 teaspoon sodium bicarbonate (actually baking soda,
restores KH)
2ml Prime (neither RO filter nor charcoal prefilter removes
chloramines)

This keeps my tank at KH2, GH2, perfect for breeding
soft water fish.

I hate to break it to you, but once you add all these chemicals you end up
with what's classed as "artificial freshwater" - not pure RO. RO's only what
you're _starting_ with...


--
-Y-

Nestor 10

".chkr" is for mail-bots


Recommendation: Pick your target GH, probably around 4, and reconstitute
your
water with RO Right to meet that target according to the label directions.
4KH
is also a pretty good, as it gives you a good buffer for future CO2 usage.
If
you have evaporation between water changes, refill with pure RO.

Here are two really good discussions of the relationship of KH, CO2 and pH
from
Google Groups:


http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...readm=1f2t2ny.
q0nqcgswq090N%25wuggamom%40yahoo.com&rnum=7&prev=/&frame=on


http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...readm=7ed3be%2
4t3a%241%40nnrp1.dejanews.com&rnum=10&prev=/&frame=on

Adjusting RO water
 

something funny... we all have this bad water we go through alot of trouble
to adjust for our fish, yet we drink it...;)


"Bob A" wrote in message
...
I have well-water and it is totally ruined with nitrates, nitrites, and
probably other chemicals due to living next door to a poultry farm, and
also
land that has been treated with bad farming chemicals. I have been going
five miles to get water and carrying it inside.

I finally decided to purchase an RO system. It has not arrived. I have
read some about RO water not being the best thing for plants (and some
fish). What I'd like to know is, what is the best way/product of
restoring
the good chemicals to the RO water? I know of Kent RO Right. Will it do
the trick nicely? Any suggestions or help will be very appreciated.

My tap water is pH 7.0 (approx). I have a Sword and Anacharis, and
looking
to get a variety of plants from TAP. I have 1/3 fluorite susbrate, and
will be using PMDD and TMG. Probably DIY CO2 eventually.

thanks,

bob

Adjusting RO water
 

"Bob A" wrote in message ...
I have well-water and it is totally ruined with nitrates, nitrites, and
probably other chemicals due to living next door to a poultry farm, and also
land that has been treated with bad farming chemicals. I have been going
five miles to get water and carrying it inside.


Depending on the geology and confining layers, the source may not be
from the farm at all. It's unlikely there's much NO2. If you have a
confining layer separating the water, it will not contaminate your
deeper well(Hopefully) but it depends on the permibility of
rock/clay/loam/sand etc. Wastewater from farms should be controlled
like the sewage that it is.

You can hit good sources of water and poor sources within the same
well at different depths. If there is inflow from the farm, I'd see
what you can do about their pollution of your resource and if it can
be traced to their farm.

I would not drink the water.

But NO3 in the tap is mainly an issue for you, not the plants, you
simply will not use KNO3 after a large water change, you'll add more
K2SO4 and KH2PO4.
If the total N is 10-15ppm or higher, I'd not drink the water. 10ppm
of so is about 44 ppm of NO3. Doing a 25% weeklt water change would
add about 10ppm to your tank. You'll still need to add some more KNO3
about mid week.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Adjusting RO water
 

Petebert wrote in message ...
something funny... we all have this bad water we go
through alot of trouble to adjust for our fish, yet we
drink it...;)

Well, for one thing we have a digestive tract that stands between us and the
water supply. The fishes' bloodstreams are directly exposed through the
gills.

Take ammonia, for instance. As chloromine we can safely drink it. But even
the small amount added to the water by a municipality will cause serious
harm to a dialysis patient...


