chlorinated tap water for plants

i dont know why some growers and mostly some new growers are obsessed with chlorine levels in tap water. chlorine in tap water is at most like 2ppm. which would not even penetrate into a cm of soil.

i water all my outdoor plants with tap water and they all live happy. the reproduction rate of microorganisms is so rapid that the population will bounce back to normal in 12-24hrs.

well anyway here are some links and if you have any additions or objections feel free to speak up.

Not harmful to plants but chloramine and fluoride can kill off the microbes that make up a living soil. Outdoors you have soil microbes that reach deep but in a container indoors it’s not always easy to maintain a high level of microbial activity; especially if you do not have a worm bin to provide fresh compost.
I give my plants water reclaimed from a dehumidifier; been doing this for over a decade now. I do give tap water every so often if needed in super dry months but it is filtered. It’s about 130 ppm straight from the tap and around 80 ppm after filtration. I probably could get by using it but I haven’t had a single absorption issue since switching to using reclaimed dehumidifier water back in 2010.

i am using distilled water from dehum too but thats not the point. chlorine and even chloramine does not affect plant growth and as for soil microbes 2ppm of residual chlorine from tap water is nothing imo. it doesnt even sanitize your hands when you wash them without soap

also if talking about established colonies all i can say is most of our homemade mixes are probably as rich as or richer in microbe count and diversity than all clay or sand heavy outdoor soils.

so i dont think anyone should really be worried about chlorine in their tap. i mean too much bicarbonates or calcium and shit in your tap is infinitely more concerning than chlorine.

A small amount of vitamin C powder takes care of Chlorine/Chloramine very quickly. I don't think it's harmful enough to cause any noticeable differences in plants, but the cost of ascorbic acid is negligible for me and it's a part of my routine now (plus, there are benefits for plants too-they seem to love organic acids). I use it to dechlorinate bath water and water for my turtles too, it's kind of awesome.

you can also boil to get rid of it and i understand for consumption purposes because chlorinated water i guess is linked to bladder cancer and stuff but really for plants its just an extra step you dont need. if it makes you feel better sure do it but is it necessary? imo no.

chlorinated water has some benefits too chlorine is also used by plants. also some dead microbes is good because they will release the nutrients stored in their bodies, also some chlorine may kill the pathogenic fungi on top soil etc. so to each their own but imo its really ok to just use straight out of tap.

Just curious why you use dehum reclaim then instead of tap? not arguing either way, I use tap but I am curious

Rurumo said:

A small amount of vitamin C powder takes care of Chlorine/Chloramine very quickly. I don't think it's harmful enough to cause any noticeable differences in plants, but the cost of ascorbic acid is negligible for me and it's a part of my routine now (plus, there are benefits for plants too-they seem to love organic acids). I use it to dechlorinate bath water and water for my turtles too, it's kind of awesome.

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Ascorbic acid works well as ph down.
Alaska brand used to sell granules but many sources available.

ALPHA.GanjaGuy said:

Just curious why you use dehum reclaim then instead of tap? not arguing either way, I use tap but I am curious

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because its just there. i dont have a drain in my grow room so i collect it in a tank and instead of pouring it down the drain i just pour it into my pots. no other reason. i used to use tap too when i had smaller dehum or when i had blumats connected to a faucet. no difference.

I think it's for the same reason that people get overly-concerned about light spectrum. In my experience, many different kinds of lights and spectrums will grow plants....And plants will grow with different water qualities, too. But why not err on the side of providing water with less chlorine in it? All it takes is to leave the water sitting out for several hours and the chlorine will dissipate. I use one of those in-line outdoor garden water filters that's supposed to remove a bunch of stuff from the water . I don't know if it makes a difference, but it hasn't hurt anything, either.

Chlorinated\cloriminated tap water can however kill off the beneficial nitrogen fixing bacteria in aquarium media/filters, and can throw off the cycle if you add too much, making the water turn green until it has time to recolonize again.. I know i'm talking about aquatic animal & fish habitat, etc..

I can't help but think it also wrecks many of the kinds of good microbes in soil that help the plants too. I always let the water gas off for awhile, if dealing with any organic mediums of any kind.

tstick said:

But why not err on the side of providing water with less chlorine in it? All it takes is to leave the water sitting out for several hours and the chlorine will dissipate.

