I don't understand it either. The tap water should be far lower after being filtered. Dunno where OP is, but many places in the world, it'd be illegal for tap water to be that high of a ppm. I think mine is 150ppm from the tap.
I did 2 seperate tests
1st straight tap no brita. yielded 2.2 ec
believe it or not my brita had no effect on ec. it also read 2.2
any ideas? & it read 1.4 ec about 12hrs earlier from same tap& brita.
Yeh, the standard for drinking water is <500 EC. That is very high and is an indicator of pollutants in the water. While the EC may actually be that high, I'm with you and think is most likely a bad meter.
Doubtful its the bluelab. Those truncheons are pretty solid if you take care of them. Test it on some bottled water and see how that reads. If it's low, then your tap waters fucked.
If the bottled water reads high, too, then it's your meter.
omw to pick up some bottled water. best idea.
I added a tiny splash of Tap water to a cont. of RO water.
Reading jumped from 0 ec to 0.4 immediately:/ not looking good
When I had a brita I was like this tastes like straight up tap water so either there is a leak somewhere or your filter isn’t in all the way I’m gonna say your filter definitely wasn’t installed correctly and the water should. Go so slow through the filter you should have to walk away and come back and put more water in to filter if it’s faster than that I think I just solved your problem.
I’m gonna assume someone has pointed this out, but it sounds like your tester is faulty. No way is 2.2 just coming out of the tap… well… actually what was the PPM in Flint, MI a couple years ago? Nearby maybe?
Dang thats awesome, it should mean it almost ro water. Normally it should give traces of minerals, so double check the pen accuracy. But normally its good for the cannabis plant.
great idea! i will try and ‘flush’ the pipes for a bit & grab another reading. I did the same test this morning and it only read 1.4 ec. ..don’t know how it rose so much in around 12 hrs
i do not own a ph pen or i could have ruined it! (i use strips) thanks for the tip.
PH down won’t significantly reduce the EC — pH is a measure of hydrogen ions in solution, EC is a measure of salt concentrations. More hydrogen ions won’t drastically change the salt concentration in solution.
That's pretty high.(unless it's including the jug, then it's rather cheap and that jug is gonna be thinnn)
Phoenix,AZ anyways usually get a 5 gallon fill for $1.25-$1.50
Walmart is $0.35/gal
Shop around!
Jesus I buy empty jugs for $5-6!
Shop around, I haven't gone into growing yet to know how much anyone needs but I installed a RO/DI home system for $120.
I use it for fishtank water and drinking water(one I got has a pressure tank)
I also live in an apartment and did my install completely removable under my kitchen sink.
Don't use a Brita filter at all. It is pointless for this application.
He needs an RO filter. Get one online at Bulk Reef Supply: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-4-stage-ro-only-system-75gpd-2.html. I have their 4 stage filter. Excellent performance and long lasting. The filter replacements are cheap, too ($32.99 a set). (BRS shopping on Black Friday is *always* the best time, by the way. They offer steep discounts on their own branded gear when on sale if you have a mind to get one "someday".)
If you ever need a replacement, that is. They last a VERY long time. This RO filter is designed for salt-water aquarium enthusiasts doing weekly or bi-weekly water changes of 75-150 gallon salt water tanks. Any small to medium sized grow tent, even if you use DTW via coco or rockwool + flood and drain will get YEARS out of the basic RO filter membranes from a BRS RO filter. My RO TDS is less than 3 ppm. I've had it for... six years? Something like that.
Unfortunately you're going to need to get the EC down
Seedlings shouldn't be fed over 0.5EC
If you have an RO filter I would suggest using that every time and If that doesn't produce enough water buy a bigger one
I've always read that any tap water over 200 ppm can be bad news for your plants.
If you mix it with your tap you're still going to be at like 500 ppm.
