Summary for distilled water versus deionized water Discussion
distilled water versus deionized water is discussed in the context of weak plants in a biotechnology lab. Rim Toumi says tap water contained something toxic, so the plants were switched to deionized water with fertilizer, but they still remain weak and asks whether distilled water would help. James Watts replies that deionized water removes many ions, but if the resin/regenerator was not rinsed properly, the water could still carry too much sodium, chloride, or sulphate; he suggests checking conductivity in mhos or microsiemens when the water is first used. His main suspicion, however, is a trace-metal deficiency, noting that plants need more than just N, P, and K to thrive. He also warns that if the original problem was excess copper, a lot of it may still be in the soil and can continue to damage vegetation.
Q. Hi all,
I work in a plant biotechnology lab, and since we started we encountered many problems with the water. Our tap water happened to contain something toxic for the plants. Therefore, we started irrigated our plants with deionized water in which we add fertilizer. Our plant are still very weak. Would using distilled water make any difference ?
Rim Toumi
– Toulouse, France
2003
A. DI removes many of the ions from the tap water. If the regenerator did not rinse properly, you could have an unacceptably high sodium or chloride or sulphate content when first used. Did you check the mhos or micro siemens when first turned on.
My real guess is that you have a shortage of trace metals. It takes healthy plants more than N, P and K to thrive. If your original problem was too high a copper content, a huge amount of that is still in the soil and it does not take much to kill vegetation.
James Watts
– Navarre, Florida
2003
Thank you very much for your answer, and for the precious information !
Rim Toumi
– France
2003