tap water quality

H

hmman

Active Member
got a thing from the city about our water quality. i was hoping for somebody's interpretation of the data. or comparisons. i'm saving for a nice digital ph/ec tester. i should get some test strips in the mean time. so i don't have a clue what my ph. can i figure out ec with the soduim ppm?


fluoride .951-.959 ppm
nitrate .161-.172 ppm
trihalomethanes (tthm) 9.6-35.1 ppb (billion)
haloacetic acids (haa5) 4.9-16.5 ppb
chlorine residual .44-.78 ppm
turbidity(cloudiness of water) .26NTU
sodium 4.51 ppm
 
babygro

babygro

Well-Known Member
hmman said:
got a thing from the city about our water quality. i was hoping for somebody's interpretation of the data. or comparisons. i'm saving for a nice digital ph/ec tester. i should get some test strips in the mean time. so i don't have a clue what my ph. can i figure out ec with the soduim ppm?


fluoride .951-.959 ppm
nitrate .161-.172 ppm
trihalomethanes (tthm) 9.6-35.1 ppb (billion)
haloacetic acids (haa5) 4.9-16.5 ppb
chlorine residual .44-.78 ppm
turbidity(cloudiness of water) .26NTU
sodium 4.51 ppm
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Looks low EC to me, but ideally you need to find out from them what the grain hardness is.
 
babygro

babygro

Well-Known Member
hmman said:
so by grain hardness you mean hard or soft water? what's better?
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Grain hardness is a measure of the total dissolved solids (TDS) contained in the water. The lower the grain hardness, the lower the EC, the lower the total quantity of TDS, and vice versa for higher figures.

Yes, bottom line is how hard or soft the water is.
 
babygro

babygro

Well-Known Member
MRbudsmoker said:
babygrow wat is ec. i've never really known or asked.?
Nice one. i never test ph. and mines doin fine.
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EC stands for Electrical Conductivity. It's a measure of TDS (Total Dissolved solids) in the water. When you measure EC you measure an electrical charge between two probes and the amount of resistance encountered - the resistance is the dissolved solids.

EC and TDS can also be expressed as ppm or parts per million which is the measure or ratio of the amounts as expressed in millionths.

EC is important because it measures the TDS or dissolved salts in your irrigation water - too high and you'll burn plants with it.

If you're growing in soil you don't need to worry about ph - soil and composts are ph self buffering.
 
K

kindprincess

Well-Known Member
hmman said:
i have this multimeter RadioShack.com - Cables, Parts & Connectors: Test & measuring equipment: Multimeters: 42-Range Digital Multimeter with Electric Field Detection

can this test ec? set it to ohms put the leads in a cup of water? going to try.
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lol! best laugh i've had all day!

lol, listen to babygro. get a tds pen. a digital multimeter is for electronics, not water. :p

love, kp

btw, ohms is the resistance to flow of electricity that an electronic component has. usually used to test resistors in electronics, to see if they are operating correctly.
 
moon47usaco

moon47usaco

Well-Known Member
I dont see why it couldn't work in a pinch...

Multimeter experiments with electricity and water

I think getting acurate readings would be next to impossible but you could still get a ball park figure...

Im not sure how you would go about converting the data recived from a multimeter into EC or PPM though...

Any math nerds in here who understand electric current...??

When you measure EC you measure an electrical charge between two probes and the amount of resistance encountered
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btw, ohms is the resistance to flow of electricity that an electronic component has. usually used to test resistors in electronics, to see if they are operating correctly.
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In this case water and the solids in it are your "electronic component"... A multimeter tests the resistance of a known (internal component) against that of an unknown (external component)...

If you have ever made or seen a solar cell of oxidized copper and salt water you know that they can be an electrical component...
 
moon47usaco

moon47usaco

Well-Known Member
Ok now i see why this will not work...

Home made conductivity meters, made by using home made electrodes and taking the inverse reading of an ohmmeter reading are inaccurate. One reason is because of the method in which EC is measured. Electrolytic conductivity can be measured by either the alternating bipolar method or the electromagnetic induction method. Both methods involve applying alternating current (AC) voltage across the poles or coils. An ohmmeter applies direct current (DC), and thus does not meet the requirement for measurement. Furthermore, when an ohmmeter is placed in a nutrient solution, the hydrogen ion buildup on the negative terminal will act as a resistance and cause a false reading.
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Taken from: Everything you need to know about EC,PPM and TDS - EDIT Forum - Lifestyle Discussion Community

But if you have questions about where your salt buildup is coming from this is still a good way to do an inexpensive comparison of water...

In my case my water coming out of my PUR 3 stage water filter had a lower resistance and therefore higher EC level...

And even my tap water has a higher EC then i would like it to have in comparison to my nut solution so i will start buying distilled water...
 
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