Water Parameters, anything i should note?

ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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Vista, Ca
Here is a water report from my local water district. Is there anything i should take note of or make any changes to the standard EI dosing?
Thanks

Cu ::::::::::::::: .51ppm
Chloride :::::::: 83ppm
Sulfate ::::::::: 168ppm
Zinc ::::::::::::: .47ppm
Boron :::::::::: .14 ppm
Alkalinity ::::::: 96ppm
Bicarbonate (HCO3) ::: 115ppm
Carbonate(CO3) ::: not detected
CaCo3 ::::::::: 218ppm
Calcium :::::::: 52ppm
Magnesium ::: 22ppm
Nitrate Not detected
Sodium :::::::: 77ppm
Potassium ::::: 4.3ppm
Chlorite ::::::: .59ppm
Chlorate :::::: .23ppm
Phosphate ::: .23ppm
Silica :::::::::: 9.1ppm
 

Tom Barr

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Jan 23, 2005
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Like many central valley supplies, you have fairly high Mg.
Otherwise it looks fine.

Sierra snow melt is better:0

Regards,
Tom barr
 

Dmaaaaax

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Jan 9, 2009
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Tom mentioned that 0.5ppm was a bit high and could be toxic to some plants in his thread I believe. With that amount of potassium, you could probably just dose with KNO3, no need for K2SO4.

Is the amount of silica considered high? Do you notice certain algaes (brown) with water changes?
 

Tom Barr

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Cu ::::::::::::::: .51ppm

Bad..............

Alkalinity ::::::: 96ppm
Bicarbonate (HCO3) ::: 115ppm

Good range.............

Magnesium ::: 22ppm

A bit high, but likely okay..................

The copper is the biggest issue.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

VaughnH

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Jan 24, 2005
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I'm curious now! I just checked my local water quality report, and copper isn't even listed. So, I googled it and found that the limit for drinking water is 1300 micrograms per liter, 1.3 ppm. Now I wonder if my water approaches that amount, or if most public utility water does the same? How sure are we that .5 ppm is too much for plants and/or fish?
 

ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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Well i looked up quite a few studies relating cu and plants/inverts. I guess .1ppm is dangerous for inverts and plants such as vals (which i cannot get to grow for the life of me). Also its the #1 ingredient in many herbicides as it is easily kills all aquatic plants. They dump the stuff in lakes and streams that over grown by invasive species.

Few quotes:
"Cu exposure elevated Cu concentration and decreased nitrate reductase (NR) activity in the roots and shoots and reduced total chlorophyll content. It also shortened root length and produced fewer leaves"

"Copper is phytotoxic at relative low concentrations and is commonly used as an algicide. When copper toxicity occurs, copper prophyrin is formed by the incorporation of copper rather than magnesium in the chlorophyll molecule. The Copper form has little photosynthetic activity, and plant growth is reducded"

So i hate to jump to conclusions but it seems that if one has a relatively high cu concentration from the tap and is then adding CSM+B 3x weekly and further increasing Cu levels then we have a serious problem. I wonder if this is the reason why some like my self can never get really get health thriving plants.