Question about water

[Jburner8011]

We have city water where I live. It has chlorine in it . I use spring water to water my plants. The water out of the bottle consistently measures at a 6.5 PH. And I have had really good results using it. I recently upsized my grow space and have a couple/ few more plants than I used to and buying bottles of water is getting expensive. So I ordered a water filter that fits on the end of a garden hose . Not an RO system . It uses carbon to filter the water . I was psyched to set it up today. Went and got a brand new hose and flushed water through it for a good 20 minutes then attached the filter as per instructions. I figured I could use it to water all my veggie/ flowers as well. So I filled a bucket and was going to water my indoor plants. Decided to check the PH. In the past I have tested our water and it comes out like 6.8-7. An acceptable range for soil. When I tested the water that came out of the new filter it was so blue green it was off the chart! At least a PH of 10 or above ! I’m glad I checked . PH that high has got to be downright toxic ! I was thinking maybe the new garden hose messed with the Ph , but I ran water through it for almost a half hour.. If it was a couple points off I would just use some ph down or apple cider vinegar to lower it . But Ph of 10 sounds like a project to fix. So how to move forward? I could just fill up a bucket of our tap water and let it sit out for 24 -36 hours till the chlorine gasses off, then adjust the ph. But lugging all those buckets around is getting old. That’s how we grow our veggies outside organicaly. And filling up several buckets, waiting for them to sit out takes up space and time . Any suggestions on a water filter that will filter out the chlorine and any other nasty stuff out . I didn’t really want to go the RO route . It’s expensive and I don’t want to have to add minerals . back into the water if I don’t have to. Anyone have any suggestions? Tomorrow’s going to be a watering day so I guess I’ll be going to the store to pick up more spring water but moving forward I would like to find a cheaper solution. I’ll keep an eye out for any suggestions. Thanks guys. I have learned a lot from all the tutorials on here, and from the pictures I see posted there’s a lot of very skilled growers lurking on here. Hope to hear back from a couple

 

[DCLXVI]

I feel that on the price of bottled water. I was using gallon jugs of distilled or purified drinking water from the store and cutting my tap water with it 50/50. I noticed the price go from 0.70/gallon to a current $1.30 since the first of the year. Cost wise I am just going to invest in a small RO system. Have you got an EC/ppm tester? I would check the source tap water and the water after being filtered. Just to see how much "stuff" is in it. A basic meter won't say what is dissolved in the water but would be a nice way to check that the filter is doing something besides messing with the pH.

Are you looking to grow in full organic soil with a water only approach?

 

[Jburner8011]

That’s how I’ve been doing it. Usually I have to top dress about halfway through but otherwise just water and the occasional compost tea. InwS really hoping that filter was gonna work out. Between my indoor plants , my veggie garden and a couple of photoperiods I’m doing outside it’s going to be a pain filling all those buckets of water waiting for the chlorine to gas off . I did look at the website for the town I live to see if there was any info on our water. They didn’t have much. It comes out of a big lake with no boat motors or human activity on it. The fish live well in itand my veggie garden / flowers all did really well last year using it. I’m just trying to do everything as natural as I can. It really makes a difference in the flavors/ smells on my vegetables AND medicinal herbs. I’ve been reading a lot about the soil food web lately . The future is looking kind of grim .And most people are just too occupied with daily survival now to care or have time to do anything about it. but I’m trying to do my small part to help by not pouring chemicals all over everything. No I don’t have a ppm meter,but I should get one. I had a blue labs Ph pen for a while but it wore out after about a year. I’ve just been testing Ph with the drops. A lot of guys don’t even bother checking PH in organics but I’ve seen enough suffering plants to keep an eye on it now.

 

[DCLXVI]

I know you don't want to go with a full RO system but perhaps something like the CR Spotless system might work for you. It's for removing mineral from water for car washing. Might not pull out everything but have a nice reduction.

For chlorine you may have to find a chlorine specific filter it just let it rest. I used to cycle my tap water in a 5 gal bucket with an aquarium pump. We have chloramines here so needed to address that as well.

It might be worth sending your water out for a professional testing to see what is actually in it. Would help chase down the right filter or methods

 

[Eyes on Fire]

bit late to the party as per usual. But if its just chlorine and not chloramines too. and the PH from the most commonly used tap i the house.you can get natural fixes to swing a PH in a 5 gallon bucket and bubble it for 24 or 36 hrs and checking and building the PH as you go.and TeaLabs does have a tablet or did at one time to eliminate Chloramines in essentially the same way adding said tablet.bubble in large whatever,5 gallon bucket or for 24-36 hrs testing n things. happy harvesting.

 

[KIS]

Get your water tested to see what the alkalinity is. That's a more important metric than pH. And for watering, I wouldn't worry about a small amount of chlorine or chloramines. You can complex them with any organic matter (handful of soil, old shoe, etc...) or ascorbic acid is a common one too (vitamin c).