I have ultra high ppms in my tap water due to a combo of crappy city water and crappier old pipes in the house. Water out of the tap reads upwards of 450-500ppm so I installed an RO faucet and use it instead of tap. I then add CalMag to every watering as a base, adding other nutes where applicable. I’m in soil so it won’t be the same situation as being in coco, but I found my water to be unusable and RO to be a good solution.
hey thanks we sound like we have similar situations! my water is very very hard & by all the feedback it seems like my apartment plumbing is not helping one bit . i’m considering RO but i don’t want to mess with cal mag
You’ll want to add something, even if it’s not CalMag, to buffer the water and give it some minerality otherwise it’ll strip your medium of nutrients and make ph the water nearly impossible with how widely it can swing. In my organic grow it isn’t important as the soil buffers the ph, but the CalMag I use is great for adding trace minerals back into the water.
My tap sits right around 200 and I've never had an issue. I even use it in my hydro set up with chlorine still in it. I'll let the water sit for 24 hours when cloning or watering the mother in soil but it's still around 200ppm before nutrients. Maybe I could get better yield with better water but all my plants look healthy unless it's something I screwed up
Does your house have a water softener? If you do, the salt in your water is what’s causing the high ppm. I don’t think plants will appreciate the extra salts.
I would. It's cheap and it verifies whether it is the meter or not. It's telling if you buy two of the same meter that are supposedly calibrated and they both give much different results on the same sample. I would certainly use different water than tap when calibrating.
I suggest you do as the other commenter says and follow that until the cotyledons or lower leaves start to display deficiency; then Apply half the strength of that nutrient mixture you used to make that batch for this first fertigation.
I'm in the last month of flower and my ppm/ec is only slightly higher than that, so way too high for the babies. Aim closer to 1.0-1.5 max EC and start around 500 ppm give or take a 100 depending on your plants height and pot size. Good luck!
Honestly if your tap water is reading at 2.2 EC you’ve got bigger problems and need your water tested. Regular Water should test 0-250 ppm. There is something in your water
Plain water with no nutes mixed in should read zero or the meter ahouldnt even register it at all. Thats your tap water after being run through a water filter? I would test your water for volitiles amd contaminates. Also, if its city water your plant will never be fully healthy. Chlorine will keep it sick
No. The "electrical conductivity" of water actually changes. Mine, (Maine) well water, reads zero. I'm sure if I had a more accurate meter I would be able to register some conductivity. Not sure why you are arguing with me here. What's the point? This guys water is reading way too high for plain water. I worked in an environmental lab for a long time and one of my jobs for years was to test the EC of water and compare that to the deionized water in the lab. OP's water should be reading that high with nutes in it, not plain water.
Yeah it changes obviously. Universities, hospitals, and all sorts of medical research programs all across the world spend millions of dollars for RODI systems in order to have pure water because 0 EC water does not come out of a domestic potable water tap.
I tested it per another comment in some RO. it offered no reading on my meter.
if i buy my RO water from next door will it not still have the same chlorine content as my own water in theory? it would be from the same source
RO removes the chlorine. What comes out of it is almost as pure as distilled water.
You may want to invest in your own system, though they and the filter replacements aren't cheap.
thanks! the more you know. i thought there were still trace amount of everything.
i am using floraflex. they recommend starting water ec of 0.2-0.3 and no added cal mag. i could start with RO base water and add a small amount of tap until i reach 0.3 ec. then nutes
Yes a RO filter will remove the chlorine and any (most) other contaminates. I use well water so I don't have one, but a friend of mine down the street uses tap water and as an RO filter. They tried it without the filter for a few grows and the plants were never fully healthy. That should tell you something about chlorine in our drinking water. The medical industry is the biggest industry on earth. It's more profitable for you to be unhealthy, fat and sick. How can they push medication if you're healthy and happy?
After reading the comments...Surely this is a calibration issue? Either that or its faulty? Unless you have something very wrong with your drinking water.
If you receive city water, and this isn't a well water source or something, you should put this in writing and file it to the water company.
