Is Tap Water Safe For Hydroponics???

Do you want to be using straight tap water for your hydroponic system?
When we talk about tap water we’re talking about the additives & impurities that can directly affect your nutrients and supplements that you are feeding your plants.
We know the water coming out of our taps isn’t pure we can tell this by using a TDS meter and measuring the (Total dissolved solids). Looking at this we can see a number around 200-300ppm, this number could be considerably more or less depending on where you live and where you water comes from. Pure water has a TDS of 0ppm and this is what all your hydroponic nutrients are based off of.
When you mix your nutrients following directions from your label it indicates what you should expect for a PPM based of the volume you’re mixing. These mixing instructions are assuming you are using pure water with a TDS of 0ppm. When you mix nutrients directly into tap water that already has a PPM of 200 do you mix less nutrient or do you just add what’s called for on the label? Most times we simple do the latter and over compensate when mixing our nutrients.
Ideally when mixing our nutrients we want to start with our base water being as pure as possible. Without R/O (reverse osmosis) or other filters is this even achievable? One of the biggest concerns with using tap water to grow plants is the Chorine which it could contain. And a simple method to removing the chlorine is simply to let it sit and evaporate. But here’s something you may not know. You’re water might contain chloramine instead, which means simple evaporation techniques wont remove it. My area uses Chloramine because it services a lot of rural areas and the water can be piped long distances. Using chloramine means the water at the other end will be safe for everyday use.
Chloramine can still be removed from your tap water but it’s slightly more difficult. Using chemical water conditioners, R/O system or even some higher quality under tap mount. It’s possible to end up with some very pure water that would be great for your plants.
Hard water could also pose a problem with your hydroponic system. When you have extremely hard water, your plants can be at risk due to an overabundance of minerals that they only need in small amounts. elements such as calcium and magnesium, both minerals that your plants need to thrive. However from your tap these could either be in excess amounts or the molecule form could be too large for your plant to uptake.
So can you use tap water for hydroponics? Sure! Ideally you’d start from the tap with a range between 200-300ppm. And ideally you’d remove the chlorine & chloramines from your water first.
But your plants have a strong desire to propagate, grow and seed. Using tap water directly won’t be the end of the world and you likely won’t kill off your plants. I personally feel the reason this becomes such a large issue in the hydroponic world and that when we’re talking about hydroponics we’re talking about controlled environments and giving the plants the BEST possible conditions to thrive. Using water that’s “tainted” opposed to pure means we’ve lost control of a part of the growing environment.
Do what YOU feel is best, most convenient and cost effective for YOUR garden. And be happy with your results.

[@williamdejager2211]

Oh yes, I have tap water, but mine is directly from the well, so it does not contain any chlorine,however it is hard water in itself, almost exactly the same shown in your video, the white stuff on that tap is called lime. My PPM is 450-500 untreated, all I do to counter the big particles you mentioned is by using HCl (Hydrochloric acid), it dessolves the lime so clogging is minimized. It does not change the PPM though as all the nutrients are unchanged, so my nutrient PPM with the hcl treated water would end up at around 1144 or so as I mix about 5000l at a time. My setup Also has a 110mm pipe gathering rainwater from the roof directly through a filter to the tank, and that ppm is about 5. Rain water/Reverse Osmosis water swings very easy when acid is added because there is no buffer like lime (hard) water, there is almost no reaction between the molecules is rainwater, so 5ml acid (concentrated) can balance 20litres of rainwater, but 50ml is needed for 20litres of hardwater. Hope this was helpfull to those Hydroponic enthusiasts! And well done bro, your videos are still fresh! Original youtuber!

[@davestrom3598]

Hydrochloric acid ?? WTF would you use that in growing something you ingest??i hear of these boys using battery acid for ph,,boys WHERE IS YOUR BRAIN????do you know you can take a gallon of water put 3 drops of hydrochloric acid in it ,,bet you a hundo you CANNOT DRINK IT ITS STILL TOXIC,,,this is exactly why most of your ph down products are food grade PHOSPHORIC ACID,,which you can put 3 drops of it into a gallon of water and drink it without a negative reaction,,so do a little more study on it and STOP PUTTING TOXIC ACIDS IN THE MIX,,,THERE is a viable reason we use phosphoric acid f

[@valeriesanchez3074]

The “best” TDS level, generally speaking, is approximately 800. Most plants thrive within TDS levels of 600 to 1000

[@kitrussell3180]

Great video , but what about water from water softener??

[@Ghost-pb5vl]

I've used both filtered water and straight from the tap and my results were the same both ways.

[@MinisterHenry-jc3vk]

Do you add more fertilizer if you have hard water.

[@sgtasapmusic]

🤔If its not Safe for Plants how is it safe for Humans?

[@GMCLabs]

200 to 300ppm? Wow I feel good about my water, its only like 78ppm. Definally running air through it for a day to kick out the chlorine. Maybe I'll run some though my zero water too.

