A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners
Who'll Stop the Rain?
Yes, I know it is a great CCR song. But it is actually a lead in to the pH of rain. I hear a lot of sweet music about using this wonderful source of water to resupply our systems. Well, yesterday we had a little shower of a half an inch or so and it left a bit of a puddle on the lid of my clarifier. This morning when I went out to check the chem of the water, I decide to check the rain water. Yikes! How do you say ACID RAIN! I do not know where it actually measured since my little API only goes to 6.0 but it was certainly not pH neutral. Now I understand how my system pH used to drop, particularly after a good rain storm. It had not occurred to me it might be God's gift of free water. Fortunately, I no longer have a pH problem since I buffered my water with Calcium Carbonate. It runs consistently at 6.6 either with the rain or the addition of high pH water from my tap (after the chlorine is gassed off is a separate tank). But it was good to know about my rain water. You might want to check yours, it may surprise you.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ron Faulkner on
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While cycling a new aquaponics system I was checking it daily and I had to buffer the water after overnight rain.
I thought that was a normal procedure
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Permalink Reply by Tradewind on
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According to what most people post it is the perfect neutral pH water. I took that at face value. It wasn't until after I started seeing strange things that I tested the water. Surprise!!
I guess we are pumping enough crap into the air to change that. I live in a rural area and never thought that air would produce acid rain. I guess that plant that I share the property line with is pumping more stuff into the air than I anticipated. Anyway, now that I know, I can compensate for it. It really is no longer a big deal since I bumped my system with a load of Calcium Carbonates. Now the extremes are between 6.4 and 7.2 come shine or rain. My tap water is about 8.2 and only after I add a boat load of that does it go as high as 7.2. The normal range is 6.6 to 6.8. So much for calcium carbonates be bad for the system. Only after adding them did things level out.
Ron Faulkner said:While cycling a new aquaponics system I was checking it daily and I had to buffer the water after overnight rain.
I thought that was a normal procedure
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Permalink Reply by Alex Veidel on
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God gave us rain. Our poor stewardship of the earth is what brings forth acid rain. The Father doesn't make things that aren't 100% perfect in totality :)
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Actually, now that I'm thinking about it....According to biblical text, I don't think rain was God's original plan for creation. It came afterwards. I'll get back to you on that once I find some time to flesh that out some more. It would be interesting to see how that correlates with aquaponics.
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I guess you will need to check with Noah on that one. However, I think maybe you read something into what I said. I did not mean to say that God made acid rain, what I said (or at least thought I said) is that rain, what I perceive as a gift from God, is not perfect. What made it imperfect was not God but man. Thus man has perverted a gift from God. In any case, we have to deal with it in whatever form that it arrives. Now if you care to argue as to if it is actually a gift from God, I withdraw from that one. I will accept whatever conclusion you arrive at, I am only dealing with what I must to keep the fish alive.
Alex Veidel said:Actually, now that I'm thinking about it....According to biblical text, I don't think rain was God's original plan for creation. It came afterwards. I'll get back to you on that once I find some time to flesh that out some more. It would be interesting to see how that correlates with aquaponics.
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i have been adding rain water to my system and have been fighting a 6.0 ph did not test the rain water brfore i added it. my rual water is bad i have to double filter it to use for anything. will check my rain water now
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When you say it is bad are you talking chemically or just dirty?
MARK EMMONS said:i have been adding rain water to my system and have been fighting a 6.0 ph did not test the rain water brfore i added it. my rual water is bad i have to double filter it to use for anything. will check my rain water now
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Sorry, there was a chain of thoughts behind what I said and I didn't really fill you in on the details. It just struck me as funny that we could be having problems with something that God provides, so it just got me to thinking. Usually utilizing nature fixes problems, not creates more. You ever get a couple concepts in your mind that you know are both true but you just can't make them fit together? I was just trying to make all the little truth puzzle pieces fit together without any contradictions. Kind of a game I play with myself. Yep, you totally made sense; sorry I wasn't more clear. My post was more of a trailing thought then a direct response to what you said.