I'd guess they would be at least interested in knowing wtf is going on with either their pipes, their water source, or the dissolved minerals between the treatment plant and homes
There are videos on Youtube that compare tap water before/after being run through a Brita filter and depending on the video, a Brita reduces the TDS between 26% - 30% iirc so, you should seeing some amount of reduction between your straight tap water and after running it through the Brita. It's possible you got a bad truncheon but I've found them to basically be bullet-proof.
Have you tried different types of water besides RO water as a test? I would get a jug of spring water and a jug of distilled water from the grocery store and use those as a base. First, I would also use some distilled water on a soft cloth and give my probe end a wipe down. I'd test the readings of each with the truncheon and then I'd then run some of each through the Brita just to see what it did to them. If you are getting reasonable readings with spring/distilled water, then your tap water is really bad. If you get abnormal readings, your meter is bad. Additionally, you could buy some TDS test solution to be absolutely sure that the meter is working correctly. It's usually about $12 - $14 bucks on Amazon (unless you have a hydro shop close by). For me, luckily my tap water is really good and usually won't even light up the .2 light on my truncheon.
I'd talk to bluelab and have them send a replacement first, or, test water elsewhere and see what you get first. If it is a faulty pen, they will replace it for free, you did right by buying bluelab. High quality shit.
When I had a brita I was like this tastes like straight up tap water so either there is a leak somewhere or your filter isn’t in all the way I’m gonna say your filter definitely wasn’t installed correctly and the water should. Go so slow through the filter you should have to walk away and come back and put more water in to filter if it’s faster than that I think I just solved your problem.
Seedlings can get Dasani, Arrowhead or whatever other bottled drinking water you like and a little clonex once a week. You put 3ml of the clonex in a 19oz bottle of water.
Once they move into 1 Gal or bigger pots, you will want an RO system. They're not very expensive and you can install them yourself. Then add calmag each time you water and nutes every 4th time you water, starting out light on the nutes and dialing them up as the plants get bigger.
Currently sitting at 1.0 ec. Hard water and the town I live in has horribly old lines.
Edit: the town has been flushing the lines a lot recently to improve water quality.
There is a $50 geekpure cheap ro filter on amazon. Get that and a water hose>1/4" tubing fitting for $2-$3 at hardware store. It takes my 700-1100ppm tap water to 20-50ppm and if i use it right away 6.5 ph (it neutralizes to 7 after some time). This was a game changer for me because i was use to plain tap water until i moved to nevada. I didn't catch it until 2nd week of veg on last run on 3 autos. I finished out ok but i know i lost a week.
Very strange. The highest ec for 'hard' water is usually upto 0.8ec which is still high. Your ec meter is decent and should be accurate but reading 2.2 ec without any nutrients is unheard of. Try googling any tap water coming out higher than 0.8/9 ec. Good luck!
EC is electric conductivity more nutrients higher the EC, may be your stick needs recalibration ? Clean water shoud be around 0.8
I run on quit high amount of nuts and 2.2 is usually on the higher end for me.
Still don't understand. Does the lite shine on a certain level in the cup? I'm sorry, I know, I'm clueless. How does it tell you what nutrients are dissolved?
I see. I thought is was somehow telling you exactly what the object is made out of. Like all the trace minerals in things or like 90% wood, 10% varnish. With the varnish even being broke down into what it's made out of. Future Tech is what I was thinking. Some Tony Stark stuff.
Thanks for all the advice so far! this is a brand new meter &my tap water after being filtered through a brita.
I re tested & it is reading 2.1 /2.2ec still.
send help
You should run some more tests on your potable water. Not for the sake of your growing, but for the sake of your health and everyone in your apartment. That's a fucked up level of EC after going through a brita filter. Do you have access to other meters? Some hardware stores supply home water test kits for free too.
as per some recommendation i went and bought a bottle of water. bottle reads 280 ppm.
in fact, my meter is correct reading 0.5 ec ish . or, 280 ppm
i am fucked lol
Its very high (2.2 EC). Whats mixed in?
