Have you ever wondered if the chlorine in your garden water harms the beneficial microbes in your garden soil? Chlorine, as you probably know, is a chemical that is added to our water to kill off the harmful bacterias that might be present in our water supply. Unfortunately chlorine will kill the good things too. Recently I was sent a product to try out from AllFilters.com a company that specializes in all kinds of filters for various household needs. What they sent me was a garden de-chlorinating filter that attaches to my garden hose. According to the Rainshow’r Gard’n Gro overview from their webpage it:
- Enhances plant growth
- Protects beneficial insects such as ladybugs and lacewings
- Promotes healthy plant nutrition
- Returns soil to its natural balance
I can’t think of any one of those things that sounds bad to me! This weekend I hooked it up to my irrigation system for my vegetable garden and ran it a couple times. I honestly can’t say if this will improve the health of my garden yet but I’m hopeful that it will. It’s no secret that rain water is much better than tap water and many people recommend letting tap water sit for 12-24 hours to allow the chlorine to dissipate before watering plants. I can never think that far ahead!
Setting up the filter was easy. The kit came with a short hose to hook between the filter and the house faucet. The filter itself can be used either way. The instructions recommend switching the direction of the flow periodically to increase the life of the filter. The filter should last for at least 20,000 gallons of water.
Hopefully in the remaining time we have left to garden this season I can see some differences in the plants. And if not perhaps it will give my garden a great start for next year!
Hope it works for you. Let us know what you think… tho' I suppose it'll take awhile before you might notice a difference? 🙂
Hope it works well for you Dave.
I sure hope it works for you Dave. How many filters do you suppose it would take for a season? And at what cost?
I've also heard something about a meter that changes the way your water usage is measured & you are charged for. It is connected to the outside faucet so that any water that is used outside does not go to recycle or waste.
Interesting! We have our own well, but the water goes through a chlorinator in our basement, then a filter to take the chlorine out. We have a valve that we close when doing heavy watering outside so that it bypasses the chlorinator. No use wasting chlorine that way and the plants are undoubtedly happier.
Dear Dave
Wow! I haven't heard of this device yet but it makes sense .. I use as much of my rain barrel as I can but I have always wondered about the chlorine issue and plants .. let alone what it does in the soil .. I think I will look around for this next year .. I hope the Canadian side is up to par .. then again we have a HUGE LOWES store being built .. so maybe I'll get lucky ! LOL
Joy