well water

[cool85k5]

Hi everyone,I live in the country and get water from a deepwell,where can I get this water tested or is it ok to use for cps?My collection of plants is growing and if it gets bigger I wont be able to afford to buy distilled water

HELP !!!
I dont want to have to get rid of my plants.

Jerry

 

[Nepenthe]

Ever thought about purchasing a reverse osmosis filter?
I assume you have running water

 

[cool85k5]

No we have to pull it up with buckets.Just kidding

I thought about the RO filters.I found some nice ones on ebay.How much is the yearly cost of the filters?

Jerry

 

[jimscott]

Go to the Yellow Pages and look under Testing Labs. you should be able to find a local environmental testing laboratory that is certified to test your drinking (well) water. Salts are common in groundwater. (I just happen to work in one of these labs and prep for the metals department).

 

[cool85k5]

Ok.I'll check it out!

Jerry

 

[drunknmunky]

i would recomend just collecting rainwater. it's free... at least it is where i live. Supplement with distilled water when you have to, but rainwater works really well. I can give you plans for a large collector that i use. i acn get about a gallon in an hour with a light drizzel and a whole lot if it actually rains =)

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

I use rainwater as well. It is a sort of sad thing that there is enough rain to meet my 5 gallon/day demand.

Drunkenmonkey, what sort of collector do you use?

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Rainwater is great if you can collect and store it.

To have your well water tested just bring it to a pool place or quality pet shop. You mainly want to know the TDS (total dissolved solids). This is an easy test to have done.

RO systems are great if you have a well or some other source of cheap water since they waste alot in the filtering process. The yearly cost for filters on a well system would be very minimal unless there is alot of sediment in the water that would clog the sediment filter up quickly. Even so.. the sediment filter is only about $10. The cost to run an RO system on water treated with chlorine is higher since the water would need to be run through a carbon block first and these need to be replaced periodically and cost alot more than sediment filters.
Tony

 

[Glenn]

I use RO water from the grocery store, its cheaper than distilled. I pay $0.29/Gal from an absopure refillable water station. This could be a tempory fix.

 

[drunknmunky]

i have a really simple setup. i have 3 big 30' tarps that i rig up in the trees that cascade the water into a 50 gallon drum. i will try and remember to take a picture of it or draw it up. it doubles as a shade awning in the summer =)

 

[buckeye]

Quote[/b] ] have a really simple setup. i have 3 big 30' tarps that i rig up in the trees that cascade the water into a 50 gallon drum. i will try and remember to take a picture of it or draw it up.

Please do take a picture! I would be very interested to see your setup.

Thanks,

-buckeye

 

[cool85k5]

Thanks for all the information!I'll check with a pool company tomorrow,I also thought about a rain gutter/water container system.

Jerry