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rj_hythloday

Has any one used one of these chlorine filters for the hose?

rj_hythloday
15 years ago

I have rain barrels for watering the garden, but I want to use the hose for watering the lawn, and a hose end sprayer for application of beneficials and teas. Any comments or links to others you may have or would recommend would be greatly appreciated by my
BiM
.

These are the ones I have found:


I've found this one for $36 available several places, it makes no claim as to how much chlorine it removes, but does say it's a 5micron filter good for 7,500 to 10,000 gallons.


This one says it removes 85% of chlorine and cost upwards of $50. Good for 20,000 to 40,000 gallons.


{{gwi:263097}}


This one is good for 30,000 gallons and removes 85%-90%

of chlorine and also chloramine. But it does say not for use w/ ponds.


{{gwi:263098}}

Comments (31)

  • Kimmsr
    15 years ago

    People have been watering their lawns and gardens with chlorinated water for many years with no problems, there is no really good reason to start now to try and remove that disinfectant.

  • pennymca
    15 years ago

    No, but thanks so much for posting these. Are these only puchasable online or have you found any in any of the big box stores?

    Bruce Deuley speaks of using hose end sprayers and compost tea as being compatible, even without a chlorine filter, because of the sheer number of BIM that will make it to the soil in spite of cholorinated water.

    He also talks about using an Evenflo fertilizing system with a hose and sprinkler with wheels. (This is also mentioned in the Teaming with Microbes book.)

    http://www.dripdepot.com/fertigation-fertilizer-injectors.html?id=L4DKVJMS

    I know that some of the drip depot things come with chlorine filters but yours look more substantial. Again, thanks for posting these.

    Have you seen the thread on Bug Juice? Lots of links to do with compost teas, beneficial Bug Juice, and the videos.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Bug Juice thread

  • pennymca
    15 years ago

    Kimmsr,

    You're right...we've all been doing it for years.

    However, my BIL and I noticed an interesting thing last year when we planted tomatoes around the same time. When we watered with the hose, we both got yellowing leaves from the bottom up. He got some AquaSafe to try with handwatering another tomato plant and the plant was much happier. Plus the growth of the plants was just slower when we both just used hose water. After a good rain, everything perked up and took off.

    Neither of us was paying much attention to BIM at the time, I had done a lasagna bed which was doing SOME composting of the materials but not a ton. He was planting in containers with sterile potting soil and adding tomato fertilizer. Neither of us had "grown" our own compost at the time, either.

    We are both playing with adjusting our growing conditions, bIM, compost teas, etc. this year so adding a chlorine filter might be of added benefit.

    I know this sounds like I'm contradicting what I said above but am more into the "experimenting" in the garden this year so I want to do several kinds of tests.

  • rj_hythloday
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Yep, good thread. I've also enjoyed the ''why I love the internet''. I made teas a few times last year for foliar feed, and plan to start w/ soil drenches in a month or so when the soil warms up.

    I haven't seen any of these in the box stores but haven't looked other than the kitchen tap filter I got at wally world a few weeks ago.

  • wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
    15 years ago

    This is on a tangent of the original post. Showering in chlorine hot water can give a person a lot of chlorine absorbsion through the skin...a lot more than drinking the water.....not good.
    I bought one of those inline cartridges for the shower for my daughter several years ago. I have no feedback from that.

  • joepyeweed
    15 years ago

    Though people have been watering with chlorinated water for years, the use of chloramine as a disinfectant hasn't been very prevalent until the last several years.

    Before I spent money on a filter I would find out what type of disinfection my public water supply is using. Chlorine dissipates rapidly and doesn't need to be filtered out. Chloramine on the other hand doesn't dissipate a squickly and you might want a filter if your PWS is disinfecting with it...

  • robertz6
    15 years ago

    I only worry about chlorine in tap water when I plant seeds and make compost tea. If I have no rainwater, I set tap water outside in a 5 gallon or larger container. Two or three days outside will reduce the residual chlorine from 2.0 to 3.0 ppm, down to less than measurable levels. Inside, it takes a bit longer, three or four days.