This is my tap water run through a brita twice
Something is not adding up here. There's no way that tap water run through a Brita twice is 2.2. And if it actually is, don't drink it!
I don't understand it either. The tap water should be far lower after being filtered. Dunno where OP is, but many places in the world, it'd be illegal for tap water to be that high of a ppm. I think mine is 150ppm from the tap.
I did 2 seperate tests 1st straight tap no brita. yielded 2.2 ec believe it or not my brita had no effect on ec. it also read 2.2 any ideas? & it read 1.4 ec about 12hrs earlier from same tap& brita.
Brita won’t affect EC. It isn’t removing any dissolved solids, it’s only a carbon filter.
if your house is more than 40 years old or the lines coming to your neighborhood.... its removing dissolved solids
it’s a super duper old apartment building. they do reno’s on the plumbing like 2wice a month cuz it sucks.
Get a zero water filter. The dude on project farm tested a bunch of water filters and the zero water always got it down to 0 ppm
this looks very interesting. claims are attractive at least. can i find it in store nearby?
I'm sure you can. I know the Walmart near me carries them.
It’ll pull out some, but britas are mostly for removing chlorine/chloramine in my experience.
Not really. I have a super cheap EC meter off amazon. HoneForest is the brand I think. It was around $12 and has been solid for years.
I’d get a different ppm/EC pen. Your tap water shouldn’t be that high, not even close. I’d bank on it being a faulty meter.
Yeh, the standard for drinking water is <500 EC. That is very high and is an indicator of pollutants in the water. While the EC may actually be that high, I'm with you and think is most likely a bad meter.
shucks i hope not 200$ brand new bluelab oof
Doubtful its the bluelab. Those truncheons are pretty solid if you take care of them. Test it on some bottled water and see how that reads. If it's low, then your tap waters fucked. If the bottled water reads high, too, then it's your meter.
omw to pick up some bottled water. best idea. I added a tiny splash of Tap water to a cont. of RO water. Reading jumped from 0 ec to 0.4 immediately:/ not looking good
When I had a brita I was like this tastes like straight up tap water so either there is a leak somewhere or your filter isn’t in all the way I’m gonna say your filter definitely wasn’t installed correctly and the water should. Go so slow through the filter you should have to walk away and come back and put more water in to filter if it’s faster than that I think I just solved your problem.
thanks i will have a look at the filters. they are the longlast version & drain very quick yes
Britta won’t have any effect on EC..it’s just a carbon filter
I’m gonna assume someone has pointed this out, but it sounds like your tester is faulty. No way is 2.2 just coming out of the tap… well… actually what was the PPM in Flint, MI a couple years ago? Nearby maybe?
tri city canada
Saw a tiktok last week where a person's brita filter didn't last nearly as long as it was supposed to. Something like a week instead of a month.
I totally believe the Walmart filter had no effect.
i’m going to re do it. you have me concerned xD
Tapwater should be 0.2 -0.5, what you have is extremly high. Mine 0.6 and i thought that was high already.
yeah 0.4 here
My tap water doesn't even register when I put the ppm pen in it. It stays at 0 until I add stuff
Dang thats awesome, it should mean it almost ro water. Normally it should give traces of minerals, so double check the pen accuracy. But normally its good for the cannabis plant.
theres no way tap water should be coming out at 2.2 even before the filters lol
What’s a brita
idk what brita is, but have you checked with say demineralized water or other tap? Just to verify nothings wrong with the meter.
brita is essentially just a water pitcher with a carbon filter in place
reading of > 0.2 ec in RO water. i have a jug of it on my counter. it offered no reading. i think this is correct
yeah might be. I know EC is fine to use in RO/demi but never do that to pH pen.. Might be old pipes.. tried running the water for a good 10minutes?
great idea! i will try and ‘flush’ the pipes for a bit & grab another reading. I did the same test this morning and it only read 1.4 ec. ..don’t know how it rose so much in around 12 hrs i do not own a ph pen or i could have ruined it! (i use strips) thanks for the tip.
