Tap water on mounted orchids

[bil]

Originally Posted by marcoeverard

Do you have to switch a RO unit on and off or can it just fill up a water butt like a toilet cistern and switch off when full?

Depends what model. It's a hydrostatic switch or something. They don't cost much and you can easily add one if the model you buy doesn't have one.

[estación seca]

Stop right now! Before you go any further....

Tap water varies dramatically across continents and islands. Many people can use it on orchids with no trouble at all, like people in New York City. Others, like me, cannot, due to high amounts of dissolved minerals.

If your water quality is good, it is a waste of money, space and time to buy a RO unit. If your water quality is not good, you may harm your orchids quickly using tap water. A friend here stubbornly kills Paph after Paph because he insists on using tap water.

If you get your tap water from a public utility you almost certainly can look up the water quality report online. You are concerned mainly with pH and total dissolved solids. TDS up to around 500ppm is supposed to be tolerable for many orchids. Slippers need purer water, up to 50ppm. Epiphytes from beaches tolerate much higher amounts and cloud forest plants need even purer water.

(Paradise By The Dashboard Lights for those old enough.)

[Dollythehun]

(Paradise By The Dashboard Lights for those old enough)

Eddy Money? Yeah, I m old enough...

---------- Post added at 08:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:51 PM ----------

And thanks for the discussion...I just ordered an additional filter from Amazon. No room for RO. I don't even get double filtered water.[COLOR="Silver"]

---------- Post added at 08:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:53 PM ----------

---------- Post added at 08:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:53 PM ----------

No, no, no!!!! It was Meatloaf!!! I can remember when he was hot!

[charlesf6]

Meat Loaf, correct!

[Ray]

Marco, the "standard" setup for RO use for orchids is as follows:

> Standard, residential RO system, which has a hydraulic cutoff switch.
> That is connected to a storage tank through a float valve. When water is used, the valve opens and the production of pure water from the RO system begins. When it is full, it closes, and all water flow stops.
> A shallow well pump is used to propel the water from the tank for irrigation.
> A metering pump in the line injects a small amount of fertilizer.

Low incoming water pressure will slow RO production, but a bigger tank solves that problem.

When I had a greenhouse (it's tough adjusting to not having one after 35 years...), I had the pump output plumbed to three devices:

1. A small tube, installed before the metering pump, fed the fogger.
2. A standard garden hose with watering wand and squeeze valve for hand watering.
3. A solenoid valve that fed an overhead deluge system (think gently rain, not a flood) that is could control remotely, or connect to a lawn sprinkler timer for vacations.

[marcoeverard]

Thanks very helpful

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by Ray

Marco, the "standard" setup for RO use for orchids is as follows:

> Standard, residential RO system, which has a hydraulic cutoff switch.
> That is connected to a storage tank through a float valve. When water is used, the valve opens and the production of pure water from the RO system begins. When it is full, it closes, and all water flow stops.
> A shallow well pump is used to propel the water from the tank for irrigation.
> A metering pump in the line injects a small amount of fertilizer.

Low incoming water pressure will slow RO production, but a bigger tank solves that problem.

When I had a greenhouse (it's tough adjusting to not having one after 35 years...), I had the pump output plumbed to three devices:

1. A small tube, installed before the metering pump, fed the fogger.
2. A standard garden hose with watering wand and squeeze valve for hand watering.
3. A solenoid valve that fed an overhead deluge system (think gently rain, not a flood) that is could control remotely, or connect to a lawn sprinkler timer for vacations.

One other factor in how much an ro system produces is the temperature of the water going in. My 100 gpd system fills my 55 gal drum in about 12 hours or so in the summer. During winter it takes over 24 hrs to fill. Also, to automatically shut off the unit when the collection vessel is full requires a solenoid in the unit itself. When the valve in the vessel closes the increasing pressure trips the solenoid and shuts off the water entering the unit. Without the solenoid water will continue to run through the unit and out the waste line continuously.

[cbuchman]

Please also remember that RO systems produce a LOT of waste water; and although they produce pure water for your plants, it does so at an environmental cost. Water is a precious commodity and should not be wasted. If your tap water is not suitable, consider a rain barrel.

My tap water is essential toxic with a TDS <600. So I installed a gravity fed rain barrel and don't miss RO at all. It is a little more work, I admit.

All the excess water produced by an RO system has to go somewhere. In my case it is illegal to "dump it" outside and it must then go though my septic system which causes many other problems. It's a little easier if you are connected to the municipal sewers, but still very wasteful.

[bil]

Originally Posted by cbuchman

Please also remember that RO systems produce a LOT of waste water; and although they produce pure water for your plants, it does so at an environmental cost. Water is a precious commodity and should not be wasted. If your tap water is not suitable, consider a rain barrel.

My tap water is essential toxic with a TDS <600. So I installed a gravity fed rain barrel and don't miss RO at all. It is a little more work, I admit.

All the excess water produced by an RO system has to go somewhere. In my case it is illegal to "dump it" outside and it must then go though my septic system which causes many other problems. It's a little easier if you are connected to the municipal sewers, but still very wasteful.

Why not fir a hydrostatic valve? Ray sells them for a few bucks, and very good they are to. You just fit them to the water lines, easy peasy.
Also, why not have a water barrel to catch the surplus?

Plus, I am curious, why is it illegal to let it run outside?

---------- Post added at 09:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 AM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

Stop right now! Before you go any further....

Tap water varies dramatically across continents and islands. Many people can use it on orchids with no trouble at all,

But then you are at the mercy of the watercompanies, if they do anything to change the supply.

An RO supply gives me guaranteed clean water with no salts, so I can determine exactly goes into my orchids.

[theanalyst]

I use tap water pretty much on all of my orchids. However, I do know we have good water. I live in the finger lakes region of NY, so are water is really clean to begin with, so I never had a problem. When I lived in PA, before moving to NY, I would use filtered water.