Hi all! How are you treating/monitoring the water you use in your process? Are organics a concern? Is anyone using UV to treat their wastewater? Would real time nitrate monitoring be of interest to anyone?
I have used UVC filters in the past in line with condensate pumps to sterilize the condensate being pumped from my dehumidifiers and air conditioners. Here in the desert water is precious, and if the differential between the outside heat and the coils on the devices is extreme, I can generate many gallons of condensate in a single day. This is generally very clean water to use after the UVC filter. The PPM tends to be quite low and is ready to use very quickly.
If you are using salt fertilizers, I highly recommend integrating a reverse osmosis filter into your water filtration process.Click here to see some options from Growers House. I may be opening a can of worms here, but IMO Organics are less picky about RO water.
The problem with RO and desert locations is the extreme waste of water. As commercial facilities are being built in the California desert at a fast pace, it’s only a matter of time until the state decides they need to limit water usage. I have been able to get the majority of my customers off of their RO systems and using the local water district without any loss of quality or production. In some cases, I simply blend them a custom nutrient formula to match their water supply. Most of the time that is not necessary but it’s a simple process and there is usually no additional cost for the formula. I highly recommend spending the $35 on a mineral content test and seeing what’s actually in your water before just throwing out the money for an expensive RO system. Commercial sized systems can run into the tens of thousands of dollars as well as cost of maintenance. Do yourself a favor and see if you really need one first! Also, anyone interested in learning how to get off of their current RO water, just get in touch and I can help you find out if you really need it.
Great advice and willingness to guide! I agree with you here that environmental regulations pertaining to water usage will ultimately become mandate. RO is very wasteful and often unnecessary.
Thank you, @ron!
I have a great tool and I can sell the called the pogo pro sensor. It dials all salinity moisture and tons of other things . 2500 a piece but worth it once trained it last forever . most accurate tool made