  • Michael
    15 years ago

    As a water system manager, i can say definitively that your state regulates how much "free chlorine" is required in any point of the distribution system. The USEPA allows a maximum limit of 4.0 ppm free chlorine. The differences between states is anywhere from 0.0 ppm in NE to somewhere below 4.0 for the others. Having worked in commercial greenhouses for many years, I never saw any problems with chlorine including on plants under mist systems. I don't recall any literature pointing out particular vegetable sensitivities to chlorine. That is not to say there aren't any. robertz6 makes a good point about ridding water of any free chlorine if you wanted to use it for making a tea or anything else. Joepyeweed also makes a very good point about the disinfectant source used by your PWS (public water system).

  • rj_hythloday
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I did the same last year, set out my 6 gal garbage can for a day before making tea. And I have the rain barrels this year. My main purpose is for the hose end sprayer to deliver the tea.

  • maifleur01
    15 years ago

    Lots of questions to ask about this type of product. Does the filter keep the clorine or is it disbursed gradually as gass. How do you dispose of it? garbage can or hazardous waste dump. Do they have counters or are you just suppose to guess, use water bill, to find out how many gallons have gone thru the unit.

  • tclynx
    15 years ago

    It is important to figure out which type of treatment the water company uses since chloramine seems to be so much more effective at killing microbes and it doesn't go away by letting the water age.

    I can't really help about the filter as I'm now using well water.

    Perhaps an option if you find the filters restrict water flow to much for hose spraying to work, you might be able to get a small pump that could give you enough pressure from say a rain barrel to do some quick spraying?

  • rj_hythloday
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I like that idea, a pump for the rain barrels, hmmmmm....

  • rj_hythloday
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I checked the website for my local water utility and it says they are using chloramines.

    Do chloramines affect fish?

    Yes, just like chlorine, chloramines must be removed from the water. See your local pet supplier.

    Can I let water sit for a few days like I do with chlorinated water before adding to my fish tank or pond?

    No. Unlike chlorine, which dissipates when water sits for a few days, chloramines may take weeks to disappear. If you donÂt want to use a dechloraminating chemical, the next best solution is to install a granular activated carbon filter and allow sufficient contact time. Please talk with your pet supply representative.

    That really makes me wonder, we have a beta living w/ a peace lily. I have always changed the water and poured it into my compost pile and rinsed and refilled w/ a gallon that I leave sitting for at least a day usually more but not always and it's been fine. While I was gone for a month the wife did it w/ straight tap water and it died the next day, she replaced it while the kids were at school.

  • rnewste
    15 years ago

    Does anyone have any experiences (good or bad) with filtering the water for tomato plants? I recall reading somewhere that Chlorine in municipal water systems can have a negative effect on plant health. One would also think Chlorine and other chemistries in city water would negatively impact tomato taste as well.

    I am going to integrate this Filter into my AWS system this year to see if filtering out all this stuff (or much of it) can improve plant health and tomato taste:

    {{gwi:263100}}

    This was on the Santa Clara Water District site:

    ""Chlorinous
    During the treatment process, chlorine is added to water as a disinfectant. Before the water leaves the treatment plant, ammonia is added to form chloramines to keep the water disinfected while it is distributed to homes and businesses. Chloramines may impart a chlorinous, or medicinal, taste or odor to your drinking water. Chloramines, rather than chlorine, are used to maintain a disinfectant residual because they are more stable, form fewer disinfection by-products, and tend to produce less offensive tastes and odors.""

    So, I am concluding that chlorine never makes it to my house, but the chloramines do. Then the question becomes: Will any of these filters trap the chloramines - - or are they ineffective for this.

    Ray

  • rj_hythloday
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    The most expensive of the three I linked does make claim to removing chloramine. From the Utility water site I quoted above all that is needed is active carbon and enough time over the filter to work. From the wiki ''NH2Cl is prepared by the chemical reaction between ammonia and
    hypochlorous acid
    under mildly alkaline conditions:''

    So it's the addition of ammonia to the already chlorinated water.

