Dechlorinate city water?
- Thread starter Backyard dirt
- Start date
BrewersToker
Well-Known Member
I agree generally, but would wonder if cities getting water from ocean sources apply. Like Miami or Houston.
I am so fucking lucky to live in a city that gets water from Lake Michigan. Some of the cleanest in the world.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Not as clean as Colorado, by a long shot.
NirvanaMesa
Well-Known Member
RO water for the win....
BrewersToker
Well-Known Member
I can drink water directly from Lake Michigan 5 miles out from the city of Milwaukee.
I have been to Colorado over 25 times in my life. Not once have I consumed water from a river or lake there without disinfecting it first by boiling. Even above 10,000 ft. Rocky Mountain Ntl Park has water warnings all over that park.
Lake Michigan has a natural purification process via limestone deposits that dominate the topography of the water system.
Milwaukee city water is recognized as some of the cleanest anywhere in the world over the last couple decades. Lake Michigan's natural filtration system is a big reason for that, as well as our strict limits on what is allowed to enter the system via sewage and ground water that ends up treated.
Don't get me wrong. I love the freshness of Colorado water system. But comparing it to a system like Lake Michigan is apples to oranges.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
All that limestone has to contribute to water hardness. My tap water is .05 EC. I thought we were talking about suitability for use on our plants?
NirvanaMesa
Well-Known Member
Yes big difference between what is "sanitaty" for humans and what is "good" for growing plants.
Don_Sequitor
Well-Known Member
Interesting to think about though.
Gdub51
Well-Known Member
I don't agree with the use of water from the water heater. City water is hard enough (mine near 400ppm) and water from the water heater will be even harder and have lime scale. Cold tap for me. Aired out of course. An air pump speeds the process if need be. And a filter if you like. I added one (Camco "Garden Pure") but honestly I can't tell the difference with the filter. This one is the wrong one the factory tells me to reduce turbidity. Gee, thanks for telling me when that's what I said I was looking to do. PPM is my problem. Makes it "hard" no pun intended, to balance the water and keep the ppm in line with the plants appetite.
Gdub51
Well-Known Member
Though science says tap water's inherent chlorine or chlorimines will not "harm" your plants because they are absorbed by the upper layer of soil before reaching the roots. This thinking is for standard outdoor garden applications which indeed the chlorine may never be noticed. For an outdoor cannabis gardener seeking high performance crops fed organically it becomes an issue. That which is absorbed into the upper layer will be flushed further down with subsequent waterings and any "flushing" would surely wash the roots and, all important for organic growers, the flora of mycorrhizae below that feed the roots symbiotically with poison. I can wait a day for my feed water, if it only improved my grow by a few percentage points of THC/CBD.Hey guys I'm gonna blow your minds here. Chlorine is a secondary growth element that your plants need.....
I spent about 5 years letting my water all sit for 24-36 and aggitating it to speed the process. Then I read about using chlorine to sterilize hydro systems. I can't remember the brand but there is an actual chlorine product they sell at hydro stores.
So I was still skeptical and figured I would start by giving just my clones city water that had not been de chlorinated..... No issues, so I tried switching my whole hydro system over, and low and behold no issues...
Then I decided to actually try the sterile system by adding a chlorine solution I mixed up. This was designed to ensure no bad shit grew in my system ever. Guess what it works great.
So point being unless you have some sort of ungodly high swimming pool strength chlorine in your water, you don't have to worry about it.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
Dyna Gro adds Chlorine to their nutes.
Backyard dirt
Well-Known Member
I too am leary of these claims of no harm chlorine. I suspect chloride salts are the result of the "filtering" process in the top inch of soil. I get no rain from now until September or October so there is nothing to flush out the salts but more chlorinated water.
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
It has nothing to do with soil. I have been growing in hydro for 10 years and using chlorinated water for the last 6 or so. I actually add more chlorine to run a sterile system. It has no effect on the plants at this low of a dosage. It also dissipates from the water very quickly. In the summer I redose the reservoir about every 3-4 days to keep it nice and sparkly clean.
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rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
exactly. if humans can drink it, plants can too.
Gdub51
Well-Known Member
For the organic outdoor grower it has everything to do with the soil. Chlorine kills mycorrhizae, so does hydrogen pyroxide, so I refrain from HP and dechlorinate with time and using a bubbler speeds up the process. I feed with living tea's so anything that kills these beneficial flora is avoided. I'm concentrating on the soil since, for soil growers, it is the medium that feeds the plant. I suppose if you rely on manufactured chemicals for plant food, they are little effected by the small amount of chlorine. But for organic it is poison. I think of chemical fertilizers like vitamins. One can live healthy without vitamins but you can't survive on them at all and we all know natural vitamin sources are better for us than chemical. We supplement when we can't get enough or don't eat enough of good healthy foods. The very well fed don't need vitamins.
