Garden Hose Filter

[Barb_FL]

Does anyone use a Garden Hose Filter for their outside tomatoes?

Our county added more chlorine to the water and it is so obvious although at different times of the day it is more noticeable.

All season I have been filling huge containers and now also multiple Home Depot buckets with water and having the chlorine dissipate overnight before I need to use it. This week our nights got into the 40s so the water seemed too cold to use. The first cold day I attached a new RV Filter but it didn't last long (<100 gallons) before the chlorine was noticeable again.

I'm thinking of getting either a Boogie Blue Plus + ($57) for 45K gallons of water

or a Grow Rite Garden Hose Filter ($49) or 40K gallons and I can get locally and support small business.

Both take out Chlorine and Chloramine as well as other metals.

Please respond if you have use either of these or if there is another option.

Thank you
Barb

[pepperhead212]

My first thought, before I saw that the filters didn't last long, was that they wouldn't last long! Considering the large amount of water that goes through the hoses, to water plants, I even wonder how long the 45k filter would work. I have a 40k filter for my kitchen water, but only to switch on when I want it, and it has been effective for 3 years - no idea how much I have actually put through it, and it is slowing down, but still no chlorine noticeable at all (the chlorine in my water isn't super high, like some areas, but still noticeable). But watering the garden probably uses more in a week than goes through that in a year. You'll have to figure out how much you use per watering, to see how often you'll need to replace the filter. And maybe do an experiment, with some filtered and some unfiltered water, and see if it really makes a difference?

I don't worry about the chlorine in the plant water, since it is going into the ground, with my drip system, not on the leaves, and most is probably neutralized, before it contacts the roots. I do use it when making biological sprays - Bt, Actinovate, etc. - when chlorine would kill the bacteria. But that's the only time.

[Cole_Robbie]

You could just make your own filter. There's no pressure to get it perfect, because it is not water for human consumption. If you buy a filter, you can also probably refill it with your own activated carbon when it quits by drilling a hole to shake it out, then patch the hole somehow like with jb weld.


https://homesteadsurvivalsite.com/make- ... -charcoal/

[Barb_FL]

Thanks for the responses. With our current temperatures, plants aren't taking a lot of water so <100 gallons a day - closer to 50-75 gallons so a 40K+ gallon filter should last a full season even with warmer weather. We don't grow anything after June.

The city normally treats drinking water with chloramine, a combination of chlorine and ammonia. During the upcoming change, free chlorine — without any ammonia — will be used. This disinfecting process was also used in 2009 and 2015.To eliminate the taste or smell of chlorine, Melbourne officials advise residents to pour tap water into a container and place it in a refrigerator for a few hours. Boiling water will also remove chlorine.

The change in chlorine is only effective until sometime in February   The chloramine is more stable than chlorine and does not dissipate easily, so for the higher chlorine just filling the buckets and letting them sit looks to be good enough.

Also, learned that for the chloramine, the filter would need to remove the ammonia once the chlorine and ammonia were separated.   If the filter just decoupled the chlorine and ammonia but didn't remove the ammonia,  then it is worthless for gardening applications. Still researching this.

--
Cole-Robbie - Making the filter as described was way above my gardening pay grade.

[slugworth]

I store the water in open barrels mixed with rain water when possible
then I water the plants

[worth1]

The whole make your own activated charcoal is a little over the top even for me.

[pepperhead212]

The small amount of ammonia left from the chloramine may actually benefit the plants.

[MissS]

Ammonia breaks down and becomes soluble nitrogen. Something that your plants can use. Our city uses chloramine these days. I use the water right out of the tap with no noticeable changes in the plants. I also have fish tanks. Fish are far more susceptible to chlorine and chloramine. If doing more than a 50% water change then you need to allow the chemicals to dissipate or use chemicals that will neutralize them or they will kill the fish. Not so with plants, so I wouldn't fuss about it too much.

[Shule]

If chlorine is the only concern, you might like this:
https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/html/052 ... 31301.html

It's about the effects of ascorbic acid and citric acid on chlorine.

Nuts.com is a decent place to get ascorbic acid powder and citric acid powder.

I'm not sure if this all works with chloramine.

Also, boiling water removes chlorine taste, whether or not it removes the chemicals.

[Shule]

I've tested filtered water on newly transplanted tomatoes vs. tap water. The ones with filtered water (Brita or else the Walmart brand of the same) grew faster and looked perkier (kind of like they do with rainwater).

[zeuspaul]

Vitamin C also works on chloramine.

If chlorine is the only concern, you might like this:
https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/html/052 ... 31301.html

It's about the effects of ascorbic acid and citric acid on chlorine.

Nuts.com is a decent place to get ascorbic acid powder and citric acid powder. The citric acid dissolves in water more easily.

I'm not sure if this all works with chloramine.

Also, boiling water removes chlorine taste, whether or not it removes the chemicals.

[karstopography]

One teaspoon of humic acid (liquid form of humate) can neutralize the chloramines in 100 gallons of water depending on the exact concentration.

Humic acid runs about $15 per quart.

[Cole_Robbie]

One teaspoon of humic acid (liquid form of humate) can neutralize the chloramines in 100 gallons of water depending on the exact concentration.

Humic acid runs about $15 per quart.

That's neat. It looks just like carbon, too. I still have some I ordered from kelp4less.