--
-Y-

Nestor 10

".chkr" is for mail-bots

Adjusting RO water
 

Dave, thank you for this helpful info. Thanks to everyone who replied. I
also currently do 15-20gal changes in my 55g tank approx weekly. Hoping to
do more when I get the RO/DI set up. I have no form of added chlorine, as I
have well-water.

bob



"Dave Millman"
My plant tank flourishes on pure RO water. I reconstitute as follows, per
weekly
20 gallon (30%) water change:

2 teaspoons Kent RO Right
1 teaspoon sodium bicarbonate (actually baking soda, restores KH)
2ml Prime (neither RO filter nor charcoal prefilter removes chloramines)

This keeps my tank at KH2, GH2, perfect for breeding soft water fish.

Recommendation: Pick your target GH, probably around 4, and reconstitute
your
water with RO Right to meet that target according to the label directions.
4KH
is also a pretty good, as it gives you a good buffer for future CO2 usage.
If
you have evaporation between water changes, refill with pure RO.

Here are two really good discussions of the relationship of KH, CO2 and pH
from
Google Groups:


http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...readm=1f2t2ny.
q0nqcgswq090N%25wuggamom%40yahoo.com&rnum=7&prev=/&frame=on


http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...readm=7ed3be%2
4t3a%241%40nnrp1.dejanews.com&rnum=10&prev=/&frame=on

Adjusting RO water
 

No way, I will not be drinking mine with the farming chemicals in the
well-water. Legally, they are above acceptable drinking limits, although
they say only truly harmful for growing people. I drink it sometimes, but
you can taste the crap in it. I'm looking forward to ro/di water for
drinking/cooking as well. Thanks

bob

"Petebert" wrote in message
...
something funny... we all have this bad water we go through alot of
trouble
to adjust for our fish, yet we drink it...;)

Adjusting RO water
 

I _think_ the health dept says the no2 comes from the poultry manure. It is
a very high level. See my other post today. In any case, its there, and
using ro/di is cheaper than adjusting the well-intake. :) I understand what
you're saying though.

I hope the ro/di will work out well. There are probably chemicals such as
phosphates in the water too. I would be hesitant to attempt to titrate the
correct amounts of fertilizing chemicals from my well-water. Someone with
more experience might be more successful at this. Frankly, with the land
having been "corrected" with so many chemicals I'm not sure of, it wouldn't
work. I am told by my brother that things such as creasote, DDT, and even
worse insecticides than DDT have been used here. From the (close to)
inside, be aware of what might be in your christmas turkey. Heh

thanks to you,

bob

Depending on the geology and confining layers, the source may not be
from the farm at all. It's unlikely there's much NO2. If you have a
confining layer separating the water, it will not contaminate your
deeper well(Hopefully) but it depends on the permibility of
rock/clay/loam/sand etc. Wastewater from farms should be controlled
like the sewage that it is.

You can hit good sources of water and poor sources within the same
well at different depths. If there is inflow from the farm, I'd see
what you can do about their pollution of your resource and if it can
be traced to their farm.

I would not drink the water.

But NO3 in the tap is mainly an issue for you, not the plants, you
simply will not use KNO3 after a large water change, you'll add more
K2SO4 and KH2PO4.
If the total N is 10-15ppm or higher, I'd not drink the water. 10ppm
of so is about 44 ppm of NO3. Doing a 25% weeklt water change would
add about 10ppm to your tank. You'll still need to add some more KNO3
about mid week.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Adjusting RO water
 

Yea, then do the RO and use a few carbon containing prefilters, get
big ones if you can.
Those will help really extend the life of the TFC membrane.
Change the carbon and prefilter every 3 months.
Damn chickens.

To reconsitute: buy some pool hardness increaser. CaCl2, it's cheap
and easy to dissolve in water. Add MgSO4, epsom salt, for the Mg and
Ca combo. add about 4:1 Ca:Mg to adjust the GH up to 3+.
That's the cheapest route.
Add baking soda for KH to about 3 degrees KH.

There, you are done. Ask for free chickens/Turkeys as payment for the
water bill:-)

Regards,
Tom Barr

Adjusting RO water
 

Petebert wrote:

something funny... we all have this bad water we go through alot of trouble
to adjust for our fish, yet we drink it...;)

"We?" Not for many years in my house.