BajaNomad

Irrigation Water treatment science project

Roasty - 3-29-2009 at 12:15 PM

In BOLA our water is trucked in from Agua Amarga and is very high in salts.
We do not intend to drink this, but wondered wether anybody had ever constructed any kind of basic filtration system using perhaps a black tank/pilar type container with some kind of substance in the bottom (charcoal / other ??) to purify the water in order to use for irrigation/plants/vegetables?
My goal would be to have this tank filled every month or so and have a drip system running from it. Again we do not intend to drink this, but need to make the natural water more plant friendly !!

Cheers.

Roasty

Skunked

Roasty - 4-6-2009 at 11:29 PM

Wow With all that seasoned baja talent out there I thought for sure that somebody had tried to do some kind of hill-billy filtration !

Now if it was distilling tequila that I needed help on, then I am sure that I would have seen over 50 quality "how-to's" by now !

Cheers !

Sharksbaja - 4-6-2009 at 11:47 PM

Dissolved salts are very hard to rid. Distilling or condensing it out are the most available and practical ways to remove salts.

Carbon filters are most effective at removing chlorine, sediment, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water. They are not effective at removing minerals, salts, and dissolved inorganic compounds.

Good luck. I think a new source is in order

David K - 4-7-2009 at 07:09 AM

Why not use the spring water from the back side of town?

This was the source for hundreds or more years and I remember my mom saying how good the coffee was at Casa Diaz in 1967... It wasn't the Nescafe as much as it was the spring water the town then lived off of.

As the town grew following the new pavement in the late 70's, additional water was needed, so the pipeline to Agua Amarga was installed.

mtgoat666 - 4-7-2009 at 07:55 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Roasty
In BOLA our water is trucked in from Agua Amarga and is very high in salts.
We do not intend to drink this, but wondered wether anybody had ever constructed any kind of basic filtration system using perhaps a black tank/pilar type container with some kind of substance in the bottom (charcoal / other ??) to purify the water in order to use for irrigation/plants/vegetables?
My goal would be to have this tank filled every month or so and have a drip system running from it. Again we do not intend to drink this, but need to make the natural water more plant friendly !!

Cheers.

Roasty


No economical way to remove salts from water. There are reverse osmosis treatment systems for home use, but not cheap.
Suggest you plant species that tolerate high TDS irrigation water.
What is the TDS concentration?

David K - 4-7-2009 at 08:22 AM

666 is correct, plant salt cedars! As the name implies, they love salty water consitions! See photos of salt cedars at Nuevo Mazatlan: http://vivabaja.com/nm




[Edited on 4-7-2009 by David K]

mtgoat666 - 4-7-2009 at 08:58 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
666 is correct, plant salt cedars! As the name implies, they love salty water consitions! See photos of salt cedars at Nuevo Mazatlan: http://vivabaja.com/nm


dk,
we've been down this road before, i don't support anyone planting nasty invasive salt cedars, as your message suggest i do support
i support planting natives.

David K - 4-7-2009 at 01:29 PM

:rolleyes: As the facts have been shown to you before, the salt cedar variety used on the east coast of Baja is NOT invasive... not the same plant as the one causing problems in the USA.

Mexitron - 4-7-2009 at 05:43 PM

Tomatoes are fairly salt tolerant...I even saw one growing in the Bahia Gonzaga dump area--basically a salt flat--on my first ever trip into Baja in 1975. Even had a beautiful red tomato on it.

Roasty - 4-12-2009 at 06:22 PM

Thanks guy's thats some great info.
Are those salt-cedars out the front of Guillermos ?