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This is true for Chlorine but not Chloramine;

"Chloramine stays in the water for a longer period of time than chlorine, so you cannot just let the water set out for 48 hours to remove it. Boiling the water doesn't work either."

tstick said:

I think it's for the same reason that people get overly-concerned about light spectrum. In my experience, many different kinds of lights and spectrums will grow plants....And plants will grow with different water qualities, too. But why not err on the side of providing water with less chlorine in it? All it takes is to leave the water sitting out for several hours and the chlorine will dissipate. I use one of those in-line outdoor garden water filters that's supposed to remove a bunch of stuff from the water . I don't know if it makes a difference, but it hasn't hurt anything, either.

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you can do whatever you want its your call ofc and it will not hurt anything but also the residual chlorine will not hurt anything either so either way.

i personally wouldnt worry about it at all. and the science supports it. oh just for fun i should experiment on this.

Drop That Sound said:

Chlorinated\cloriminated tap water can however kill off the beneficial nitrogen fixing bacteria in aquarium media/filters, and can throw off the cycle if you add too much, making the water turn green until it has time to recolonize again.. I know i'm talking about aquatic animal & fish habitat, etc..

I can't help but think it also wrecks many of the kinds of good microbes in soil that help the plants too. I always let the water gas off for awhile, if dealing with any organic mediums of any kind.

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its good if you want to but soil is different than aquatic environments. most chlorine as i read binds with the top layer of soil so it doesnt even move past the first half inch or something.

i mean they tested it with 5ppm chlorine which most tap water has 2ppm at most. most has even less around .5-1ppm. so its really an extremely long shot that this much chlorine can actually cause noticeable damage.

i dont want to say impossible because you can take a hose and just keep running water for days through your medium and it will hurt your microbial colonies for sure haha

Some products I've used to get rid of cloramines over the years. I've added to the water I used before brewing compost teas. Also tried in DWC just to see what happens. My tap does have cloramines, which i've actually found to be very beneficial to growing hydroponically.

-only kind I know that's safe for lunged animals, not that it matters I guess if using for plants.



I got some of this mistakenly years ago, before I learned that it's only safe for gilled creatures like fish..

A few drops and all the chlorine and cloramines are gone.

Are chloramines a new thing they started putting in the water? The reason I ask is because I've always used tap water in the past without any problem and never heard of chloramine. I know it's there now....but why? Is chlorine not enough of a disinfectant by itself? What does chloramine actually do? What is its function as a water additive?

The other thing is: Do the plants absorb these chemicals and then those chemicals are eventually transferred into the smoke and into our lungs? I'm seriously asking. I have no idea what's actually in regular, old tap water, anymore. I guess that's a reason why I try to at least filter it a bit before using it.

tstick said:

Are chloramines a new thing they started putting in the water? The reason I ask is because I've always used tap water in the past without any problem and never heard of chloramine. I know it's there now....but why? Is chlorine not enough of a disinfectant by itself? What does chloramine actually do? What is its function as a water additive?

The other thing is: Do the plants absorb these chemicals and then those chemicals are eventually transferred into the smoke and into our lungs? I'm seriously asking. I have no idea what's actually in regular, old tap water, anymore. I guess that's a reason why I try to at least filter it a bit before using it.

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I wonder about a lot of these questions you are asking as well…

Chloramine isn't as strong, but it sticks around way longer. Chlorine is more gaseous and is used up quicker, and dissipates much faster.

The CDC say's; "Sometimes there is not enough chlorine left to kill germs in the water by the time it reaches the end of the pipes. Chloramine can last longer in the water pipes and produces fewer disinfection by-products."

They say it produces less toxic byproducts anyway.. Who really knows?

Drop That Sound said:

Some products I've used to get rid of cloramines over the years. I've added to the water I used before brewing compost teas. Also tried in DWC just to see what happens. My tap does have cloramines, which i've actually found to be very beneficial to growing hydroponically.

View attachment 5249604-only kind I know that's safe for lunged animals, not that it matters I guess if using for plants.


View attachment 5249605
View attachment 5249606I got some of this mistakenly years ago, before I learned that it's only safe for gilled creatures like fish..

A few drops and all the chlorine and cloramines are gone.

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i mean man they look like they contain some mysterious agent for chlorine removal (big fucking trade secret haha) but we dont know what it is and the reptile one has synthetic organic polymers (whatever the hell they are) and chelating agents which both dont sound very organic to my ears.