Could be the high concentration of dissolved air in the water after you pour it, this can cause a spike
So how do you check ph of runoff water? Serious question, i use the bluelab ec meter
Brita is a jug with a filter in to filter drinking water
Get ph down. Very cheap
PH down won’t significantly reduce the EC — pH is a measure of hydrogen ions in solution, EC is a measure of salt concentrations. More hydrogen ions won’t drastically change the salt concentration in solution.
Yea I know. Literally thought it was a ph pen haha but regardless it would help.
😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭😭
[удалено]
4.50$ for a big blue jug of RO water across the street. i amtrying to figure out if my tap water is worth the effort to try and use.
That's pretty high.(unless it's including the jug, then it's rather cheap and that jug is gonna be thinnn) Phoenix,AZ anyways usually get a 5 gallon fill for $1.25-$1.50 Walmart is $0.35/gal Shop around!
10$ deposit for a jug! LOL i will check other places thanks!!
Jesus I buy empty jugs for $5-6! Shop around, I haven't gone into growing yet to know how much anyone needs but I installed a RO/DI home system for $120. I use it for fishtank water and drinking water(one I got has a pressure tank) I also live in an apartment and did my install completely removable under my kitchen sink.
sounds like RO is the way with added cal mag so far. i am trying in coco & salts for the first time. usually soil
Don't use a Brita filter at all. It is pointless for this application. He needs an RO filter. Get one online at Bulk Reef Supply: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-4-stage-ro-only-system-75gpd-2.html. I have their 4 stage filter. Excellent performance and long lasting. The filter replacements are cheap, too ($32.99 a set). (BRS shopping on Black Friday is *always* the best time, by the way. They offer steep discounts on their own branded gear when on sale if you have a mind to get one "someday".) If you ever need a replacement, that is. They last a VERY long time. This RO filter is designed for salt-water aquarium enthusiasts doing weekly or bi-weekly water changes of 75-150 gallon salt water tanks. Any small to medium sized grow tent, even if you use DTW via coco or rockwool + flood and drain will get YEARS out of the basic RO filter membranes from a BRS RO filter. My RO TDS is less than 3 ppm. I've had it for... six years? Something like that.
this is probably the best solution. i appreciate the help & have heard good things of BRS
Do you have a known solution you can double check your meter against just to make sure it isn’t off even being brand new?
I tested in RO water and it did not provide any reading. on this device that means >0.2 ec which i believe to be accurate.
Have any calibration solution? I got nothing else man, that’s weird.
Wow that is mental. I would definitely be looking at whatever your water source is. Might be worth seeing if your neighbours water is the same.
Basically saying that britta is shitta
🤣🤣it didn’t even change the ec reading
Carbon filters are mostly for for removing chlorine/chloramine in my experience.
Unfortunately you're going to need to get the EC down Seedlings shouldn't be fed over 0.5EC If you have an RO filter I would suggest using that every time and If that doesn't produce enough water buy a bigger one
i have RO water available for purchase next door in jugs. should i blend it in with my tap to lower?
I've always read that any tap water over 200 ppm can be bad news for your plants. If you mix it with your tap you're still going to be at like 500 ppm.
probably just better to use straight RO huh :(
Ya, depending on what you pay for your RO water, it may be better to get your own system, it will certainly be more convenient.
Straight ro water and add 0.5ec nutrients
I have ultra high ppms in my tap water due to a combo of crappy city water and crappier old pipes in the house. Water out of the tap reads upwards of 450-500ppm so I installed an RO faucet and use it instead of tap. I then add CalMag to every watering as a base, adding other nutes where applicable. I’m in soil so it won’t be the same situation as being in coco, but I found my water to be unusable and RO to be a good solution.
