BTW - just sitting it out overnight or even for 48hrs or longer is a waste.
The water needs to be exposed to direct UV light to successfully break down the chlorine. So if it’s not exposed to direct sunlight or some source of UV light the chlorine is only reduced by a tiny amount and doesn’t completely dissipate at all.
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Thanks everyone for your input. I appreciate it!
Exactly what I do! I have 5-7 jugs ready and rotate.
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I disagree. I use lab quality test strips that indicate 100% dechlorination after 48 hrs.
It is good info to read the chlorine only kills microbes to 1/2”. …but sitting it out to off gas is cheap insurance.
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I have a question along the same lines. I’ve been using RO for my first grow, but 6 gallons takes almost 2 hours, and I’d prefer to use tap. My muni water quality report says calcium is between 140-180 ppm. I measured TDS at 204 ppm. If I use tap and continue to use the straight-up Jack’s 321 can I (will I) OD my plants with calcium?
Just what I read! I’m not a scientist so I don’t know for myself.
Plus - I don’t sweat it!
As I stated above I’ve poured GALLONS of tap water on my outside plants with no ill effects.
Proof enough for me!!
And to each his own, I’m just pointing out that it’s really a non-issue as far as plant health goes.
And it’s been proven that it only kills microbes in the top half inch of soil - at levels FAR exceeding those approved for municipal use. If your rootball is a half an inch deep you got bigger problems going on than chlorine!! LOL!
LST is far more damaging to a pot plant than tap water and we all beat the crap out of our plants! LOL!
Our city water smells like a swimming pool and tastes like one also (minus urine LOL)!
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LOL …great points.
My issue with chlorine isn’t killing the microbes in the root ball but the microbes I add in the water I give my plants (Real Grower’s Recharge and Mammoth P).
I don’t want to kill the microbes I’m adding in the watering can before it ever hits the root ball.
It’s not. Microbes and bacteria are different things. chlorine is killing bacteria and to a lesser degree microbes. I believe Recharge has testing that shows no statistical difference between tap and pure water.
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Good to know. Thx!
Sorry my freind but this information is incorrect.
UV is used in some water filtration, but it is used to killing living organisms and has nothing to do with chlorine…
But you are correct that it has little effect on microbial life in the soil at the end of the day.
Many people for years have used it straight out the tap with no issues…
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UVC is the killer. B less so and A even less so, but yes, they do kill bacteria to varying degrees. I think the point that particular article was trying to make was to warm the water to increase the rate at which it evaporates. Heat activates the molecules.
We had a UV system installed on our HVAC and those lights are NOT cheap! I assume it’s UVC as the packaging was covered in warnings when they showed me all the stuff.
i could have bought a GIANT grow light!
I don’t know what method the cat in the video used but his experiment proved the difference in leaving it out vs fresh was negligible and within the margin of error for the test. In other words - the same!
Again, it’s just not something that’s been proven to me to matter at all!
I see far more damage done to plants by people accidentally overdosing nutes than I do chlorine toxicity.
Is there a single case on this site where the diagnosis was chlorine toxicity? Some one please find it if there is, I simply don’t care enough to look, because it ain’t a thing!
Much bigger things to worry about growing weed.
And a polar bear is a mammal like me…are we the same?
Just like there are varying degrees of microscopic life!
It’s microbes that actually are responsible for breaking down poisons in the soil everyday!
Not all can do the same things with the same items and some things might kill some thing where other things won’t!
Whoda thunk things could have different abilities and not all be a homogeneous blob?
Microbes is a size category is all. It refuses to any organism to small to see without a microscope. This would include good and bad microbes.
Some are basically poison, the good microbes in our soil help to breakdown organic matter and nutrients and turn it into more bio available forms for the plants to take up better… Hopefully there is no kinda poison in anyone’s soil…
There is a guy on YouTube called “Mr grow it”, he is a great source of factual information if ya want to check him out…
But you and some bears are the same in this context.
Asian sun bears are about human size 
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API stress coat works but does add some ppms to the water. If u use it use it sparingly as stated on the label. Anything more or too much will bring on algae to the medium super fast.
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Ours too. Showering all I smell is chlorine smell. It’s super strong lol. Seems to me like there r some major differences here lol. Imma keep reading and having fun. Hope all has a good day.
Let me preface what I say by saying all my experience with chlorine and chloramine is based on having an in-ground swimming pool for 15 years.
Everything I’ve seen says the indoor pool smell is from chloramines, not chlorine. In the pool, when chlorine reacts to water-borne contamination (sweat, pee, etc) it converts to chloramine. For pools, this typically means you have to do something (e.g. shock) to break the molecular bond to free the chlorine and get rid of the ammonia. For showers, it probably means your muni system uses chloramine, which is probably not going to off-gas.
Personally, I can believe it has little effect below the top layer of soil. The amount that’s added to muni water is supposed to deal with trace levels of organic material. I could see the bulk of it getting “used” on first contact with the gross organic material that is the soil.
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I was using FF nutes and FFOF soil. I didn’t know you were suppose to dechlorinate and was filling a bucket, mixing, pH’ing and going. Not a huge harvest, but the quality was top shelf. I’m wondering if dechlorination is necessary, or if I would have had a better result had I done it. May be a good test in the future.
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I’m sure it will affect the product in some way all I know is if u don’t let it set to kill of chlorine as the mix sits and it dissipates the pH jumps alot more and alot faster. If I mix with ro it might jump up a point in 2 days usually I can make 5 gallons and use it for 3 days without touching oh. If I set pH a 5.6 or 5.7 by end of use it’s at 5.8 weird right now as I’m used to mixing 20 gallons a day and now I’m at about 1 gallon a day some days I splurge and do a second water. Bout to transplant them today and let them go hopefully lol
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