Food Grade Tap Water Conditioner OK?

[ladydog]

Hey I was just wondering about Organics and tap water.
My tap water contains chlorine and chloramines. Chlorine dissipates with bubbling or letting the water sit for a day or two, but chloramines do not.

Could I use a food grade Aquarium chlorine and chloramine remover that I have for fish? You just add like 1/2 a tsp or something per 5 gallons of water to "clean" it.

Im using LC's organic mix and I just made up a soiless mix and I want to get it moist so I can have things break down in time for when I plant in the middle of May. Icmag is the best im sure someone will have some input soon. Thanks in advance guys.

 

[SeaMaiden]

I've never heard of food grade aquarium conditioner, but I've spoken at some length about those products. While they may not qualify as organic, they're completely safe to use for plants.

It neutralizes chlorine, and when it breaks the bond between Cl and NH3 it allows the chlorine to be neutralized, leaving a trace amount of NH3.

 

[mugenbao]

I've never heard of food grade aquarium conditioner, but I've spoken at some length about those products. While they may not qualify as organic, they're completely safe to use for plants.

It neutralizes chlorine, and when it breaks the bond between Cl and NH3 it allows the chlorine to be neutralized, leaving a trace amount of NH3.

That's good to know, thanks

 

[vonforne]

Use a few drops per gallon of Molasses.......it dissipates chloramine. Madliberalist has a thread on it some where in here. Do a search.

V

 

[mugenbao]

I'd heard molasses worked on chlorine, didn't know it was effective on chloramines... I've been using Ascorbic Acid, but I've got plenty of molasses on-hand too that was just going to waste. Cool

 

[ladydog]

Damn Icmag is amazing. Thanks for all the replies guys.

Sea maiden, the conditioner i have is Ultimate and it says safe for food fish. So basically safe for use on fish that will be eaten by humans. Also the conditioner has something to help with the slime coat on fish, I wonder if that will affect the plants at all.

I have molasses too, so that will work on chloramines?

Thanks again.

 

[Fastcast]

I'd heard molasses worked on chlorine, didn't know it was effective on chloramines... I've been using Ascorbic Acid, but I've got plenty of molasses on-hand too that was just going to waste. Cool

This is news to me.What about sodium thiosulfate?

 

[mad librettist]

Chloramine's job is to oxidize organic compounds, which if you are a microbe made of them is not a good thing.

The reducing sugars in molasses are a perfect stand in for the stuff it is there to kill. Once they are "killed" there is no ammo left to go after any more microbes.

Communities like new york city have a holisitic strategy for safe drinking water that places the emphasis on clean reservoirs free of non point source pollution, allowing for minimal chlorine and no chloramine. Other communities might start with a more dirty source, and they have to spend money on filtration, because chemicals like chloramine only work up to a point.

 

[ladydog]

Interesting mad Librettist, so how much molasses would you use per gallon? Or maybe dosage depends on the concentration of chloramine in the water supply around my area?
Thanks

 

[Fastcast]

Interesting mad Librettist, so how much molasses would you use per gallon? Or maybe dosage depends on the concentration of chloramine in the water supply around my area?
Thanks

One tsp per gallon,but then I don't know what he uses?

 

[ladydog]

Thanks fastcast,
So should I use molasses over my tap water conditioner? I guess molasses is more organic.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Damn Icmag is amazing. Thanks for all the replies guys.

Sea maiden, the conditioner i have is Ultimate and it says safe for food fish. So basically safe for use on fish that will be eaten by humans. Also the conditioner has something to help with the slime coat on fish, I wonder if that will affect the plants at all.

I have molasses too, so that will work on chloramines?

Thanks again.

Interesting, I've never seen that labeling on aquarium conditioner before, however, I've never worked aquaculture for food fishes. Usually the stuff for the slime coat is aloe vera-based.

I don't know factually that molasses will break those bonds, I would need to test it out and I'm on a well that's only filtered, not treated. I have bleach, but that's not chloramine. It's worth a test if you're not sure, IMO, though I'm not sure how much you'd need to use or what the cost for treatment using it would be compared to something like sodium thiosulfate.

2lb tub of ST at The Chemistry Store dot com is $5, and that needs to be mixed into a 1%-3% solution before using. IIRC, @1% the dosing is approximately 1tsp/gal.

One thing with molasses is that I love to eat it up. It's also, like just about all other simple sugars, very good for the plants and microfauna. I can't say the same for the ST (that it's tasty).

 

[Fastcast]

Thanks fastcast,
So should I use molasses over my tap water conditioner? I guess molasses is more organic.

I guess it all depends on what your H2o is at?TDS etc.I'll be using my tap for the first time in a long time.

Sorry,I meant to say PPM,at the tap.

 

[h.h.]

"Point source pollution" puts it in perspective. We need to do the opposite of what the water companies are doing.
Compost, citric acid, and molasses. I often just use a bucket full of dried leaves. Probably most anything organic that's low in nitrogen just so you're not adding more ammonia to the chlorine. You simply just overpower it as well as give the microbes a safe hangout.
For all that, it's just as easy to plan ahead a day or 2 and make ACT.
Fill up a bucket of leaves, add water and maybe a tiny squirt of lemon, and let it sit a couple of hours to a day then use the water to make tea. I've put a charcoal filter on the hose bib as well. Spraying your water through the air will also dissipate chlorine.
If you have old pipes, you're chlorine level will be lower. If your water district has old pipes...
Actually, I just don't worry that much about it. A good active soil in a large enough pot doesn't seem to be that affected by the occasional bit of chlorine and the little bit of ammonia from the chloramine just feeds the plants.
What would be interesting would be doing a microbe count of teas made with the various chlorine dissipation methods. The proofs in the pudding. I like pudding.