I use city water, but it’s 40ppm and 6.8ph straight out the tap. For a small personal grow you could probably get away with an inexpensive RO buddy filter. They’re like $50-$60 on Amazon they work alright I used one when I was running hydro. They’re a bit slow and waste a lot though.
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I have a 40 gallon brute res with a float hooked up to my ro unit to keep a reserve of RO water for whenever i need it. From here I have 2 more 40 gallon res’s a 65 gallon and a 30 gallon res that I pump RO water into and mix my nutes there.
My water comes out at 0 ppm with this RO unit but from the tap im not nearly as high as you closer to 400ppm, I run 48 drip lines in my flowering room from the 2 40 gallon reservoirs .
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This is a pretty nice setup. I plan on running something like this for the garage. How do you like the hydro logic ro? how often do you run through filters? I’m sure I will change them at minimum 2x more often then you would with my water. 
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It looks nasty lol but the water is still coming out at 0 ppm after a year of use. Haven’t changed or cleaned the filters I probably should soon.
I haven’t used any other RO filters to compare it too but I have no complaints it works well for my needs.
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Hell if its still flowing well and coming out at 0ppm I would guess the filters are still good 
lol I will look into hydrologic and see what their options are for horrid water like mine. Appreciate you showing your setup!
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if u want a better look at my setup and how it’s progressed give those a read. I do Hydroponics(DWC) and Coco
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That’s manageable! I wish I was in that situation. You think a cheaper filter like that would handle water as bad as mine? I’ll look more into it and see if it would work. Thanks for the info!
I assume it would have pretty short lifespan, probably have to change out the filter inserts pretty often.
I’m very fortunate to have water out of the tap with acceptable parameters.
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you are a very fortunate individual… this bottled water fiasco must and will come to an end.
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My well had too many dissolved solids 730 ppm, and bottled water was not really a good option so I got some cal-mag and started collecting rain and snow. A big rubber maid full of snow into the grow room melts it pretty fast. For rain, I have big overflow trays that go under a big pot and I throw them out scattered on my deck like ninja stars, wait for them to collect, dump them through a window screen, and add cal-mag. The trick is to stay a water cooler or two ahead and it’s actually rewarding to utilize all that water. oh and a bubbler need one of those. I almost went a few other routes, zero water filters etc but this was way easy and cheap. these are the saucers I use, I have 25 at the ready for when it starts to rain, I already had them so I did I only needed to buy a bubbler. There are other ways, many have to do with roof run off. Not sure about how clean that is. Pans are handy for trays for all kinds of maintenance and transplanting. , I am always using them for something. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B008XOSHR8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1
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I’m running a hydrologic smallboy with a sediment and chloramine/chlorine filter because that’s my only issue with my cities water. It ends up at around 120-140 ppm so it’s been perfect for my RDWC or soiless.
I hope you find your perfect solution.
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we are lucky if we catch any rain here in my neck of the woods in AZ! lol but that would probably be a great way to water with the rain!
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I honestly should have a test done on my cities water… see what I’m working with to see if i may need any special type of filter. I’m thinking a hydrologic might be calling my name. seems to be the concensus so far. thank you my friend!
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How many gallons a day do you guys use ? I am a small soil grower indoors and my house Home Depot GE RO filter puts out about 10 gallons a day and using a Oakton meter its filtered to
PH 6.1 COND 48.5 TDS 34.2 SAL 25.3
compared to Tap water
PH 7.0 COND 810 TDS 570 SAL 328
That is with pre and post filter changed 2X a year and the membrane once a year per-emptvley. Its more about the filters and storage than any brand crap. Filters that are universal fit are one ebay for cheap and the ice in your refridgerator will be clear as the glaciers, more better for the bourbon.
Also makes Jack’s for RO a easy fit.
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currently my water needs are still low. I transitioned from coco to soil grow and my watering frequency has got down quite a bit. however once I’m in my garage out of my small setup inside my house my water needs will definitely go up since I will be able to be back into my 5x5s and not just a couple 2x4s. That’s exactly what I want some of those frosty ice cubes you can see through! thanks for the info. May just check out one of the big box stores.
Stealth RO BY Hydrologic . This is an amazing addition to any grow. You can then keep as many holding tanks as you see fit and keep an abundance of fresh clean water for your plants.
Imho this was one of the best investments I’ve made regarding grow equipment in a long time. The piece of mind as well as the ability to not have to mess around with stuff, meters etc has already paid for itself 5x over easily . I have the stealth 150 but smaller will suffice and is much cheaper. Mine produces 150gpd which is overkill but better safe than sorry I suppose. Filter replacement is about 5-6-7 months depending and is relatively cheap for the good ones. I love mine and recommend them to everyone looking to go the RO route, you WILL NOT be dissapointed.
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clean looking setup there my friend. seems like hydrologic is the way most people are going. I like that storage tank you have there what is that specifically? wouldn’t mind just filling up a full tank like that on occasion and just have to fill it everynow and then. appreciate the input!
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Badass setup. I just picked up a small 50 gpd RO filter vs. using tap and already see happier plants. Really need to get a nice tank setup in the garage and fill that bad ride.
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How much waste water/gallon with the HydroLogic?
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