New discussion on R.O. water

[cb977]

Ray...

[Lagoon]

[Ross]

Great discussion. I'm glad I stirred something up.

[shakkai]

This isn't directly related to using RO water to water plants. However, I came across this information while I was searching and thought it would be a good idea to share it.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate for England and Wales issues this information on the web page:

Blank Page

In the section on RO systems they state:

Because of the correlation between cardiovascular disease and consumption of naturally soft water the Department of Health has advised that consumption of artificially softened water should be avoided.

And the section on water softeners states again:

The Department of Health has advised that consumption of softened water should be avoided because of its high sodium content, and the correlation between cardiovascular disease and soft water.

(emphasis mine)

[goodgollymissmolly]

Shakkai, I think you are talking about two different things. RO simply removes ions from the water. It's a high class filter if you want to think of it in that way though that's not technically accurate. It removes ions (mostly Ca++ and Mg+ but also anything else in solution) and leaves essentially pure water similar to distilled water.

Ion exchange is a method that substitutes sodium (Na+) ions for the hard water ions Ca++ and Mg+. The Na+ does not cause the bathtub rings and lack of soap suds that the hard water ions cause.

Consequently ion exchange does produce water high in sodium (Na) content which can be bad for some high blood pressure cases. I do not think RO could possibly cause problems because it produces pure water. I guess you could still drown in it though.

[shakkai]

Originally Posted by goodgollymissmolly

Shakkai, I think you are talking about two different things. RO simply removes ions from the water. It's a high class filter if you want to think of it in that way though that's not technically accurate. It removes ions (mostly Ca++ and Mg+ but also anything else in solution) and leaves essentially pure water similar to distilled water.

Ion exchange is a method that substitutes sodium (Na+) ions for the hard water ions Ca++ and Mg+. The Na+ does not cause the bathtub rings and lack of soap suds that the hard water ions cause.

Consequently ion exchange does produce water high in sodium (Na) content which can be bad for some high blood pressure cases. I do not think RO could possibly cause problems because it produces pure water. I guess you could still drown in it though.

Yep. I understand the difference... I was just quoting from what the Water Inspectorate said, and they had the two statements listed - one under RO systems, and the other one under Base Exchange Softening.

I think what they actually mean is that any water that is 'soft' (i.e. doesn't have calcium & magnesium in it) is not really healthy to drink. However it get that way.... I'm not that into nutrition to understand why - though I do understand the connection between salt and heart problems/high blood pressure.

In any case, it was not really related to the topic at hand - which is feeding and watering our plants - not ourselves!!

[goodgollymissmolly]

I hope you don't think I'm holier than thou or even holy, Ray. Since I drive two V8's (usually not at the same time) and water my daylilies, hostas, and orchids aggressively and since I use every pesticide known to mankind and worked for some time for Mobil Oil in their Beaumont, Texas refinery, I hardly qualify as tree hugger.

I just think rainwater is cheaper than RO water. Some do not have the facility that would allow collection of rain, but others could and choose to spend capital and expense money on RO. I'd rather spend on plants and cameras.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by goodgollymissmolly

I just think rainwater is cheaper than RO water. Some do not have the facility that would allow collection of rain, but others could and choose to spend capital and expense money on RO. I'd rather spend on plants and cameras.

Good response! I would be using rainwater except right now it's solid So I resorted to RO as more dependable. I'd love to be saving my rental fees, but ain't gonna happen up here. Rain water collected during a thunderstorm is perported to contain much nitrogen (so I was told a while back).

[goodgollymissmolly]

Originally Posted by rsfrid

Rain water collected during a thunderstorm is perported to contain much nitrogen (so I was told a while back).

I think that's a long held internet fabrication ,Ross. The nitrogen which makes up 78% of air is in the form N2. That is a non reactive species and not useful to plants. There is no reason that lightning would cause the formation of nitrate nitrogen. If it does it isn't much because it does not show up as dissolved solids (and it would if present).

There has never been anything like the internet for education but unfortunately about 90% of it is false information.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by goodgollymissmolly

I think that's a long held internet fabrication ,Ross. The nitrogen which makes up 78% of air is in the form N2. That is a non reactive species and not useful to plants. There is no reason that lightning would cause the formation of nitrate nitrogen. If it does it isn't much because it does not show up as dissolved solids (and it would if present).

There has never been anything like the internet for education but unfortunately about 90% of it is false information.

Got that little tidbit from a Soil Scientist back in the 60s (way before personal computers and before Al invented the internet ) That tells you how long it's been going on. I was told a "good lightning storm" can "fix" a certain number (don't remember the figure) of pounds of Nitrogen per acre. Supposedly that was why grass was greener after a thunderstorm or two.