UV Water Sterilizer

[Parker]

Anyone here use a UV Sterilizer to purify their water?

Just sent off for this. Bluonics UV Sterilizer Drinking Water Filter System Ultraviolet Light Under Sink Purifier. Amazon 157 Federal Reserve Notes shipped. Should get it in about 1 week.

Just trying to get a good starting point. I usually fight a somewhat losing battle with roots in my DWC recirculating system during the Summer time here. Not much rain so the tap water is bad.

 

[alabaster]

Hey Parker. So my guess is you're not using h2o2 then? Why not? Try an ounce of 3% h2o2 in a 4-5 gallon bucket. You'll see those roots whiten right up by the next day. Add an ounce per 4-5 gallons of nutes every 4-5 days through your entire dwc grow. No need to wait until you've got problems. And h2o2 at that strength doesn't hurt your plants. In fact it also gives your roots a good shot of oxygen. Besides killing the nasty bacteria responsible for root rot. It will kill all organics. So keep that in mind.

 

[Pa-Nature]

as long as you use the uv light before going in and NOT while in plant use you will be fine

 

[Parker]

No organics. I've tried the H2O2 and it works at times. I've used shock in the 13 gallon holding res. Let it sit for 24 hours before using. Air stones in the res and each bucket. I also have used hydroguard. TDS of tap water is 280 currently

Ran H2O2 thru the recirculating 4 bucket system for 3 days. Had white roots get dark brown on the 3rd day after transferring them from a tub. Clean them off. Even soaked an hour in h2o2. It helps, but it the roots dont come back to white. Room temps are mid 60's. No light leaks into the buckets.
Added ~1 gallon to top off a single bucket the other day and got brown roots the next day.

It was worse when i had a 60 gallon holding res. Had a couple of air stones in it and used shock. When I'd transfer it to the 13 gallon res, I'd get "dirt' particles in that res as well as the res in the recirculating system. Had to use a 90 micro bag to filter it out or just a straight syphon and run it along the ridges in the res where it would collect. When I quit using the 60 gallon and just filled up the 13 gallon the "dirt" particles went away everywhere.

 

[Parker]

as long as you use the uv light before going in and NOT while in plant use you will be fine

That's the plan. Thought about a small uv light with pump that is used in aquariums but after researching was told to use it before adding nutes. Start with a clean slate so to speak.

 

[alabaster]

Idk. I think that's too high of a TDS coming out of your tap. You may want to use RO water.

 

[Parker]

Idk. I think that's too high of a TDS coming out of your tap. You may want to use RO water.

Agreed. I figured the UV light thing would be better in that I wouldn't be wasting watering or having to hassle with transferring it to an outside rain water bucket for irrigation of the lawn.

Was told it would bring the TDS level down to almost nothing. I'll see and report back.

 

[Parker]

City water

I'm guessing the 3 stage filtration system that goes with it takes it out? I'll find out soon enough. If it does go down a large amount I'll assume something like calmag should be added to the mix? I am using GH micro and bloom. Just got the hydroguard 5 days ago

Yes sediment is a better description. After reducing the size of my holding res I don't see any of it. Granted I stepped up the amount of shock 3 I used and added it more often.

 

[Slim Pickens]

Something else to consider is the UV tube itself.As I understand it,the tubes life span is negatively affected by turning it off and on.Leaving it on heats the water to the point that it could be detrimental.Darned if you do,darned if you don't sort of thing.I researched this when we lived in the PI,as I was pretty concerned with water quality in a third world country.We finally decided to buy RO/uv treated water from a commercial vendor...and kept our fingers crossed.

Again,that is as I remember it.

 

[Parker]

Once I'm fully going, I'll have 5 recirculating systems using ~15 gallon each. I'll make sure to check the water temps as I go.

The following is a guess. After that I'll probably use if for 15-20 minutes at a time, once or twice a week. Looking to just top off. At times might take 5 gallons out and replacing it with 5 gallons of new nutes every 2 weeks.

RO is something I can fall back on. No doubt the lawn can use the excess water from the RO system in the summer.

 

[alabaster]

Was told it would bring the TDS level down to almost nothing. I'll see and report back.

Whoever told you that is full of Ka ka. Did the guy trying to get you to buy the UV equipment tell you that? Because he was only trying to make a sale. Microscopic organisms have nothing to do with Total Dissolved Solids whatsoever. Before you jump into this completely, you may want to learn more about how it all works. If you're concerned about microscopic organisms in your city water...... There shouldn't be any. Unless you live in Flint maybe...

 

[Parker]

Whoever told you that is full of Ka ka. Did the guy trying to get you to buy the UV equipment tell you that? Because he was only trying to make a sale.

