Hard/Soft water definitions

[jimbojones5678]

I have been doing a bit of reading about mineral deficiencies and water types and their relation to the type of Nutrient you choose.

 

Sometimes you come across a discussion that mentions hard and soft water so I thought I would post this to help anyone wondering how to tell what their water is.

 

When you test your water straight out of the tap you can tell whether it is hard or soft giving you the info to tailor your nute choice to your supply and make everything work just like it should while using the minimal adjustors aka-PH Down etc.

 

Hard water is water that has a high mineral content (water with a low mineral content is known as soft water). This content usually consists of high levels of metal ions, mainly calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) in the form of carbonates, but may include several other metals as well as bicarbonates and sulfates.

Soft water is the term used to describe types of water that contain few or no calcium or magnesium ions.

 

Test the PH and the EC levels of your water. EC is the more important one here but it won't hurt to get the PH as well.

Pure water has a ph of 7.0 which is considered neutral. Water with a ph higher than 7.0 is said to be alkaline. Water with a ph lower than 7.0 is said to be acidic. Some people have soft water with a Ph around 6.5. Others have hard water with a Ph of 8.5 or harder but this by no ways defines it.

Those EC readings can be compared to the table below (dH is degrees hardness or sometimes seen as gH - general hardness) The lower the dH the softer the water.

 

0 - 4 dH, 0 - 70 ppm : very soft

4 - 8 dH, 70 - 140 ppm : soft

8 - 12 dH, 140 - 210 ppm : medium hard

12 - 18 dH, 210 - 320 ppm : fairly hard

18 - 30 dH, 320 - 530 ppm : hard

 

Hope this helps someone,

 

Jimbo

Edited April 10, 2007 by jimbojones5678