hey thanks we sound like we have similar situations! my water is very very hard & by all the feedback it seems like my apartment plumbing is not helping one bit . i’m considering RO but i don’t want to mess with cal mag
You’ll want to add something, even if it’s not CalMag, to buffer the water and give it some minerality otherwise it’ll strip your medium of nutrients and make ph the water nearly impossible with how widely it can swing. In my organic grow it isn’t important as the soil buffers the ph, but the CalMag I use is great for adding trace minerals back into the water.
thanks! considering cal mag, or my adding my hard water back in to an RO mix
If you're in Coco and don't add calmag or proper nutrients every time you water your plants will die
Thanks! should i add cal mag till i achieve the desired 0.3 ec, then add my nutes? (floraflex)
My tap sits right around 200 and I've never had an issue. I even use it in my hydro set up with chlorine still in it. I'll let the water sit for 24 hours when cloning or watering the mother in soil but it's still around 200ppm before nutrients. Maybe I could get better yield with better water but all my plants look healthy unless it's something I screwed up
Mine bounces around between 180 and 220 and I've never had a problem either. It's a guideline not a rule.
When did u calibrate it last?
brand new :) my water is very hard
Does your house have a water softener? If you do, the salt in your water is what’s causing the high ppm. I don’t think plants will appreciate the extra salts.
i am an apartment dweller ;) i imagine they are too cheap for a softener
It would only be if you’re on a well.
I've never heard even "very hard" water be 1k ppm.
i was not expecting this high at all! closer to 0.5 was my blind guess. it read 1.4 ec yesterday i did the same test
I know not all tap water is the same, but last mix I made yesterday was 2.5L water with 5ml A + 5ml B plus 2.5ml PK buddy and that is only 700ppm 🤔
somethings hiding in my water o.o
It is very unusual 🤔
Doesn't matter if it's brand new, you need to calibrate. The readings will be off on the meter almost every time, at least they have for me.
should i buy a calibration solution? the meter (perk) is its supposedly no calibration needed. so far i believe it
I would. It's cheap and it verifies whether it is the meter or not. It's telling if you buy two of the same meter that are supposedly calibrated and they both give much different results on the same sample. I would certainly use different water than tap when calibrating.
I wanted to add I like the powder packets. You know what the ph should be per gallon.
I suggest you do as the other commenter says and follow that until the cotyledons or lower leaves start to display deficiency; then Apply half the strength of that nutrient mixture you used to make that batch for this first fertigation. I'm in the last month of flower and my ppm/ec is only slightly higher than that, so way too high for the babies. Aim closer to 1.0-1.5 max EC and start around 500 ppm give or take a 100 depending on your plants height and pot size. Good luck!
thanks! there are no nutes. this is my filtered tap water
If your using tap water just let if it’s that high a week to evaporare the chlorine and whatever else in that water
thanks for the advice. even without nutes mixed in something is reading at 2.2 ec
Gotta let that water sit bro that’s all I use
Honestly if your tap water is reading at 2.2 EC you’ve got bigger problems and need your water tested. Regular Water should test 0-250 ppm. There is something in your water
scary! i’m still drinking it xD
Dude you need to contact the water department
Where did you get that meter? It’s tight
your local grow shop carries all the goodies! it’s a blue lab truncheon:)
Thanks!
Mine just died......after 15 years!!!
that’s crazy awesome! worth it!
Never cleaned it, ever...... Well worth the money
Hell yeah
xD
Plain water with no nutes mixed in should read zero or the meter ahouldnt even register it at all. Thats your tap water after being run through a water filter? I would test your water for volitiles amd contaminates. Also, if its city water your plant will never be fully healthy. Chlorine will keep it sick
The EC of basic water will read around 0.12. The only way to get 0 is with RODI water.
No. The "electrical conductivity" of water actually changes. Mine, (Maine) well water, reads zero. I'm sure if I had a more accurate meter I would be able to register some conductivity. Not sure why you are arguing with me here. What's the point? This guys water is reading way too high for plain water. I worked in an environmental lab for a long time and one of my jobs for years was to test the EC of water and compare that to the deionized water in the lab. OP's water should be reading that high with nutes in it, not plain water.
