I know that i have seen someone on here say that tap water is a bad idea to use because of chlorine but when it's all thats available(dosent rain here much) besides buying bottled water, what can I do in addition to balancing the PH and letting it sit in buckets for a while to allow some of the chlorine to evaporate..? How long should it sit to allow the chlorine to evaporate??
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water Tap water question
- Thread starter DarkTrak
- Start date
Monitors with interest.........
I heard if you fill up jugs or some containers with tap that they would be good to go after a day......I could also be completely wrong.
+1 24 hours, open container, good to go.
salsalady
Business Member
chlorine is also eliminated by heat.
oxygen and heat.....and SOAP (which is usually not good for PLANTS) also negate bleach/chlorine.
a little tangent here, but in food service environs, you can not pour a bucket of hot water, add some dish soap and a shot of bleach and have a good sanitizing dishrag bucket.
open air/oxygen negates the bleach, heat negates the bleach and SOAP negates the bleach.
Just saying that another option is to put a pot of water on the stove, bring it to a simmer...done deal.....
I do acknowledge that letting a pot of water sit out in the open air is cheaper than boiling water on the stove.
oxygen and heat.....and SOAP (which is usually not good for PLANTS) also negate bleach/chlorine.
a little tangent here, but in food service environs, you can not pour a bucket of hot water, add some dish soap and a shot of bleach and have a good sanitizing dishrag bucket.
open air/oxygen negates the bleach, heat negates the bleach and SOAP negates the bleach.
Just saying that another option is to put a pot of water on the stove, bring it to a simmer...done deal.....
I do acknowledge that letting a pot of water sit out in the open air is cheaper than boiling water on the stove.
As an addendum; not all tap water is good regardless of chlorine. Mine is an example of that; ph 7.68, corrodes everything, destroys plumbing fixtures (faucets, flush valves, etc.). I try to avoid it completely by saving rain water. When that runs out I'll treat it with vinegar and peroxide, but this is not yet a tried alternative, but an idea from some research.
Brita water filter and boiling water are both very viable alternatives however, both have additional costs associated with them. SL if he were prepping food then I would whole heartedly agree with your solution, but we are just talking about water for his plants. IMHO, the easiest thing to do is set the water out with cover off and wait 24. I'm sure there are a multitude of ways to filter, prep, purify, whatever the water but its not like he's using non-potable water here, it's tap water. Just saying. 
i'm also using tap water for my plants, but i let it sit first overnight before i watered my plants especially my orchids. 
I have been watering my plants with tap water ever since I've been growing peppers (and sunflowers) which, to be honest, has really not been that long so far (just a couple years). I have yet to see a water-related problem that wasn't under- or over-watering. I mean, these are peppers we're talking about; if it were some sort of carnivorous plant or something which has much stricter mineral and water additive requirements, then yeah--distilled water or water that has went through reverse osmosis would be the way to go, if no natural rainwater is available. And yes, my water contains chlorine. In fact, with a quick Google search recently I found this interesting info just recently:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CBcQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cityofalliance.com%2FWaterQualityReport.pdf&ei=yDxFTIqrCsK88gbO8PQN&usg=AFQjCNFdLUwdsZfO-zA117Q4LYpCWSIm3Q&sig2=ZhVTlQ30r_F6g0inOQqm0Q
Yep, a PDF describing my city's water for the last few decades, what it's like now, and where the city is seeking to improve in the future. I simply searched for "Alliance, Ohio water quality". Maybe you can find out what your local water contains with a similar search? But really, I don't think pepper plants are that picky if their water contains low amounts of mineral salts and other additives such as chlorine. Whether in the garden or in pots, my plants have definitely had their share of tap water with no directly-resulting ill effects. Hell, apparently my water even contains fluoride to promote human dental health, and the peppers don't seem to care; they're growing great.
On the other hand, I refuse to attempt to water my Venus Flytrap with city water; their soil must be acidic and completely devoid of any nutrients or mineral salts whatsoever in order to avoid damaging (and eventually killing) the plant. But the flytrap is a special case; it really is picky about its soil. Too many nutrients from the soil is deadly... they were evolved to get nutrients from catching prey. In my experience and from what I've read, peppers are nowhere near as picky.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CBcQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cityofalliance.com%2FWaterQualityReport.pdf&ei=yDxFTIqrCsK88gbO8PQN&usg=AFQjCNFdLUwdsZfO-zA117Q4LYpCWSIm3Q&sig2=ZhVTlQ30r_F6g0inOQqm0Q
Yep, a PDF describing my city's water for the last few decades, what it's like now, and where the city is seeking to improve in the future. I simply searched for "Alliance, Ohio water quality". Maybe you can find out what your local water contains with a similar search? But really, I don't think pepper plants are that picky if their water contains low amounts of mineral salts and other additives such as chlorine. Whether in the garden or in pots, my plants have definitely had their share of tap water with no directly-resulting ill effects. Hell, apparently my water even contains fluoride to promote human dental health, and the peppers don't seem to care; they're growing great.
On the other hand, I refuse to attempt to water my Venus Flytrap with city water; their soil must be acidic and completely devoid of any nutrients or mineral salts whatsoever in order to avoid damaging (and eventually killing) the plant. But the flytrap is a special case; it really is picky about its soil. Too many nutrients from the soil is deadly... they were evolved to get nutrients from catching prey. In my experience and from what I've read, peppers are nowhere near as picky.
I've been using straight tap water in all of my hydro systems for years. My plants are rage! NEVER a problem
My life is too busy to pretreat water for growing. I couldn't think of a more aggravating thing to do right now. Lawns and landscapes are irrigated with tap water every day
My life is too busy to pretreat water for growing. I couldn't think of a more aggravating thing to do right now. Lawns and landscapes are irrigated with tap water every day