[@goodtogrow7774]

I'm wondering about filtered water. I wouldn't use tap but the last time I tested filtered I had some kind of algae and I figured that was a bad sign.

[@GMT439]

What do you mean by safe exactly?

[@crawford323]

So do you subtract the TDS number found in your tap water from the target of 1800 microsiemans?

[@lindavasquezrubio8612]

Can you list all the products you use so we can purchase?

[@jqmachgunner2577]

Is using purified or reverse osmosis water the best to use for hydroponics? Or how much TDS, PH, and EC ranges are recommended for optimal results?

[@lingen2193]

The idea is to use purified water as a starting point and then add exactly what the plant needs for maximum growth.

[@sugargraham6868]

My ppm is only like 60 ppm

[@oddsmith5872]

Can I use distilled water?

[@mikebobyk3769]

Tapwater doesn’t matter. I’ve been doing it for years you don’t know what you’re talking about.

[@LindaBJDFan]

Have you tested your tap water? What is the PPP of your tap water?

[@Ghost-pb5vl]

Yep, me too, straight tap water, zero issues.

[@sugargraham6868]

Exactly

[@sugargraham6868]

​@LindaBJDFan mine is only 60 ppm

[@timm_3r]

The stuff out the tap kills plants. I wonder why they think its ok to consume.

[@Ghost-pb5vl]

I use straight tap water in my DWC with zero issues and no dead plants.

[@GuitarBrew]

My tap is 410😢. I collect rainwater now

[@jthepickle7]

So glad you are informed and informing others about chloramine. Thumbs up. We have spring water at our place. I run it through RO (10 ppm out of the RO) and find that it takes minute amounts of ph altering chems to adjust ph. In DWC I think this kind of clean solution is a good thing.

[@CSG7Deuce74]

So you never answered the question at 1:10..... If tap water is being used do you go lighter with the nutes or mix as if RO water was being used????? Thanks in advance.

[@HowToHydroponics]

Mr. Canna Farmer when a plant is in full Veg I typically mix as directed. I guess I purposefully did not answer the question as it’s really up to you the grower.

[@magnoliapark4185]

HowToHydroponics is bottle water good to use ? And if so which ones? And do bottle water contain any chlorine or chloramine, I know it contains fluoride. Sorry for asking a stupid question just supper curious..

[@CitizenCS]

@@magnoliapark4185 I just buy either distilled or whatever is cheap, by the gallon. I use my dehumidifier water most of the year, but very low output in winter months. 7.0 ph and under 40 ppm is typical. The store bought is higher ph but lower ppm.

[@permofit]

Great vid

[@calebcpark]

Is it okay if I just added a little bit of tap water to the rest of the tank which is already dechlorinated and good for the fish?

[@morbly]

I've heard that humic acids can do a decent job of chelating chloramines so that they do less damage to the plant and microbes, what do you know about this?

[@HowToHydroponics]

Charles Talhelm if you're growing in soil and want to support beneficial bacteria and microbes I suppose it couldn't hurt. But if your plants are already in that type of environment then there wouldn't be a need to add additional humic acid because it would already be in the soil. I suppose a more important question would be what microbes are killed by chloramine and what amount of chloramine is needed to kill them. In short, to answer your question, I don't know much about it and I wish I could be of more help.

[@SpeedrunTnRC]

So do you go easier on the nutes if you start at 300 ppm ?

[@davestrom3598]

Definately,,my tap water is between 60 n 80 ppm,,i only run 100ppm for seedling ,,250 to 400 fer veg,,working up slowly not all at one time,,regardless that my water already 67ppm i still only use 100ppm for seedling or clones,,,but DO NOT FEED YOUR PLANTS LIKE THIS,,nutrient levels are HIGHLY DEPENDANT ON LIGHT LEVELS,,you have to learn your nutrient levels for YOUR LIGHT NOT THE PLANT,,Very very important info,,like i said especially in dwc feed what your light levels allow,,overfeeding WILL SLOW PLANT GROWTH ,,you will not harvest what you will feeding your plants correctly,,,,if your plant in dwc uses a gallon of water in a 24 hour period and most of the nutes PH SPIKES,,not enough nutes,,if ph is dropping you have too many nutes,,once you figure this out DWC IS BY FAR THE EASIEST FASTEST WAY TO GROW,,,

[@mikegomez4869]

holy crap is that charlie SHEEN! 1:04

[@hchaves27]

My water is 700ppm will my plant be able to live through that?

[@TotallyLegitman]

Thats mighty hard. Not an expert but id suggest buying distilled for one plant and mixing 100% of recommended nutrient for one (baseline test) , mixing 75% of nutrient with tap water for one, then 50% with tap for another maybe try other mixtures as well. Issue is that is so high it might be difficult to get anything else to mix with the water. Let them grow and see if what happens. if the growth with the distilled is alot better might would consider investing in a reverse osmosis filter, not much difference id just carry on with tap. I'm starting to grow some stuff this year and am going to do the same with distilled and see what happens.