anybody have experience with highly chlorinated water?

[bobsakamoto]

hello everybody. i'm still planning/setting up my first grow and one of my bigger little worries is how much chlorine is in my tap water. like you can smell it clearly-- not as bad as a swimming pool but clear, identifiable strong chlorine smell. up until now, i've always used a brita pitcher to make it taste ok but i wanted to get input on whether i need to purify my plant's water more than that given my particular situation.

that is, it would be dumb to spend all this time, money, and effort on lighting, nutrients, seeds, etc., only to undo all of that with funky water.

[LuckyAcres]

What's the ph like?

[r3m1]

i let water sit for 3 days already ( but i cant smell mine) but i suggest a chlorine filter then, they are about 100 bucks but worth it in the end, could always get a ro system as well but an ro will pull all particles out of the water where the chlorine will just pull that out only.

[Weed Pharma]

I use heavily chlorinated tap water- and use a Brita without issue. Simply filter the water you need the night before so it ends up room temperature.

If that didn't work for me , I would get a zero water drinking purification product-"the only filtered water to measure 000 PPM (parts per million) on the TDS meter."- inexpensive and has a 23 cup version with spigot if you don't want to use a pitcher style.

https://www.amazon.com/ZeroWater-Dis.../dp/B003QXM3U8

[Bad Voodoo]

Chlorine destroys the cells of a plant structure. Like, something to do with osmosis or something similar. You don't really want water with an amount of chlorine that detectable by smelling it and stuff.

[bobsakamoto]

you all are so helpful!!

lucky, i will test soon and post.

r3 % weedPharma, i had read about how ZeroWater and RO systems remove almost everything and i knew that was no good bc it removes all the helpful stuff. and i read about letting it sit. what i didn't know was if there was a "middle" option. that is, something to remove only chlorine. so in light of your help i'm gonna look into dechlorinators specifically.

since i posted, i found this very, very helpful link. they have some good info on there about water purification in general and what is and isn't backed up by independent testing for each brand of regular home/personal water filters.

http://thesweethome.com/reviews/best-water-filter-pitcher/

after reading yours and voodoo's answers, i think what i'm gonna do is stick with the Brita for now, update to the Pur soon, and experiment with letting it sit and aerating it.

thank you all.

[Weed Pharma]

Brita removes all detectable chlorine and reduces nutrients- very slightly.

[Weed Pharma]

I just checked:
- from the tap 38ppm with chlorine smell.
-after using the Brita 34ppm and no chlorine smell.

[r3m1]

here is the link from htg supply perfect product and has been tested by the company for results. http://www.htgsupply.com/products/ch...natcher-filter

[bobsakamoto]

hi lucky. the ph of the Brita water is 7.28

for anyone else who may be interested, i did some more research and here's what i found.

the Hydrologic dechlorinator brand was recommended so i compared their 2 units to a large 11-cup Pur pitcher.

the initial cost per gal for a Hydrologic smallboy is .0267 cents, for a small boy w/KDF filter is .017 cents, and for the Pur pitcher, .725 cents.

the ongoing/per respective filter cost for each is .0066, .0058, and .2. given those savings, my next purchase is gonna be a the hydro logic small boy w/KDF.

thanks again.

[LuckyAcres]

I do soil and coco but I think your ph us bit high, around 6 is best I believe for dwc. Off ph would keep plants from absorbing nutes and water properly. Fix that first with your next round with some ph down or whatever you hydros do

[bobsakamoto]

i'm a newbie, haven't done anything yet. thanks for confirming my ph is high. i'm planning on soil, btw.

[LuckyAcres]

Sorry about that, mixed up another post!

[Flockshot]

Use a activated charcoal filter. Mine is marketed by the Boogie Brew compost tea people..

[Green75]

just fill a five gallon container with said water and let sit with no lid for a couple days. The chlorine will dissipate...just like in a pool...no worries

[kingfish]

Ever tried Zip drops ? The kind you put in aquariums. ! drop per gallon.

[9fingerleafs]

If you let sit for over 24 and it hasn't evaporated then is not chlorine its chloramine. Its a whole other chemical that only can be removed with chemicals or filters. Could I recommend bottled water? In my country I buy 20liter (5galon) jugs of water for 1.5 usdl. And its only 15ppm

[bobsakamoto]

thanks to you all. i think i'm gonna just get a dechlorinator because it's always bugged me how much chlorine is in my water and the prices seem to have come down a lot.

[9fingerleafs]

Are you sure is not chloramine? Cause you may waste your money if it isn't chlorine. Its a way better choice to buy a RO filter

[DW2]

Bobsakamoto, I an on my fifth grow and have used nothing but the city water. The water out of the tap measures from 7.25 to 7.50 pH (but no chlorine smell). A small amount of chlorine can help keep malicious organisms at bay, but too much can hurt the plants. Just let your water sit out uncovered like Green75 suggested. I really think that one can over do it with R/O, special filters, and such. I find that the dissolved solids in the tap water (our water has a lot of calcium and lime in it, very hard water) help provide some of the 'micro' nutrients that the plants need, as well as the added oxygen in the water from the aerator on the faucet.
Good luck with your endevors

[bobsakamoto]

thank you, 9. i think what i'm gonna do is let a big bucket sit for a couple days and see if it still reeks and if it does then i'll know it's chloramine. i don't want RO for all of the reasons you all mentioned.

thank you again, GWE peeps--you all are always so knowledgeable and helpful.