    When I lived in UT we had Weber water for watering yards and gardens etc. You had a seperate spigot on the house for washing the car. I thought it was great when I was a kid, my dad had a blast pipe next to the sprinkler main to flush the system before turning the sprinklers on(keep them from clogging). Every once in a while a gold fish would come flying out and land halfway across the yard.

  • rnewste
    15 years ago

    For the above Watts filter in my post:

    The "active ingredients" in this filter are not listed on the Watts website. Here is the description they give for the filter:

    5 Year / 20,000 Gal Ice Maker Filter
    Clean, Clear, Great Tasting Water. This NSF certified product is the perfect filter for residential and commercial ice makers.This filter will reduce chlorine taste and odors, as well as lime scale build-up. Filter contains a "bacteriostatic" media that inhibits bacteria growth. Longest lasting certified bacteriostatic filter on the market.

    In addition, there is an instruction on the filter that reads: "Run water through for 15 minutes before first use to flush loose carbon particles". I take this to imply that the filter does indeed contain charcoal as a filtering agent, in addition to the fiberous filter materials.

    I have emailed the Company requesting both the composition of this particular filter, as well as effectiveness of it filtering out chloramine.

    Raybo

  • rj_hythloday
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Yep, sounds like it does. I had an inline filter on my ice maker a few years back and the first few batches of ice were black. Didn't have water in the door to flush it out, and the maintenance guy just threw it on there.

  • joepyeweed
    15 years ago

    Any filter that will trap chlorine, will also trap Chloramines. Chloramine filters out easily, it just doesn't evaporate out (like free chlorine does).

  • elphaba_gw
    15 years ago

    The landscaping class I took years ago (that I've mentioned here a couple of times) was taught by a guy that had been fairly successful in his landscaping business but was retiring. He had an interesting comment that really made me think.

    He said "roses will survive and grow if you water them with tap water [that is chlorinated] but they won't thrive". I'm interpreting "thrive" here to have a connotation of "optimum" that "survive" and "grow" don't have. I thought to myself, what about humans?

    Thanks for posting about the filters. I'm gonna look into that as well. Keep us posted if you decide one is a lot better than another.

  • rj_hythloday
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    dchall_san_antonio

    Could you list what parts you used?

    I was at lowes today and was looking in the pvc parts for something I could put together. A 4'' canister and caps w/ hose threads. I didn't find any thing at all like it.

  • lehua49
    15 years ago

    Howzit Y'all,

    Interesting thread. I was debating what I could contribute that hasn't already been said. I will give it a go. Treated water is expensive. To use it more than what is absolutely needed is wasteful. The filter in your refrigerator cost $50 bucks a pop to replace every 6 months if your lucky, then the water doesn't flow as well if you don't. Almost all filtered water will be similar (except osmosis systems). The cartridges are a combination of filtering particle size and activated charcoal to absorb smells by chemically absorbing the the ions from the offensive additives. Activated charcoal sand filters are used by large unchlorinated water treatment plants to remove pesticides or other harmful chemical found in the water traveling through the soil and ending up in the ground water and reservoirs. These system are extremely expensive but the cost is spread over a large population using the water. The cost per day of the house sized system will be approximately $1.50. It would be easier to let your water stand in the sun for a day and eliminate the harmful free chlorine. The chlorimines are at a too low of a concentration (PPM) to spend that kind of money. Check with your local water agency what the concentration is. Where do those filter cartridges go after use? What price to just have the perfect compost tea. Think again. Aloha

  • rj_hythloday
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I figure If I made it myself and it was filled w/ activated carbon I might put the carbon in the compost. A hot compost pile would effectively kill off any thing bad and by the time it had cured it would be innoculated w/ the same beneficial micororganisms as the finished compost.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Thread from the organic gardening forum

  • barbaraak
    15 years ago

    The one I used was by Pacific Sands. I remember it being about $50, but I may be mistaken. It said it removed all chlorine-type products, heavy metals, other pollutants, and sediment (not a problem; I'm using city water.)

