Does a water softener lower ppms? Or just changes ions?

Testing the ppms of my tap water with and without the water softener on, returns the same reading. ~300ppm.

I see a WS removes calcium and magnesium and 'replaces' them with sodium ions. Meaning if you have X amount of ca,mg,fe, etc., the WS is only replacing those with sodium ions with the same amount of ppms as the original X? Am I understanding correctly?

Having a hard time putting into words what I am asking, sry..

NeWcS said:

... Having a hard time putting into words what I am asking, sry..

Click to expand...

No ... I capeesh.

And strongly advise that you do not use water softened water on the plants. Too much sodium is not good.

Over time, the sodium ions will build up in the medium and will impact the ability of the plants to uptake water and nutes. Eventually the plants will starve despite providing them water and food. It won't show immediately ... but it will show one morning ... and how ironic is it that they will look like they are underwatered ... which you will try to remedy by watering.

"Round round we go ..."

We've hooked up a washer feed hose to the softener bypass valve to collect the well water before it goes through the softener. With the increase in Ca and Mg in the source water, my use of the Cal/Mag product has been cut in 1/2.

We also had the exterior faucets hooked up to the softener bypass line so the lawn sprinklers can use the well water. I was literally killing my grass when trying to water it. Our grass hasn't looked this nice in years.

@StareCase
Thanks for all the info.

I have never used the tap water for my plants. I also have a RO machine in line with my home water. It goes to the ice maker and a drinking water spicket. I have tapped into it and it runs to a float valve in a 50 gallon drum. I then run a hose and pump from my drum to my reservoir(s) to fill them.

The thing I don't like when using RO; is all the waste. My water pressure is really low so it wastes tons of water and takes a looooooong time to refill. 25 gallons can take 2 days or more. Plus all that gray-water going into the leech field makes me worry. Though my thought is it just goes back into the ground and recaptured thru the well.

So with that in mind I was thinking maybe using well water would be smarter and faster, with a lot less waste. But bypassing it doesn't seem to change my ppms.

If my well water is 300 ppm, will the soften water be the same?

Are you running salt feeds?

7CardBud said:

Are you running salt feeds?

Click to expand...

Yes. Masterblend, ca, mg

It's usually easier and less wasteful to adapt your fert to your water, not the other way around.
300ppms well water will be mostly Ca, Mg and carbonates.

You could try something like 2.5 Masterblend, 2g Calnit, 1g Ammonium Sulfate and epsom if needed.

The ammonium will make a more potentially acid fert that will counteract the carbonates being added by the water.

If you get a water test you can dial in an exact fert schedule.

@7CardBud
So are the minerals in 'well water' able to be taken up by plants?

In 'city tap water' it was always my understanding; though there are minerals in the water, its not in the form plants can take up(fully). Chelation is needed and city water companies don't.
I assume well water is different as it's all natural?

Thank you for the info. I love learning new shit.

For the most part tap and well water minerals are in solution and available to plants. The insolubles are removed by filtration.

You need to find out what is in your water. Probably Ca, Mg, and carbonate/ bi carbonate if your in eastern half of US. dont know what scale your 300ppm is but either one is higher than i would use. Put citric acid in a bucket of it until ph is down to about 6 and then take EC reading, it may be way lower.

Roguedawg said:

You need to find out what is in your water. Probably Ca, Mg, and carbonate/ bi carbonate if your in eastern half of US. dont know what scale your 300ppm is but either one is higher than i would use. Put citric acid in a bucket of it until ph is down to about 6 and then take EC reading, it may be way lower.

Click to expand...

My bad. 0.6ec

Actually, I am in the mountain west. I've been thinking about having a water test done to better see what I am up against. For now I'll just stick with the RO water.

NeWcS said:

My bad. 0.6ec

Actually, I am in the mountain west. I've been thinking about having a water test done to better see what I am up against. For now I'll just stick with the RO water.

Click to expand...

Ya, that is a bit on the high side. You can try to cut it by diluting with 50% RO and see how the plants respond.

I don't think J actually saw an answer to your question - yes, a water softener replaces 1:1 Ca & Mg with sodium.

nygaff1 said:

I don't think J actually saw an answer to your question - yes, a water softener replaces 1:1 Ca & Mg with sodium.

Click to expand...

With that said; My well water and the softened water should read the same EC(ppm)?
That was ultimately what I was trying to find out.

NeWcS said:

@StareCase
Thanks for all the info.

I have never used the tap water for my plants. I also have a RO machine in line with my home water. It goes to the ice maker and a drinking water spicket. I have tapped into it and it runs to a float valve in a 50 gallon drum. I then run a hose and pump from my drum to my reservoir(s) to fill them.

The thing I don't like when using RO; is all the waste. My water pressure is really low so it wastes tons of water and takes a looooooong time to refill. 25 gallons can take 2 days or more. Plus all that gray-water going into the leech field makes me worry. Though my thought is it just goes back into the ground and recaptured thru the well.

So with that in mind I was thinking maybe using well water would be smarter and faster, with a lot less waste. But bypassing it doesn't seem to change my ppms.

If my well water is 300 ppm, will the soften water be the same?

Click to expand...

Not sure if EC is exactly the same, but it's close.

Water pressure has a huge effect on RO efficiency. Look into a permeate pump and or booster pump to speed things up and reduce waste. My discharge was reduced 50% when I turned off the pressure tank and let the RO free flow into a tote. Temperature also has an effect, I think 78 F is optimum.

When I bought our little acreage 20 years ago the old guy had a water softener running for the 800ppm water coming in from the dugout. To solve the issue of sodium in the garden's water he used potassium chloride for the brine. Cost a lot more than the sodium chloride tho. I just said fuggit and put the thing on bypass after a few months.

One of these days I'll get around to installing the RO system I bought over a year ago. Extra filtration down to 0.5µ with a UV sterilizer on the potable end. For the plants I'll have a takeoff before the UV and the calcite filter that adds some minerals back and 'polishes' the water for drinking. Tired of hauling 5gal jugs into town to fill them at the Co-op. Going to put the old brine tank in the grow room with a line from the unit to fill it. Water pressure ain't great so will be lucky to get 10 - 15G/day but don't need even that. Not at all concerned about waste as I have a dugout with millions of litres of free water in it.

Out in my belly boat putting a filter on the intake line with ice forming already. Need to install an air diffuser out there yet and you can walk on it now. Big open area around the intake from the 1/2" line blowing air from the new aerator I bought last year. Can use it for vacuum distilling too. I'll borrow my neighbour's boat again and sit in the back of that to git 'er done as soon a my back gets a little better.