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A recent addition to the Gardenerd community asked:

“I am wondering what kind of water source is acceptable for organic vegetable gardening. Specifically, I am on a city water supply which contains chlorine and other additives. Should I try to find a garden hose filter (if these exist) or would it be better to use my reverse osmosis system indoors and carry the water to the garden?  Thanks for all your help.”

This is a great question; thanks for writing in.  My opinion about filtering water for the garden is basically that if you can do it, all the better for you.  However, some folks don’t have the capacity to filter their garden water, due to large scale gardens or built in sprinkler systems.  It’s probably not going to kill you, unless you live in an area where Erin Brockovitch would need to come by for a visit.

I know several people who filter their garden water, and there are several ways to do it.  Let’s explore:

Some people use hose filters that are built for this express purpose.  You can find them at Amazon.com, like the one below

Hose Filter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one filters out minerals and rust and other solids, but not chlorine.

A more specialized filter for garden hoses is one offered by Grow Organic:

GardNGro Dechlorinating Garden filter

It filters out chlorine, but has a warning that this is not a drinking water filter.  Read up on the requirements for this filter at the site above.

Another option that I have seen at my community garden is a drinking water filter.  You can mount a duel-chamber drinking water filter to the wall or the underside of a storage box.  It hooks up to your hose easily:

Kenmore 2 stage drinking water filter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yet another option is a shower filter.  A fellow gardener hooked up a shower head that encases a filter between the end of the hose and their hose wand.  You can use a filter that has a sprayer on the end, or just use the shower head as the hose wand itself.  It narrows your options for spraying, but still works.

High-Output Shower Filter

 

 

I know another household who uses a whole-house filter that includes their outside plumbing for watering the garden.  If you can hook that up without too much expense, it might be worth it.  For those who don’t want to deal with filtration at all, you can use the old technique of leaving a bucket of water out in the sun for a day to evaporate the chlorine out of it. Of course, then you may need to contend with mosquitoes, depending on where you live.

Thanks again for writing in, good luck with your garden and keep those questions coming.