Nope it was a grower.

Microscopic organisms have nothing to do with Total Dissolved Solids whatsoever. Before you jump into this completely, you may want to learn more about how it all works.

I'm guessing the filters trap it. His sediment filter got dirty in 2 days. Could have meant that it gets rid of the dead sediment.
I've seen how it works. That's what matters.

If you're concerned about microscopic organisms in your city water...... There shouldn't be any. Unless you live in Flint maybe...

I'm concerned about having clean water and fighting pathogens from the start.

correction - The sediment level will go down to almost zero. Not TDS

 

[Dirtboy808]

We put UV filters in almost all our new houses that are on water catchment water. It does the whole house. Aloha DB

 

[Parker]

I've given it a shot and it makes the problem slightly better but doesn't solve it. It may be slightly better because I sterilized my 4 bucket recirc system better than I have in the past. The roots turn brown but not slimey like before so I dont think it's hitting as hard.

Only hits the young plants for me. Right out of the aero cloner the roots are white. Never had a problem there. The pump is on 15 minutes off 15 minutes plus an airstone. Guessing the dissolved oxygen from the sprayers is what does it?

The previous 4 bucket recirc setup I have goingI used about 75% of the UC roots I was told to use and sterilized the system with 1/3 of the h2o2 I was supposed to use. I got brown roots in that system and realized I messed up a bit, Added 3 more mils of UC Roots per gallon. I'll go into the grow room 3-4 times a day and would wash the roots a couple times a day. After a couple of days I added another 3 mil of UC Roots and the roots started turning white again. However this time I was getting the side roots which I don't get except every now and then in the cloner. I beat it every time and have in the past but this time it was quicker. I've used both UC Roots and hydroguard to get them to come back.

Next set is being sanitized properly. I left 4 in the aero cloner for a decent time moved them to standalone buckets with airstones yesterday. Cleaned and sterilized the buckets with h2o2. Put just water in them and ran an ozone generator with airstone into each bucket for 10 minutes. They said 15-20 for a 5 gallon container of water, cap the top and you're good to go which is why I did 10 minutes for each bucket that had 3 gallons of water. This was just four 5 gallon buckets and no recirc going yet. Added the nutes and 5 mil per gallon of UC roots. 24 Hours later got slightly brown roots. Washed them off and added another 3 mils per gallon of the UC roots just now. I thought for sure there would be no way I'd get brown roots.

Next 4 bucket system will be done sterilizing tomorrow and will be ready to transfer the ones in the stand alone buckets . I'm going to go with 8-10 mils per gallon of UC Roots or hydro guard right off to see if that prevents it.


I mentioned the dissolved oxygen earlier and would like some feedback from the braintrust here since I'm not that familiar with it. The system that this worked was an under current and he mentioned that with the pump always going it gives him the dissolved oxygen he needs. He mentioned some said they don't use airstones in under current but he does.
Mine is a recirc with the pump emptying the 5 gallons in the rez into the 4 buckets 20 times a day. Each 5 gallon bucket has ~3 gallons of nutes in it so about 16-17 gallons in the entire system. 1/2" line, split up that goes into the top of each bucket and a 1/2" return line. Takes about 1 min 45 seconds for the pump to empty the rez. I have an airstone in each bucket and the rez.

So my problem is not enough dissolved oxygen? Strange in that it only happens to younger plants and that I always end up beating it.

 

[Parker]

Have you tried the system with the pump running constantly?

You didn’t mention sterilising the feed lines, do you clean them up every time?

When I sterilized the system I still have the timer and pump going. Wipe it down with h2o2 then fill it with water and h2o2 and run like normal for a couple of days, except without the lights.

The return lines will always have the solution in them but the feed lines, which you specifically mentioned (THX), only have just under 2 minutes of fluid running through them ~20 times a day and not going thru full blast either. Good idea. I'll disconnect them next time and toss them in the rez with the pump. I don't think there is any difference with the pump sitting in the h2o2 vs being in use while sitting in the h2o2.

I didn't want to run the pump constantly because I heard it may heat up the water. Am I wrong about that?
I may try running the pump all the time on the next setup.
I'm cleaning out a utility room where I can clone and veg since all the lights in the grow room will be in flower in about 3 weeks. I'm going to experiment in there.

Also when I use the UV water I send it to a 13 gallon holding rez that just has the water. I'll mix it up in a bucket and dump it in the setup for top offs. I only use that bucket for that. When the setup was empty I ran the UV water straight into the setup. I've done this for both setups. I also have a small UV light that comes on for 10 minutes about 15 times a day in the 13 gallon holding rez. Just to be on the safe side I tested the temps of the water after filling up the setup with the 16 gallons and it is 66-68F. After the light goes out in the holding rez it is also at the same temp

I just checked the plants in the stand alones and the brown really didn't come back for now. It looks like maybe a slight discoloration that could be from the nutes? I did wash them off. I use GH micro and bloom and of course the UC Roots or hydroguard.