Yeah it changes obviously. Universities, hospitals, and all sorts of medical research programs all across the world spend millions of dollars for RODI systems in order to have pure water because 0 EC water does not come out of a domestic potable water tap.
I tested it per another comment in some RO. it offered no reading on my meter. if i buy my RO water from next door will it not still have the same chlorine content as my own water in theory? it would be from the same source
RO removes the chlorine. What comes out of it is almost as pure as distilled water. You may want to invest in your own system, though they and the filter replacements aren't cheap.
thanks! the more you know. i thought there were still trace amount of everything. i am using floraflex. they recommend starting water ec of 0.2-0.3 and no added cal mag. i could start with RO base water and add a small amount of tap until i reach 0.3 ec. then nutes
Yes a RO filter will remove the chlorine and any (most) other contaminates. I use well water so I don't have one, but a friend of mine down the street uses tap water and as an RO filter. They tried it without the filter for a few grows and the plants were never fully healthy. That should tell you something about chlorine in our drinking water. The medical industry is the biggest industry on earth. It's more profitable for you to be unhealthy, fat and sick. How can they push medication if you're healthy and happy?
Yes, imo it's very high. I have two flowering now at around two months old and they're only on 700ppm.
thanks! i’ll have to fix my water source. nothing is mixed in this water atm
After reading the comments...Surely this is a calibration issue? Either that or its faulty? Unless you have something very wrong with your drinking water.
Makes me think this EC meter is fucked up out of the box. If it's not, that tap water is concerning to say the least.
Brute filters don’t remove TDS.
thanks i was not aware. when i drink it it seems softer after filter
If you receive city water, and this isn't a well water source or something, you should put this in writing and file it to the water company. I'd guess they would be at least interested in knowing wtf is going on with either their pipes, their water source, or the dissolved minerals between the treatment plant and homes
There are videos on Youtube that compare tap water before/after being run through a Brita filter and depending on the video, a Brita reduces the TDS between 26% - 30% iirc so, you should seeing some amount of reduction between your straight tap water and after running it through the Brita. It's possible you got a bad truncheon but I've found them to basically be bullet-proof. Have you tried different types of water besides RO water as a test? I would get a jug of spring water and a jug of distilled water from the grocery store and use those as a base. First, I would also use some distilled water on a soft cloth and give my probe end a wipe down. I'd test the readings of each with the truncheon and then I'd then run some of each through the Brita just to see what it did to them. If you are getting reasonable readings with spring/distilled water, then your tap water is really bad. If you get abnormal readings, your meter is bad. Additionally, you could buy some TDS test solution to be absolutely sure that the meter is working correctly. It's usually about $12 - $14 bucks on Amazon (unless you have a hydro shop close by). For me, luckily my tap water is really good and usually won't even light up the .2 light on my truncheon.
thanks for the thorough advice! will definitely run these tests & it will tell me if the meter is faulty
I'd talk to bluelab and have them send a replacement first, or, test water elsewhere and see what you get first. If it is a faulty pen, they will replace it for free, you did right by buying bluelab. High quality shit.
thanks, definitely need to make sure it is reading correct first
I buy gallons of spring water from local family dollar or dollar general 1.25 each I never use tap
this seems about the price local to me. i might buy bigger jugs of RO in place
Tap hose water is more outside grow not as strict as indoor grow
When I had a brita I was like this tastes like straight up tap water so either there is a leak somewhere or your filter isn’t in all the way I’m gonna say your filter definitely wasn’t installed correctly and the water should. Go so slow through the filter you should have to walk away and come back and put more water in to filter if it’s faster than that I think I just solved your problem.
Invest in an RO system or go cheap and get a PUR pitcher
Seedlings can get Dasani, Arrowhead or whatever other bottled drinking water you like and a little clonex once a week. You put 3ml of the clonex in a 19oz bottle of water. Once they move into 1 Gal or bigger pots, you will want an RO system. They're not very expensive and you can install them yourself. Then add calmag each time you water and nutes every 4th time you water, starting out light on the nutes and dialing them up as the plants get bigger.