Tradewind said:I guess you will need to check with Noah on that one. However, I think maybe you read something into what I said. I did not mean to say that God made acid rain, what I said (or at least thought I said) is that rain, what I perceive as a gift from God, is not perfect. What made it imperfect was not God but man. Thus man has perverted a gift from God. In any case, we have to deal with it in whatever form that it arrives. Now if you care to argue as to if it is actually a gift from God, I withdraw from that one. I will accept whatever conclusion you arrive at, I am only dealing with what I must to keep the fish alive.
Alex Veidel said:Actually, now that I'm thinking about it....According to biblical text, I don't think rain was God's original plan for creation. It came afterwards. I'll get back to you on that once I find some time to flesh that out some more. It would be interesting to see how that correlates with aquaponics.
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chemicals and dirty both will clog a 5 micron filter in about a month also the carbon filter stops clenaing the chlorine in about mounth i live about a mile from the treatment plant they send out a letter every year about failing epa standards
Tradewind said:When you say it is bad are you talking chemically or just dirty?
MARK EMMONS said:i have been adding rain water to my system and have been fighting a 6.0 ph did not test the rain water brfore i added it. my rual water is bad i have to double filter it to use for anything. will check my rain water now
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OK, makes sense to me.
Alex Veidel said:Sorry, there was a chain of thoughts behind what I said and I didn't really fill you in on the details. It just struck me as funny that we could be having problems with something that God provides, so it just got me to thinking. Usually utilizing nature fixes problems, not creates more. You ever get a couple concepts in your mind that you know are both true but you just can't make them fit together? I was just trying to make all the little truth puzzle pieces fit together without any contradictions. Kind of a game I play with myself. Yep, you totally made sense; sorry I wasn't more clear. My post was more of a trailing thought then a direct response to what you said.
Tradewind said:I guess you will need to check with Noah on that one. However, I think maybe you read something into what I said. I did not mean to say that God made acid rain, what I said (or at least thought I said) is that rain, what I perceive as a gift from God, is not perfect. What made it imperfect was not God but man. Thus man has perverted a gift from God. In any case, we have to deal with it in whatever form that it arrives. Now if you care to argue as to if it is actually a gift from God, I withdraw from that one. I will accept whatever conclusion you arrive at, I am only dealing with what I must to keep the fish alive.
Alex Veidel said:Actually, now that I'm thinking about it....According to biblical text, I don't think rain was God's original plan for creation. It came afterwards. I'll get back to you on that once I find some time to flesh that out some more. It would be interesting to see how that correlates with aquaponics.
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OK, here is what I was thinking. If you have chlorine that is great, chloromines not so great. Chlorine is easy to gas off, I know I deal with it all the time. Dirty water, I was thinking maybe a sand filter would take the solids out and then let your media process the rest. I fill a 50 gal tub with my tap water and spray it into the tub to allow as much chlorine as possible to dissipate. Then I let it sit for 8 to 10 hours in the sun and that takes care of the chlorine. With chloromines you have to chemically treat and that really doesn't get rid of it, it just inactivates it. Since my tub sits on the end of one of my grow beds, I use a two gal bucket to top off my system. It normally takes about 6 to 8 gals a day and I just pour it right into the bed. So I am filling the tub once a week unless I get rain. I don't fret with the pH anymore since the addition of the Calcium Carbonates. It takes me no more than 60 seconds a day to top off my system. However, I need to configure something that will enable that to happen without my assistance. I am working on it, but I have to run some plumbing first because I am working from a hose at this time.
I am thinking about a float switch in my sump that will pump from my reservoir back o the sump. As far as refilling the reservoir I may do that manually so I can make sure I gas off the chlorine since it is only once a week. I could rig up a carbon filter and use a float activated valve to keep it topped up, but I am hesitate about the thing getting hung up and I end up with a water bill from hell. We are on a small system and the rates are ridiculous.
MARK EMMONS said:chemicals and dirty both will clog a 5 micron filter in about a month also the carbon filter stops clenaing the chlorine in about mounth i live about a mile from the treatment plant they send out a letter every year about failing epa standards
Tradewind said:When you say it is bad are you talking chemically or just dirty?
MARK EMMONS said:i have been adding rain water to my system and have been fighting a 6.0 ph did not test the rain water brfore i added it. my rual water is bad i have to double filter it to use for anything. will check my rain water now
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