 

[Parker]

While researching nutrients I came across a mention of why 2 part nutrients come in 2 parts, when they’re added together they cause gypsum to precipitate

The size of these gypsum particles is right for them to act as floculants and attract others to stick to them

A possible source of the sediment?

Could be. I don't have the sediment since I went with the UV

 

[Parker]

Not enough of a change. I sterilized the system. 6 days in h2o2. I took the feed lines apart the last 2 days, put them in the main rez to soak. I added more h2o2 to the system when I did that. Roots turned browner after the transfer into the 4 bucket recirc system. Not as bad but still noticeable. I used 8 mil per gallon of UC roots this time and that didn't prevent the roots from turning dark brown. Thought for sure with that amount I wouldn't get brown roots. The roots are not getting slimey, Guessing that is about me getting to the roots a few hours quicker than before but mainly the sterilization and use of hydroguard and uc roots have helped a bit. Not as much as I'd like but it is a bit better.

The 4 I transferred were in stand alone buckets. 2 plants per bucket. I had 4 other plants in 2 stand alones. I transferred 2 plants into the now empty buckets so I had 1 in each. The next day, one of the transferred got darker roots and had to be washed off. The plants in there originally didn't have dark brown roots. fyi - I use stand alones with a couple plants in each because of lack of veg space while waiting for a grow in flower to finish and transfer a veg setup to flower.

What usually happens is I wash the roots off every few days for a week or so, add hydroguard and and in 1.5-2 weeks they start growing again and I get better roots. Although I wasn't paying attention to which plants got hydroguard and which got UC roots by washing off the plants and adding more in they all eventually recover. This was the first time I used uc roots. Maybe the hydroguard works better for me? dunno but I'll see as all I have left now is hydroguard.

The airstones are a nice bright blue but a day later in the recirc with nutes they start getting brown splotches. At the end of my grows they turn darker, almost a purplish color. A few weeks into flower I change the air stones.

This time, since I had more plants in veg and they'd out grow the infected plants I'd drain the recirc system and put the bigger ones in but they'd get darker roots and the growth gets stunted too. Did that 3 times. Won't do that anymore. lol

Using just clonex in the aero cloner I get beautiful white roots with the side roots. 15 minutes on, 15 off. Using just clonex I've left a few in there and they got to ~16" inches. The plant and the roots look real good. I transfer them into the sterilized stand alones with nutes and us roots or hydroguard and the roots turn brown. I'm not getting enough dissolved oxygen in the buckets and the younger plants are too weak to fight it off?

I've cleaned out a small utility room to veg in so I'll also have plenty of room to experiment. 1/2" feed and drain line. It takes just under 2 minutes to drain the rez and the timer does that 20 times a day. Will change to 3/8" feed line and more drain lines to see if I can run the pump all the time in hopes of increasing the dissolved oxygen. I have a thermometer I can drop in the rez to check the temps and have 1 gallon jugs with ice I can drop in to keep temps down if needed. Will make sure to clean the jugs with h2o2 before I drop them in to be safe.
If that works but I still need the ice for sure, I'll rig the pump to work out of the rez so I wont have to mess with the ice jugs.

With the stand alones I'll try 8, 10, and 12 mil per gallon of hydroguard to see if that works.

If the improvement I've seen actually improved by twice as much I'd be happy enough. Now it's more like "well...okay I guess".

I have temp gauges under the lights and on the res. Always under 70F

The funniest part about all this is I didn't want to go to RO water because of the hassle. lol I was thinking about Five 15 gallon systems means 225 gallons of "waste water". (15*3*5) Although I wouldn't waste it as I'd just put it into a couple of rain barrels outside and let it go on the lawn. Anyone asks it's a "special" solution for the lawn, lol.

After messing with this and if I don't see enough improvement I am thinking strongly of going with RO which is basically what a ton of people suggested from the start. I'll probably do it anyway after my experiments are over. It seems like the best and EASIEST way to do it. I'd still like to solve my problem though. I have the time and I am curious about it.

 

[Parker]

Took more precautions but I'm still getting brown roots. I got brown roots last time and cleaned them 2 to 3 times a day and added another full recommended dose of orca. The roots stopped turning brown after a few days and ended up turning back white so I know the root helpers are working. I had 2 plants in each bucket.