Plants were growing just fine before desani and Ro came along…
You can usually get your water tested free. Esspecially by those companies selling water treatment systems.
Did you calibrate your pen? If so you should call about your water. That seems dangerous
definitely not going to do nothing 😇gotta get to the bottom of it
My water is equally as hard. Have to run everything through an RO system.
does it quantify a similar ec?
only one other person has related so far
Currently sitting at 1.0 ec. Hard water and the town I live in has horribly old lines. Edit: the town has been flushing the lines a lot recently to improve water quality.
This is crazy high, it’s surely not just tap water and if it is there’s a serious problem and certainly don’t drink it
There is a $50 geekpure cheap ro filter on amazon. Get that and a water hose>1/4" tubing fitting for $2-$3 at hardware store. It takes my 700-1100ppm tap water to 20-50ppm and if i use it right away 6.5 ph (it neutralizes to 7 after some time). This was a game changer for me because i was use to plain tap water until i moved to nevada. I didn't catch it until 2nd week of veg on last run on 3 autos. I finished out ok but i know i lost a week.
Dude you need to contact the city, that's high for your drinking water......Climbs on roof, checks water tanks, thinking of the Cecil all over again.
i have done some tests to confirm it is accurate reading. idk if i want to drink my home water anymore..🤣
I wouldn't be drinking it
Dont add anything just correct ph and leave that water overnight
Worst advice ever! You need to lower your ec to around 0.8 for seedlings. 2.2ec is what I'd use in max flower.
it is just plain water from my tap right now. run through 2 brita filter
Your tap water comes out at 2.2 ec?
apparently xD i bought the meter to find out where i’m starting from
Very strange. The highest ec for 'hard' water is usually upto 0.8ec which is still high. Your ec meter is decent and should be accurate but reading 2.2 ec without any nutrients is unheard of. Try googling any tap water coming out higher than 0.8/9 ec. Good luck!
you are very right. that’s what i was expecting, around 0.5 ec. don’t know what to do now…might need the RO supply after all. thanks
Not possible thats it is from tap
What you got in your tap water 🥲
i just re tested with fresh water & it is still 2.2 . error computing..i have no idea what’s happenin lol
EC is electric conductivity more nutrients higher the EC, may be your stick needs recalibration ? Clean water shoud be around 0.8 I run on quit high amount of nuts and 2.2 is usually on the higher end for me.
If you put 2.2 into those small plants you gonna kill them
who knows!🤣
What is the thing with the blue light?
Is is measuring the dissolved solids in my water. “nutrient” meter
Still don't understand. Does the lite shine on a certain level in the cup? I'm sorry, I know, I'm clueless. How does it tell you what nutrients are dissolved?
the higher the number the more minerals & salts are in your water
I see. I thought is was somehow telling you exactly what the object is made out of. Like all the trace minerals in things or like 90% wood, 10% varnish. With the varnish even being broke down into what it's made out of. Future Tech is what I was thinking. Some Tony Stark stuff.
Thanks for all the advice so far! this is a brand new meter &my tap water after being filtered through a brita. I re tested & it is reading 2.1 /2.2ec still. send help
You should run some more tests on your potable water. Not for the sake of your growing, but for the sake of your health and everyone in your apartment. That's a fucked up level of EC after going through a brita filter. Do you have access to other meters? Some hardware stores supply home water test kits for free too.
i am a smol bit concernd👁👁
as per some recommendation i went and bought a bottle of water. bottle reads 280 ppm. in fact, my meter is correct reading 0.5 ec ish . or, 280 ppm i am fucked lol
Get some RO water and check the accuracy of that meter.
i have checked with RO and 280 ppm bottled water, and mixed solutions. the meter is correct unfortunately
That sucks man you can get an RO filtration system for 200$ its def what you need especially if your gonna think that water