Alright, so I have been using water out of my tap-attached brita filter for the whole time I've had my grow here. I received today my TDS meter and calibration solution (both SunLeaves from HTG Supply). I calibrated it to the 1000ppms using that annoying little screw. When I tested my tap water, it read 108ppm. When I tested the water out of my Brita filter, it said 186ppm (goes up to 250 on another faucet). I thought to myself, this couldn't be right? But I've now tested it 3 times, with different taps and re-calibrating. I read on the back of the package "Not intended to purify water", "Maintains adequate levels of fluoride", and so on. Is my meter wrong, or does Brita have some chemicals in its filters? Granted, 100-200 ppms isnt that bad for city water, but still... any ideas?

__________________

"Remember, you can never overdose - you can only under-dose. We are just making sure we aren't under-dosing."

I am a medical marijuana patient - my plants and use are covered under State Law. I do not endorse illegal activities in or out of the state/country. So don't tread on me.

Spring '09 Grow Chocolate Thai: http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/back-action-spring-09-grow-7928/

Current Fall '09 'Red Diesel' LED Grow http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/fall-09-pure-led-grow-show-red-diesel-14415/

first yes it does have chemicals


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This page can be found on the web at:
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/ask/brita
Web only | posted July 29, 2004
Are Brita Containers Safe?

by Carolyn Banta
A reader writes The Green Guide:
I use a 2-gallon Brita filter system. I recently discovered that the container is made of styrene methylmethacrylate copolymer. Will this type of plastic leak chemicals into my water? If so, is there an inexpensive alternative that you would recommend? I'm sure many of your readers use a Brita system and would benefit from knowing about this plastic.
Thanks, Michael Lande
The Green Guide responds:
It is true that Brita filter systems use containers made from styrene methylmethacrylate copolymer, which is a polymer (a combination of molecules) primarily used in the production of acrylic sheeting, molding powders and resin and surface coatings. According to Brita, the company manufactures containers made from styrene methylmethacrylate copolymer to avoid leaching.
Brita's information on leaching came from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), which performs extensive material safety tests. The NSF states that Brita pitchers have been tested for material safety while in contact with "very aggressive water" (i.e. exposure to water with low total of dissolved solids and .5 ppm of available chlorine for three successive 24-hour periods) and have found no evidence of leaching.
Rick Andrews, the technical manager of the Drinking Water Treatment Unit Certification Program at the NSF, explains that when a company is seeking NSF certification for new container/filter system, NSF requires information about the constituents of the plastic and then tests for leachates they know are associated with those ingredients. Using acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) as an example, they would look for styrene and acrylonitrile leaching into the water. We asked about styrene leaching from the methylmethacrylate copolymer, and he assured us that any polymer that includes a styrene component would be tested for styrene leaching.
For a second opinion, we also checked with the FDA. Their report on styrene methylmethacrylate also found that it may be safely used in repeat contact with foods without risk of leaching.
The bottom line is that The Green Guide sees no reason not to use Brita pitchers so long as they are the correct filter for the contaminants in your tap water. To learn more about which filters remove which contaminants, please see our Water Filters product report.
Lastly, whether we are drinking, bathing, or cleaning, it is important that the water supply we use be free of contaminants. In order to ensure your safety, learn about the types of contaminants in your local water supply and home water and diligently purify your water through treatment or filtering (see "Three Simple Steps to Clean, Safe Drinking Water"). In addition, it is important to learn about the potential hazards posed by containers and filtration systems available on the market, like Brita.

© 2008 The Green Guide Institute

Im glad I saw this I have been thinking of getting one of those filters. Maybe a ro unit would be better, except so much water goes down the drain.

My thought is that temperature, how long the water is in the pipes before opening faucet, and other such variables may explain the different readings.

I don't see how the Britta's carbon filter can increase ppm of anything except carbon it does remove about 12 common "toxins" found in house hold water mostly heavy metals, metals and some carcinagenic compounds such as lead, chlorine, copper, zinc, mercury, cadmium, xylenes, benzene, perchloroethylene, toluene
and the discrepancy between two faucets in you house means that I think the britta is inocent in this calabration crime...try a few more reading from a few more faucets at different times and then you can be pretty sure the fluctuation is just the normal fluctuation of your tap water.

I am not so hot with hydroponics but I know what a pain in the but it is getting sensitive instruments to read correctly in the field...so many things can effect a reading.....so lots of readings at different times can often let you know the "normal range"

im just gonna make a Mr. Clean R/O filter anyways. ill do a few more tests later to be sure

__________________

"Remember, you can never overdose - you can only under-dose. We are just making sure we aren't under-dosing."

I am a medical marijuana patient - my plants and use are covered under State Law. I do not endorse illegal activities in or out of the state/country. So don't tread on me.

Spring '09 Grow Chocolate Thai: http://www.greenpassion.org/showthread.php?t=7928

Current Fall '09 'Red Diesel' LED Grow http://www.greenpassion.org/showthread.php?t=14415

I read about those Mr. Clean set ups . Do they work?

i heard they work well and are very inexpensive compared to real R/O systems

__________________

"Remember, you can never overdose - you can only under-dose. We are just making sure we aren't under-dosing."

I am a medical marijuana patient - my plants and use are covered under State Law. I do not endorse illegal activities in or out of the state/country. So don't tread on me.

Spring '09 Grow Chocolate Thai: http://www.greenpassion.org/showthread.php?t=7928

Current Fall '09 'Red Diesel' LED Grow http://www.greenpassion.org/showthread.php?t=14415

Hey All I have been doing this for awhile now and it works great for me and you can see my plants like it to.I build this so I could have better water to drink and make coffice with and to water my girls.Homedepot carbon sedment filter run into a ice maker filter and into my res.The water here is crap and it's hard too.The ppm's are around 400 at the tap and after fitler it's 145 ppm's and no chrine or fluoride and alot of other crap too.I did buy distilled water buy 40gals of water weekly cost you.Here's a pix of it,I use a washer hose to hook it up to the tap.Mine stays hooked up. The cost of the stuff is under $40.00 bucks. Peace

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Anything I may say or do is stickly for entertainment only.This is all make believe and is not To believe by me or anyonehttp:\\www.greenpassion.org/f73/over-grow-government-ogg-2009-what-8722/

Toke -very nice set up ,Thats what Ive been thinking about doing,or something like that. Now that I see how some one has done it , Ill be going to Home De Pot today.

I'm in the filtration industry,those systems from the stores are OK but if you really want to get the most out of it you need the .50 micron carbon block cartridge for it and that costs around $25.00-$30.00 ea and the ones they sell only are rated for 6 mos or 6000 gals. and still wont reduce/remove TDS.Only an R/O system will remove TDS.I built a great R/O system for my kit. sink the materials cost me over $150.00 from the manufacturers.So even the small R/O's at HOME DEPOT/LOWES start at $150.00... A quick fix is to use two of the small inline in sieries( one through the other)they should be available in 1 micron or below carbon block.Use a hose bibb adapter and adapt it to 1/4" for the filters...
GOOD LUCK

PS:
run the water a minute or two before using/testing

I am lucky in that my city water just needs to sit 24 hours to give off the chlorine before it is fine to use as is...but is there a good DIY tutorial for building a R/O systems as Jonny and Toke discribed? if not is anyone interested in making one to post here at GP? iy would be a great sticky or perhaps addition to FAQ?