CanadianJim
Well-Known Member
Very high levels of chlorine will kill mycorrhizae, but tap water won't. Least it didn't with the mychorrizae I used for my hot pepper plants for the last 5 years. Every time I emptied the pots into the composter there was a decent root system with masses of hyphae attached.
As for whether rain water is better I tried it, side by side with tap water. Orange habanero pants in pots on a sheltered patio. It made zero difference to anything except my water bill. Southern Ontario water from lake Ontario. Right up there with anything you'll get from lake Michigan, especially with the stricter standards we have here after Walkerton.
That said a rain barrel can save you a bunch of money on your water bill if you live in an area where you'll get enough rain to fill it.
As for whether rain water is better I tried it, side by side with tap water. Orange habanero pants in pots on a sheltered patio. It made zero difference to anything except my water bill. Southern Ontario water from lake Ontario. Right up there with anything you'll get from lake Michigan, especially with the stricter standards we have here after Walkerton.
That said a rain barrel can save you a bunch of money on your water bill if you live in an area where you'll get enough rain to fill it.
Gdub51
Well-Known Member
Rain? what's that? OH yes, I remember now. I used to live in the Chicago area last century. Back then I wondered when it would stop and the sun come out, now we dance outside in it when the rare occurrence happens. Our water comes from the Colorado river and is over 400ppm right out of the tap and is high in chlorine and chloramines. That part is the easiest to correct, having to mix in RO water to get the ppm to a level that young plants can handle gets expensive. At least that's just until they're a month old, but even then, you have to be very judicious about what you add to their water to keep the ppm within something the plant can chew on.
Obepawn
Well-Known Member
I prefer organic growing, so for me, chlorine of any type is a no no.Hey guys I'm gonna blow your minds here. Chlorine is a secondary growth element that your plants need.....
I spent about 5 years letting my water all sit for 24-36 and aggitating it to speed the process. Then I read about using chlorine to sterilize hydro systems. I can't remember the brand but there is an actual chlorine product they sell at hydro stores.
So I was still skeptical and figured I would start by giving just my clones city water that had not been de chlorinated..... No issues, so I tried switching my whole hydro system over, and low and behold no issues...
Then I decided to actually try the sterile system by adding a chlorine solution I mixed up. This was designed to ensure no bad shit grew in my system ever. Guess what it works great
So point being unless you have some sort of ungodly high swimming pool strength chlorine in your water, you don't have to worry about it.
Obepawn
Well-Known Member
Haha, KTEL...telling your age, huh
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xtsho
Well-Known Member
Chlorine, element No. 17 on the Periodic Table of Elements.
The element is used in organic chemistry processes
I used to use Sodium Hypochlorite aka plain old household bleach when I was running flood and drain to prevent root rot. It did that and caused no harm to the plants.
I've been using plain old tap water right out of the tap for years with no ill effects on the plants. I also have a vegetable garden and water straight from the hose. My soil is teeming with worms and microbial life. We even have chloramine in the water where I'm at. These chemicals are in such small amounts and break down fairly rapidly that they cause no problems to plants.
If you want to fiddle and fuss with tubs of water that's fine. I don't. The amount of chlorine in tap water will not kill all the microbes in the soil.
"In one study, researchers continuously applied highly chlorinated water to soil for 126 days. Two days after they stopped, the soil microorganism populations reached pre-treatment levels at all depths of soil."
The element is used in organic chemistry processes
I used to use Sodium Hypochlorite aka plain old household bleach when I was running flood and drain to prevent root rot. It did that and caused no harm to the plants.
I've been using plain old tap water right out of the tap for years with no ill effects on the plants. I also have a vegetable garden and water straight from the hose. My soil is teeming with worms and microbial life. We even have chloramine in the water where I'm at. These chemicals are in such small amounts and break down fairly rapidly that they cause no problems to plants.
If you want to fiddle and fuss with tubs of water that's fine. I don't. The amount of chlorine in tap water will not kill all the microbes in the soil.
"In one study, researchers continuously applied highly chlorinated water to soil for 126 days. Two days after they stopped, the soil microorganism populations reached pre-treatment levels at all depths of soil."