Sweet Leaf Grows Grows

[Stoneyluv]

You can clean chiller coils sure but the chiller is plumbed to the res not the RO barrel No cross contamination there.

What he was referring to is when you shut your system down the chiller remains full from whatever was in the res on the last grow. When you first turn it on you get a slug of old water into your new res.

that makes sense now,, i got ya!!

so it makes it sound like his barrel is open top?? what if we lined the barrel with a plastic bag then filled it up.. just as a test to know it's in the barrel.

 

[moe.red]

that makes sense now,, i got ya!!

so it makes it sound like his barrel is open top?? what if we lined the barrel with a plastic bag then filled it up.. just as a test to know it's in the barrel.

Not sure. Been too long since I saw his setup.

And I was wrong on the ph up and edit detecting metals. Anything that is getting picked up by an EC probe will be conductive/charged including any ammonium or other exudates from biologics. The EC probe will not pick up bacteria directly only the result from their waste.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Thanks guys for helping me figure this thing out.

Here are some photos of my setup. The one photo where you can see the hot water heater, it's like an unfinished closet where the well and pressure tank sit alongside the hot water heater. Thinking a roll of plastic on the inside might rule out contamination from that closed, which I have wondered. The barrel is food grade.

 

[moe.red]

A you grab a glass of water straight out of the RO filter and set it on the hot water tank? Presumably this will be 13 ppm.

Then check it over the next few days and see if it creeps up?

A couple of thoughts- that RO filter is potentially filled with a bacteria colony coming straight from a well with no treatment. Bacteria can pass an RO membrane.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

A you grab a glass of water straight out of the RO filter and set it on the hot water tank? Presumably this will be 13 ppm.

Yes, I have done this.

Then check it over the next few days and see if it creeps up?

Never did try that.

 

[moe.red]

Just to be clear there is no way for that black hose to syphon back from the res right? I assume you pump to the res from here. If the end of the hose is under water in the res when you turn the pump off you could get some back flow. I would think it would be noticeable tho.

 

[smoke]

Anything metal in the tank

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Just to be clear there is no way for that black hose to syphon back from the res right? I assume you pump to the res from here. If the end of the hose is under water in the res when you turn the pump off you could get some back flow. I would think it would be noticeable tho.

No, that is just a line coming out with a pump on the other end to withdraw water when I need it. I was getting water just prior to taking this photo and don't normally leave the pump in the water.

Anything metal in the tank

Not that I can think of unless you count that water pump, which is mostly plastic. Same pump I use in my rdwc with no issues that I am aware.

 

[Stoneyluv]

Yes, I have done this.


Never did try that.

i'm all for you trying this test.. cheap and easy and would confirm it's the barrel or not.

a clean glass with some RO from the tap and let it sit in that room. then compare to the tank water and if there's any difference then we know for sure its in the barrel. if they act the same then maybe in the filter.

IF it rose the same as in the barrel a second test would be good to do but sealing the glass of water the second time to rule out any airborn contamination.

i am so curious as to what it is.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

i'm all for you trying this test.. cheap and easy and would confirm it's the barrel or not.

Testing underway.

Pulled a glass of water straight off the filter, measured 37 ppm. Gonna let that sit on top of the water barrel and check it over the next couple of days.

 

[Zen_seeker]

Not sure how soon slg will be back but this has been going on since the farm days.

On a well so really high ppm tap. Went with RO and at first it think it was ok. Then he refinished his kitchen with drywall cabinets floor the whole works and this is in a room off the kitchen. He thought it was construction debris from sanding maybe getting in there. But that was done years ago and he is still dealing with this.

In order for this to be organic activity there would need to be a food source. At 13 ppm out of the RO it’s not in the water. Has to be something else but I can’t figure out what. Almost like a chunk of meat fell in there and is slowly rotting.

Bugs? Mice? Alligators?

I know he fully drained it and cleaned it after the kitchen was done. So if this is something getting into the tank it is still happening not a one time thing.

Slg does not have a bunch of energy to be screwing with this so whatever we come up with needs to be easy to do or I assume he will just live with it.

You said well. Something die in there maybe?