Water Quality - Ask Extension
We have terrible water! We installed a whole house RO system to help mitigate our water quality issues. I attached a water report from our well. My qu...
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Water Quality #868712
Asked May 16, 2024, 12:57 PM EDT
We have terrible water! We installed a whole house RO system to help mitigate our water quality issues. I attached a water report from our well. My question is, can we water our outside plants (not edible plants and vegetables), small lawn and trees with this water? I assume no but what is our solution? Do we increase our RO water production to water our outside plants and trees? Is there another filtering system we can use for outside water only? Looking at our report, what numbers does our water need to be at in order to use on the lawn, plants and planted trees?
Thank you
Routt County Colorado
Expert Response
Good morning, Dave-
I'm sorry it has taken me some time to get back to you: the notification for this question got buried in my inbox when I was out of town for a funeral service. My apologies.
Yes, your water looks like it's not of high quality! I didn't see on the test results where in the county you're located but would love to know if this matches up with other wells in the area. You didn't facilitate this test through our office, did you? I didn't see that this came through here on our records.
What concerns me most about this water for any irrigation use is the salt level- I don't see that you can use it for any lawn, flowers, or trees without causing salt damage to the plant tissues. I'm afraid I can't think of anything other than RO that would work to remove the salt. Additional methods of filtration are noted at https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/agriculture/domestic-water-quality-criteria-0-513/
I wonder if hauling water for irrigation isn't a solution worth considering. Again, knowing where in the county you are could help us figure out a good source, but if you have a neighbor with a better well and/or a good water right, I'd be looking to them to help you out!
Something else to strongly consider is planting a low-water, native landscape. Not only are the plants better suited for our soils and climate, but after they've become established, use very little water. In many ways, native plants are more attractive and in keeping with the local environment than lawns, too. If you'd be interested in looking at some native plant options, let me know and I can share them with you or you can stop by the office to see the many books we have on the subject. The Master Gardeners are in on Thursdays between 10am-1pm to help you think that through, too.
Let me know what other questions you have. I wish I had better answers for you!
I'm sorry it has taken me some time to get back to you: the notification for this question got buried in my inbox when I was out of town for a funeral service. My apologies.
Yes, your water looks like it's not of high quality! I didn't see on the test results where in the county you're located but would love to know if this matches up with other wells in the area. You didn't facilitate this test through our office, did you? I didn't see that this came through here on our records.
What concerns me most about this water for any irrigation use is the salt level- I don't see that you can use it for any lawn, flowers, or trees without causing salt damage to the plant tissues. I'm afraid I can't think of anything other than RO that would work to remove the salt. Additional methods of filtration are noted at https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/agriculture/domestic-water-quality-criteria-0-513/
I wonder if hauling water for irrigation isn't a solution worth considering. Again, knowing where in the county you are could help us figure out a good source, but if you have a neighbor with a better well and/or a good water right, I'd be looking to them to help you out!
Something else to strongly consider is planting a low-water, native landscape. Not only are the plants better suited for our soils and climate, but after they've become established, use very little water. In many ways, native plants are more attractive and in keeping with the local environment than lawns, too. If you'd be interested in looking at some native plant options, let me know and I can share them with you or you can stop by the office to see the many books we have on the subject. The Master Gardeners are in on Thursdays between 10am-1pm to help you think that through, too.
Let me know what other questions you have. I wish I had better answers for you!
Hi Todd,
All good and very understandable. Sorry to hear about your loss.
We didn't facilitate the tests, we received the report when we bought the house. Our address is 29560 Elk View Drive, Steamboat Springs. We have about 2.5 acres. The surrounding properties have varying success. Some properties don't have a well, some have OK drinking water that they don't treat and some are bad like ours.
We have a culligan RO system now and after hearing what your thoughts are, we may increase our system to fill additional water storage tanks for exterior use. One of the suggestions from culligan is to mix the well water with RO water. I have heard RO water isn't the best for plants either but we have been watering our inside plants with it and it seems fine. There is a tank that adds minerals back into the water after it is treated, wonder if that helps the plants? Hauling isn't ideal but maybe one day we will. For not though, we would like to put something in place temporarily, until we remodel.
I would appreciate Plant suggestions that can thrive in our Clay soils and climate. I also have a Horsetail issue, which I asked about last year. That seems like a long process to change the PH level of our soil to naturally mitigate the horsetail. So on top of bad water, we have bad soil. I would like suggestions on grasses as well. Both for tall grass and the other for a low maintenance ground cover. I mow about 3/4 of an acre and I am going to minimize that as well. I'd like to have about 1/4 of an acre to have like a micro-clover/clover type option so I don't need to water it after it's established, or at least water it very infrequently. The other areas I'd like a nice meadow. Ofthe tall grasses that isn't your typical grasses but something a little more nice looking that are native and can thrive in our area with minimal water.
I was reading into cover crops, like rye grass, to help replenish soils. I heard clovers can help too. Is this something you would recommend?
Sorry for all the questions. I have been on the internet trying to come up with the right solution which is a big reason why I reached out. Maybe it's a phased plan or something I am not even thinking about.
Thank you for the help,
Dave
Dave-
I'm so glad you've included your address so I know where you are. As luck would have it, one of our most-seasoned Master Gardeners is your neighbor and has dealt with some of the things you're interested in tackling. In our discussions, she thought it would be best for you and her to get together at your place and have a conversation about your goals and options; then you can bring me back into the conversation as you move along.
Jackie Burtovich can be reached at<personal data hidden> or emailed at <personal data hidden> She is looking forward to hearing from you and again, let me know what I need to follow up with once you two have met.
I'm so glad you've included your address so I know where you are. As luck would have it, one of our most-seasoned Master Gardeners is your neighbor and has dealt with some of the things you're interested in tackling. In our discussions, she thought it would be best for you and her to get together at your place and have a conversation about your goals and options; then you can bring me back into the conversation as you move along.
Jackie Burtovich can be reached at<personal data hidden> or emailed at <personal data hidden> She is looking forward to hearing from you and again, let me know what I need to follow up with once you two have met.
