Safe water for orchids.

[Ray]

Hi All. Just back from a fishing trip 500 miles south....

The "Zerowater" things are deionizers. They are actually more effective than RO systems if the water is low in dissolved solids to start with, and is fed through at a low enough rate. After "X" gallons go through, the resin cartridges need to be replaced, which gets really expensive.

As has already been said, RO systems have membranes that block the vast majority of all dissolved solids in the water - they are flushed from the system via a second outlet stream.

Referring to the original post - softened water actually "cleans up" easier though an RO than does most tap- or well water supplies.

The "drinking water" RO systems I that I can provide for folks simply pass the pure water through calcite, adding calcium back in. Some paph growers prefer that.

[JanS]

I know this is an old post - but I thought some of you may appreciate a follow-through: As per Steve M.'s and my earlier posts, I actually bought one of those ZeroWater deionizer things. I bought the 5 gallon (I think) model for @ $55 through Amazon. The description doesn't make it very clear that the whole thing is supposed to rest on your existing office water dispenser - the picture makes it look like it's self-contained with one container on the top to pour water in and another on the bottom to hold it (wrong!!). Without a bottom, you still need some container to hold the processed water. So the real value is in the 2 filters themselves.

Anyway, I must say the gizmo does indeed work! The meter that comes with it registered @ 360 ppm for our tap water (yuck!) and 0 after it ran through - same as it read in a container of purchased distilled water. My main concern was that since it's gravity-fed it would take forever to get a few gallons through. But it actually goes pretty fast - you can get several gallons of purified water in @ 15 minutes. And you can definitely even taste the difference. We're still getting a whole-house RO system, but for the meantime, or for small-scale use, the ZeroWater filters do work. My up-to-now overmineralized orchids are breathing easier...

[naoki]

My well water is around 850ppm TDS. I originally bought a cheap Whirlpool RO system from Lowes, but the filter replacement cost ended up way too expensive (about $100). So I got a system from Ray a couple month ago. If you are shopping for a RO system, make sure to calculate the total cost, including the cost of filters. Ray has a pretty nice replacement filters for a good price, so the annual costs are much lower.

[PlantTeeth]

What about bottled water? Like the gallon jugs of Spring, Distilled, or Drinking water?

Are any of those safe to use?

[keithrs]

I would collect rain water. I would be inclined to buy distilled water if you don't want to collect rain water and don't have enough plants to justify an ro system. I'm not a big fan of di filters. But thats because i can only get about 30 gals. Ro system cost about .03 cents a gallon.

[PlantTeeth]

I will try & catch some rain water next time it rains...but I guess I'll use distilled for now. I live in an apartment, 2nd floor & I'd be afraid of spilling water on neighbors balcony below...if my rain catcher were to overflow.

[JanS]

I've tested some of the bottled waters that we ahve here in California and their dissolved solids content is in the 120-160 - remember that those waters are meant to be drinking water for humans so the "leftover" minerals are there for us to enjoy (i.e. give taste).

If any of you can collect rainwater that is definitely best since our plants don't care for the same "taste" that we do. Here in Southern California we get absolutely NO rain (!!) between April and October so I have to have another source.

I m now a major believer of water qualliity affecting orchids: my wife and I like to do some extreme wilderness trips and a few years ago we did one of our crazy outings down a river in Honduras for 3 weeks. At the end of the trip we ended up in a Mayan village where we spent several days and the village chief (our host) gave me an orchid plant since we have been explaining to all of the villagers that our visit purpose is friendly and linked to learning about their jungle's animals and plants. I declared the plant at the airport but nobody seemed to care.

It was and still is the most (emotionally) valuable plant I have ever owned. I have had it for 4+ years. The first year it did great and grew and flowered. Same second year but less vigor. The all went downhill. New roots would sprout and eventually their tips wuld wither for no apparent cause. I had them out in the open, I tried to have them grow in moss. No Good. Finally, it struck me that the water itself may be a problem. I have a VERY small part of the original plant still alive and since switching to distilled water, its roots are solid and growing. If it survives, it will take years to get it to blooming size but the fight - and the water-quallity lesson learned is well worth it...

[samarak]

We've become believers in using high quality water on our plants too. Our tap water is really pretty good, at 85-100 ppm, but we still think we're seeing a difference since we switched to RO in the greenhouse.

I agree completely with Ray and Keithrs - in the long run, an RO system will be far cheaper per gallon than the Zerowater. (Some deionizers are designed so the resins can be recharged, which brings the cost way down, but that's not an option for most people and the Zerowater isn't built for that.) I do like it for certain situations, where only a few gallons of high quality water a week are enough and/or portability and small size are important.

My office, where I have only a window ledge of plants is one of those - far cheaper than distilled, far less effort than lugging RO water from the greenhouse, or trying to collect rainwater.

I've tested rainwater here in NW Arkansas, and the quality is as good as you'd expect (it is distilled, after all). Also as you'd expect, if you collect roof runoff, the first runoff in each shower has a much higher TDS and contains a lot more dirt and other "stuff" than after the roof has been washed a little.

[thlap]

Personally I use faucet water and never have any problems. Of course water is not the same all over the world.
I read somewhere someone can have soft water with no salts from the water that drops out of A/C units. I m using it for my carnivorious plants but I think it has dust and maybe bacterias to use it to my orchids

[Orchid Whisperer]

DOH!! Just realized how old this thread is. Leaving the info below in case it might be useful.

Before going to a lot of expense with treatment systems, I suggest the following.

Find out if your city also gets their city water from wells. If they do, its likely (but not certain) you are getting water from the same aquifer and your well water quality should be similar to their water. The city should be able to provide a water report, it may even be on a city (public works, etc.) website. If total dissolved solids (TDS) is lower than 200 ppm (lower is better) the water should be OK for orchids.

If you REALLY want to be sure, you can submit a sample of water from your well for analysis to your county agent (or cooperative extension service. I would ask them to test TDS and pH; they may have a basic water test package that includes more parameters for relatively low cost.