12 replies to this topic

[Hayden]

Ive made this thread to lead people into what way they should be watering their plant. I live in Cheltenham, and can not guarantee the reading to be the same for everywhere. Most places in England should have a similar reading to these though:

Tap Water - 421 ppm

Filtered Water from Samsung Fridge/Freezer - 322 ppm

Fresh water spring - 349 ppm

Stream - 285 ppm

Rain - 25ppm

Water from Tumble Dryer - 22ppm

Boiled tap water - 422 ppm

Tip:- Dont use boiled water!

I think the reason its got up is because it has solids round the edge from previous times the kettles been set to boil. Its a bit wierd though =/

[mobile]

TDS = Total Dissolved Solids. These solids do not evaporate when you boil water, instead the water evaporates leaving the solids in a higher concentration.

Tap water also varies greatly throughout the UK and even on a day to day basis. For instance, the tap water where I live is often approx 100PPM but increases after a storm, due to field water being washed into streams/rivers. Scotland usually has a low water PPM due to the rock geology, which is primarily granite; however, places which have a lot of limestone will typically have a high water PPM.

[Hayden]

Ive noticed that on most cp shops they tell you to boil it rather than put on some plain tap water, I wonder if they own a tds meter?

As I live in Cheltenham, the Cotswolds are famous for limestone! That explains it!

Ive had a plant living in the tap water here for about 3 months, it grew fine. No better than it does today!

Edited by Hayden, 20 July 2010 - 19:59 PM.

[Heike]

Apparently, there is a wikipedia page on hard water (http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Hard_water). There, they explain how boiling water can reduce the temporary hardness of water (amount of dissolved calcium bicarbonate) by the precipitation of calcium carbonate out of the water, so in principle, boiling could reduce the TDS value. However, when you don't remove the limescale before cooling the water, it dissolves again once the water has cooled down. Also, boiling does nothing for the permanent hardness of water (amount of other dissolved calcium salts).

Has anyone ever tested how effective brita filters are?

[Hayden]

You will never get a good result on a brita filter, as the input of tds for everybody is different.

[jesse]

Hayden, on 20th July 2010 - 20:28 PM, said:

Most places in England should have a similar reading to these though

If you'd like to compare some values with mine in Northern Germany, here are the readings of my cheap conductivity meter:

Local tap water: 451 µS/cm
Water in my rain barrel: 90 µS/cm
Destilled Water (purchased in plastic canister several years ago): 1 µS/cm
Water from electronic dehumidifier: 19 µS/cm

If you prefer ppm readings I think you have to divide the numbers by two.

Edited by jesse, 21 July 2010 - 17:36 PM.

[linuxman]

I've just measured water produced by my RO system at 9ppm - the lowest ever! Here in Derby tap water is usually 180-200ppm and rainwater about 45ppm. Despite the recent rain I only use RO water now.

Cheers,

[Hayden]

Yeah, im getting to the stage that I need ro now. Collecting rain is alot of hassle, and looks ridiculous having about 10 buckets lined up lol!

[gardenofeden]

get a water butt, no hassle at all!

[Hayden]

Yeah, my house has been built with the pipes going straight down. The one that isnt is 50 years old so the waters green! 48ppm. Id rather not risk runming out of water and just spend £60 on a long term investment that may pay itself up if I sold the water at local markets with cp's

[Peabody]

I have got four 100 litre butts tucked away behind my small 8 x6 greenhouse. I have done the sums. If 1" rain falls my butts will fill by 8" because the my greenhouse is 8 x 6 and the surface area of the butts is about 1/8th of that. I have worked out that half of my (terrace house) house roof is about 15 feet x 15 feet so will fill a butt much more quickly. Plan for this weekend is to get another butt (Wilkinsons 220 litre £20) and fit a rainwater diverter to my downpipe.

Edited by Peabody, 24 July 2010 - 20:00 PM.

[jimfoxy]

Butts are nice if it rains. It hasn't rained more than 2mm here in about 2months now.  

Edited by jimfoxy, 24 July 2010 - 18:31 PM.

[Stefano]

jimfoxy, on 24th July 2010 - 19:28 PM, said:

Butts are nice if it rains. It hasn't rained more than 2mm here in about 2months now.  

I know! I am out of water! I have to take the PPMs of my fish tank (I think it is around 100 which should be ok I guess until it rains - eep!