I transferred 1 plant from each bucket into their own bucket. This time I let the uv treated water sit for ~20 hours and added orca right away to two standalone buckets and added great white right away to two other stand alone buckets. I figured I'd let whatever is harming the roots get treated before I transferred the plants. It took longer to hit the roots and wasn't as bad, but they did start turning brown. One more so than the others. They all had nice white roots. Now they are mostly discolored.

Maybe I need to let the water and bacteria killers sit for 2 full days? dunno

 

[Parker]

Hey Parker. So my guess is you're not using h2o2 then? Why not? Try an ounce of 3% h2o2 in a 4-5 gallon bucket. You'll see those roots whiten right up by the next day. Add an ounce per 4-5 gallons of nutes every 4-5 days through your entire dwc grow. No need to wait until you've got problems. And h2o2 at that strength doesn't hurt your plants. In fact it also gives your roots a good shot of oxygen. Besides killing the nasty bacteria responsible for root rot. It will kill all organics. So keep that in mind.

What you really mean is "I guess you're not using H2O2 properly". And you'd be right. lol I don't use any other enhancers like Orca anymore.

Fill my holding tanks with water through a UV light and filter. Let it sit for 24 hours. Put in 12% H2O2 @ 15 mil per 5 gal and let it sit for another day. Then I use it. May as well let the chloride and chloramine dissipate a bit before adding the H2O2. I have a small UV light in each that goes on for ~2 hours a day in the morning. I read about how it works on fish tanks and don't think the few seconds it runs through the UV light at first helps much. (the filter/light setup may be a waste but I've already bought it)

Every 4 or 5 days I add H2O2 back into the grow res. The two holding res get used up in a few days.

Now after a grow, I wipe the insides of the buckets and res down. then I get water and bleach and wipe the insides again as well as the air lines. I fill the system to it's usually level. Use 12% at 35 mil per 5 gal. (Prevention is 15 mil per 5 gal.) I run it through the pump for awhile to make sure the H2O2 is evenly distributed. Take the top feed lines apart, clean them and drop them in the res with the pump for a day. Hook the top feeding lines back up and run the pump and timer for a day. Timer is set for 2 minutes every 90 minutes. I haven't cleaned the return lines yet as I just replaced them in each setup. I've just done 1 round so far with 3 systems. I also use air stones when it's cleaning. Drain it and it's ready.

Now after a grow, I've finished 3, the roots come out looking great. No more floundering when they are small. I can get the grow going right away. No delays. Huge game changer.

I scrog use 4 Blueberry, one in each bucket, and they got so big this time they fell over. Usually get close to 4 ounces from the blueberry and close to 5 on the Kalachakra. I'll bet over 5 for sure on the latest Blueberry and close to 6 on the Kalachakra even though I only used 2 plants in their scrog. I was surprised those 2 grew so much, Thought I had 3 or 4 in the scrog like usual. The stronger, larger stems are holding them up so far. They are ~10 days behind the blueberry. I'll train proper next time. I've been basically threading and not cutting the tops to split during veg.
No doubt I'll drop to 3 plants on the blueberry next time. The kalachakra maybe stay with 2 as it grows so much faster? I have 2 bubblegum going now too and it looks great. They wont yield like 2 Kalachakra do though.

i ended up getting rid of the Mars TS 1000 lights and went with SUNRAISE QB2000 for flower. The coverage area is much better. I have the Spider Farmer 1000 and some off brand "600" lights in veg

 

[Parker]

I scrog use 4 Blueberry, one in each bucket, and they got so big this time they fell over. Usually get close to 4 ounces from the blueberry and close to 5 on the Kalachakra. I'll bet over 5 for sure on the latest Blueberry and close to 6 on the Kalachakra even though I only used 2 plants in their scrog. I was surprised those 2 grew so much, Thought I had 3 or 4 in the scrog like usual. The stronger, larger stems are holding them up so far. They are ~10 days behind the blueberry. I'll train proper next time. I've been basically threading and not cutting the tops to split during veg.
No doubt I'll drop to 3 plants on the blueberry next time. The kalachakra maybe stay with 2 as it grows so much faster? I have 2 bubblegum going now too and it looks great. They wont yield like 2 Kalachakra do though.

Two plants per scrog setup now instead of four. Still 4 buckets and a rez. Each grow doing this, has been 7-7.5 ounces. No more small buds as those get tossed into the bin to make hash.

Not going to grow and flower from Mid June - end of September now. Yields are up enough. Going to put up radiant barrier in the attic over that room during the summer. I need to replace the ceiling anyway and just going to put up paneling on the ceiling in that room. I'll keep a couple moms to make clones, keeping them under low light during the summer.