Hello everyone. I’m going to be moving to a new (to me) home that has municipal water. How bad is it for watering and what are some treatment options and approximate costs associated with them. Thanks.
Get you some pH up/down. It will allow you to modify the pH to what you need.
Have you tested the ph and ppm of your water? You can also get an RV water filter that goes on your hose to help take out chlorine and other nasty stuff
I think ph adjustment is the least of my worries. It’s the chlorine and whatever else is in there.
I haven’t yet. Not moving until January. But yes, will probably send a sample out for a full work up.
I’ve used the chlorine neutralizer stuff for my lizards when I don’t have time or forget to let the jugs breathe. No ill effects at all. Ph up and down takes care of the ph stuff and just math out the ppm when mixing your feeds.
Ive read just to fill your containers that you gona use and let them off gas for 24 to 48 hrs also to rid it off chlorine
Check with your city / towns website. They usually have water analysis reports on it. I use my tap water to water my plants with no issues. Comes out 7.0ph, 120-135ppm.
Water analysis will break down what is actually inside it.
example -
As for treatment the only thing i do is let the water sit in a bucket for 24hrs to let the chlorine evaporate. Then ill water. I dont bother with adjusting PH. I grow organically.
My water also has chlormine in it and it doesn’t air off. That’s why I use the RV filter.
I have used my tap water source exclusively with a PH of 7.1 and TDS of 130. I also don’t gas the water off but knowing your water source PH and TDS is the starting point. Boogie Blue makes a nice filter and removes around 95% of the chlorine
I use tap. I do have a 50 gal trough that i circulate through a filter with no charcoal to catch any debris.
Tap water is fine for the plants. Most tap water has a high pH (above 7.0) and this might need to be brought down when using liquid fertilizers. Water companies artificially buffer the pH so the chlorine/ chloramine lasts longer.
A small amount of chlorine or chloramine won’t harm the plants and if you are concerned, you can let chlorine come out by aerating the water or leaving it open to the air for a few days. Sunlight (as mentioned by others) will neutralize chlorine faster than just letting it air. Chloramine is a mixture of chlorine & ammonia doesn’t come out of water easily. You can buy a dechlorinater from any pet shop. These are used to neutralize chlorine/ chloramine in tap water so it’s safe for fish. I have never bothered about the chlorine in tap water and it won’t affect the plants.
Some tap water has a lot of minerals in and this is usually calcium and magnesium, which the plants can use. Other sources of tap water don’t have any or many minerals in and you might need to add calcium and magnesium to prevent deficiencies in the plant.
Some water has small amounts of harmful chemicals in from firefighting foam, pesticide, herbicide, etc. Plants normally store these chemicals in their roots but birds, fish, reptiles, people and animals don’t. If you have these types of chemicals in the water, then using a water filter that removes them would be a good idea for you and your family and pets. To find out exactly what is in the water, contact your water company via their website and look for a water analysis report and download it. If you don’t understand it, post a copy on here and we can go through it with you.
Thank you. I really appreciate your thoughtful response. I did order an ro system for drinking water. I will be obtaining the water analysis from the water company and going through it. Thanks again.
I’ve been using my tap water to water my cannabis plants with for 2 years now and I’ve never had an issue with it. I’ve been watering my outdoor plants with my tap water also for many years and never had an issue. I don’t even gas off the chlorine anymore.
My tap is at a 7.8 pH and fluctuates between 150-180 PPMs.
Anything below 200 PPM is considered very clean tap water. 200 and above, you might want to think about using a filter or some other source of water.