Filter for garden hose

[stormin]

I was wondering how many people here use inline filters for their garden hose to help remove some chlorine from their water? I've just finished watching John from Growing Your Greens on Youtube. Is it worth it or is the amount of chlorine in water low enough not to harm beneficial microbes?

This is the filter https://www.monstergardens.com/boogie-brew?product_id=1454

[fruitlovers]

Yes it's worth it. Chlorine also directly damages many plants, it's not just a matter of damaging soil micro organisms. You might be able to find a cheaper charcoal filter if you look around though.

[Daintree]

I have a filter mounted to the wall in the greenhouse, and the hose from the house goes in one side, and the hose to the greenhouse pond comes out the other (the pond is my watering source for the greenhouse.  I heat it in the winter so the plants don't get 'cold feet' when I water them...).  I can unscrew the canister when I need to replace the filter.  I bought the whole thing at our local plumbing and electrical supply place.  Makes my plants happy 

[fruitlovers]

Folks might also consider installing whole house chlorine filter. Drinking chlorinated water, or even bathing in it, is no better for your family than it is for your plants! Why not protect yourselves as well as your plants?

[mangomaniac2]

Excellent topic!
Here in phoenix I could not grow anything for 2 years and lost hundreds to over a thousand or more on lost plants...until I purchased a Gard N Grow. That was the item which set all my gardening madness into motion.
Chlorine is used to kill microbiology and is really high in phoenix water supply. Calcium and salt are the other issues with the water and buildup in the soil, changing the PH to high in both soil and water. The way to deal with calcium and salt buildup is to deep water and flood the area. With chlorine water to flush the salts/calcium you then kill all the beneficial bacteria in the soil, and the roots get practically burned with chlorine and eventually starve the tree. With chlorine removed I was finally able to deep water while preserving the microbial activity in the soil, so all of a sudden I was able to not only keep plants alive, but they actually started growing. 
With a sediment filter prior to gard n grow, the cartridges last for close to 40,000 gallons, so last a typical household a year. I have one on all my hose bibs and change them every 6 months. When they get close to the end of their life you can really start to see the difference that they are not working properly, and once you replace, you are back on easy street.

[simon_grow]

I use them in my yard and plants seem to love it, not as good as natural rain but pretty close. I use the gard n green. I reverse the flow direction every month as recommended. I've noticed that all my plants seem to be growing much better.

Simon

[gunnar429]

Folks might also consider installing whole house chlorine filter. Drinking chlorinated water, or even bathing in it, is no better for your family than it is for your plants! Why not protect yourselves as well as your plants?

I have wanted to do this for a long time, but get overwhelmed by the price whenever I look.  I would appreciate any links for either garden hose filters, or whole house filters that are as economical as possible.

[Doglips]

They put chlorine in the water for a purpose.
I thought about whole house, but I think I want chlorine in the non-culinary uses.  Keeps the shower
from growing mold, it can help with sterilizing dishes.
 I just bought a filter system for the blueberries drip system, I will expand it to all plants but it will take time, fairly convoluted system.

[stormin]

Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.

[stuartdaly88]

What about borehole water? Taps get a grey blueish buildup buildup and.I think we had a high tds. Would a filter be of any use? Inside pots also seem to have get a white buildup

[fruitlovers]

Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.

If whole house filter is too difficult you can just add filters to where you are drinking tap water. You say you don't drink tap water, but i bet you are adding tap water into some of your foods? And you can add filter to where you are bathing. Most people don't realize that chlorine is absorbed through the skin. (Bathing in a public pool with tons of chlorine is the absolute worst!) It's not at all healthy, neither for your plants nor for yourself.

[gunnar429]

Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.

Could you PM me the link, or product name?  That sounds like a good place to start in my quest to absorb less chlorine.

[mangomaniac2]

Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.

You can tell they are starting to be too old is when your plants start showing more yellow when you know nutrients should be plenty available to feed on. The growth starts slowing down and dark green becomes more lime green on the trees. Time to change filter. After changing the green starts coming back. Directions say to rotate the filter once a month for extended life to get the 40K gallons, with prefilter of course.

[stormin]

Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.

If whole house filter is too difficult you can just add filters to where you are drinking tap water. You say you don't drink tap water, but i bet you are adding tap water into some of your foods? And you can add filter to where you are bathing. Most people don't realize that chlorine is absorbed through the skin. (Bathing in a public pool with tons of chlorine is the absolute worst!) It's not at all healthy, neither for your plants nor for yourself.

I use the 5 gallon water dispenser for all my cooking/drinking needs. I use the kitchen sink to clean pots/pans and large utensils. My fridge has a filter for the water dispenser and ice maker also. I already have a showerhead filter in my shower.