    Since the water has to travel through 2 x 100ft hoses, it smells and tastes terrible without the filter, even after it's been running a long while, even on a cloudy day. Also, most brass hose fittings, which I have, contain some lead to make them malleable.

    It said it was good for several thousand gallons (again my memory isn't specific on the numbe) -- I'll find the ad and post it. I plan to definitely get another one this year.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago

    Could you list what parts you used?

    I was at lowes today and was looking in the pvc parts for something I could put together. A 4'' canister and caps w/ hose threads. I didn't find any thing at all like it.

    Lucky (or unlucky) you! I found a picture. It looks like it was taken with an old Barbie camera, so apologies for the quality. You can barely see the gray colored thread adaptor at the right side. You can see the kitty litter I used, charcoal, and Scotch brite pad I cut down to keep the filter innerds from flowing out into the hose.

    {{gwi:263101}}

    If you have trouble finding the thread adaptors to go from hose threads to the pipe thread, ask a clerk. I had to ask everywhere I went looking for them.

    It looks like I did not use any PVC pipe at all but only used pipe fittings. This experiment was from June of 2003 so I've forgotten a lot since then.

    If you want to get an idea of a ratio of charcoal to kitty litter (zeolite), crack open a filter from one of those water filters you put into the container in your fridge (like a Pur). I was surprised to find only a few specks of black charcoal inside. Most of it is zeolite.

    Still luckier YOU! I just went out and searched the archives of my garage and found the filter. Here's a modern picture.

    {{gwi:263102}}

    As you can see I did use 2-inch PVC pipe in the middle. This picture shows the threaded parts much better. It has to come apart somewhere to fill, or refill, with the filter medium. The gray nipple on the left side is straight pipe threads, not hose threads. The female hose fits on the male pipe threads okay (not great), but at the other end I wanted a better solution. It is a real pipe to hose connector.

    If I had it to do over again I would use 3-inch pipe for more filter volume and less water speed through the filter medium.

  • rj_hythloday
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks for the pics, that's very encouraging. I think I'll be back for parts soon.

  • rootdoctor
    15 years ago

    I really don't notice much of a difference when watering the yard, or garden. When I use tap water for watering my containers though, it has set back growth and destroyed (apparently) the microlife I worked so hard to produce. All chlorine filters will not take out chloramines. You need to get one specifically noted as such. This information came from several folks at water department, local organics group, nurseries, and local AG extension agent. These I found to work well, are inexpensive, and can be linked together for your own local water needs.
    http://www.pwgazette.com/gardenhosefilters.htm

    I am not trying to hawk these as I am not involved with them in any other way than as a consumer.

    Good luck
    timo

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago

    Please accept my apologies for screwing up the look of this message with my huge picture. I won't be doing that again. At least I can share every bit of grime on my floor with the world.

  • rj_hythloday
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    No worries, I've done it before too!

  • compostgal
    10 years ago

    After reading the comments, I remembered that I had read somewhere that vitamin C can eliminate chlorine and chloramines (which can take several forms). For those interested here is a link with studies:
    http://www.inspiredliving.com/chloramine-filters/vitamin-c-removes-chloramines.htm

  • toxcrusadr
    10 years ago

    I'm going to take a look at that, because my first thought on seeing this thread was that there were very few actual scientific studies mentioned, but a lot of hearsay and assumptions about the effects of chlorine and chloramine. It needs to be studied before we go off half-[hose?]cocked.

    The one gardening guy on the radio from TX that was mentioned above who said it killed half the microbes in his compost tea might have been on to something, but we have no idea how he performed that test and how rigorous it was. It's not hard to do with a proper lab at your disposal.

    I sure use a lot of tap water in the summer, and my city has switched to chloramine, so I'd like to know.

    The other thought I had is that pH, hardness, dissolved oxygen and possibly other things may be quite different in tap water than well or rain water. Also, rainwater carries nitrogen compounds which will help green up plants. All these variables have to be accounted for, before you can pin yellowing leaves or 'failure to thrive' on any one factor.

    Once again, science will tell us what we need to know.