[stormin]

Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.

Could you PM me the link, or product name?  That sounds like a good place to start in my quest to absorb less chlorine.

Gunnar,

Here's a link to the Sprite shower head and filters from Home Depot. http://www.homedepot.com/s/sprite%2520filter?NCNI-5 I have the silver one that is now $37, at the time I bought it years ago, it was on sale for $20.

[fruitlovers]

Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.

If whole house filter is too difficult you can just add filters to where you are drinking tap water. You say you don't drink tap water, but i bet you are adding tap water into some of your foods? And you can add filter to where you are bathing. Most people don't realize that chlorine is absorbed through the skin. (Bathing in a public pool with tons of chlorine is the absolute worst!) It's not at all healthy, neither for your plants nor for yourself.

I use the 5 gallon water dispenser for all my cooking/drinking needs. I use the kitchen sink to clean pots/pans and large utensils. My fridge has a filter for the water dispenser and ice maker also. I already have a showerhead filter in my shower.

[mangomaniac2]

Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.

Could you PM me the link, or product name?  That sounds like a good place to start in my quest to absorb less chlorine.

Here is the cheapest place I have found for replacement cartridges.
http://www.allfilters.com/gardenfilters/replacementfilters/garden-gro-replacement?gclid=CJLltPDiy8MCFc1ffgodkmsAWQ
Looks like they are pretty much the cheapest for all of it.
http://www.allfilters.com/gardenfilters/waterfilters/rainshower-garden-gro
The screen filter works too but any sediment filter works.
http://www.allfilters.com/gardenfilters/waterfilters/garden-pro-prefilter

[stormin]

Daintree, can you post a picture of your filter setup? Is it one of those two stage filters that I see in the home improvement store websites?

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

I've looked into whole house filtration, but boy they're pretty pricey. I don't drink tap water, I have a 5 gallon water dispenser. I also have a showerhead/filter combo from Home Depot, the replacement filters aren't too bad, only $10.

You can tell they are starting to be too old is when your plants start showing more yellow when you know nutrients should be plenty available to feed on. The growth starts slowing down and dark green becomes more lime green on the trees. Time to change filter. After changing the green starts coming back. Directions say to rotate the filter once a month for extended life to get the 40K gallons, with prefilter of course.

OK, thanks for the info. I'll see about ordering a water filter online if I can't find any locally here.

[gnappi]

For my plants I never thought about chlorine because I use mostly well water, and with the rain we get I rarely have to use tap water, but all of these success stories really have me thinking about one of the hose bibb models. They're pretty cheap and at the rate I use hose water they'd probably last years. Thanks for the heads up!

[Doglips]

At a quick looksee, the recommended model is a tad pricey and so are replacement filters, but not really seeing any other inline models. If straight inline is not required, you can go cheaper.

[stormin]

I have just bought the pre-filter/sediment filter today from Home Depot for $12, and ordered the Gard'n Gro from amazon for $54.25 +tax (free shipping). Will take a picture of my hookup when the gard'n gro arrives.

[mangomaniac2]

I have just bought the pre-filter/sediment filter today from Home Depot for $12, and ordered the Gard'n Gro from amazon for $54.25 +tax (free shipping). Will take a picture of my hookup when the gard'n gro arrives.

Sounds like a great plan. You will see the benefits easily. The slower the flow through these, the higher the chlorine removal.  If only using for a few plants these can last a really long time before replacing the cartridges. Good luck!

[Doglips]

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

The correct answer is it depends. Absolute filters will plug up. The vast majority of filtration that you will encounter in your life do not plug up (not unless it is really bad). Most filters absorb particles as they pass by, once they are full, they absorb no more and pass everything else.  We are really talking about active carbon filters here, so no, they don't plug, they just quit absorbing chlorine.
You could put a meter on your water to measure your usage, or read your house meter before and after (if you can). The thing is, it is not just the water that passes through the hose, it is also the amount of stuff in the water.  No magic formula.  Unless you know that you situation is worse than the average, I'd go with the manufacturer recommend.

[mangomaniac2]

How can you tell if it's time to change the filter, such as the Gard'n Gro's 40k gallon filter? Does the pressure start dwindling down?

The correct answer is it depends. Absolute filters will plug up. The vast majority of filtration that you will encounter in your life do not plug up (not unless it is really bad). Most filters absorb particles as they pass by, once they are full, they absorb no more and pass everything else.  We are really talking about active carbon filters here, so no, they don't plug, they just quit absorbing chlorine.
You could put a meter on your water to measure your usage, or read your house meter before and after (if you can). The thing is, it is not just the water that passes through the hose, it is also the amount of stuff in the water.  No magic formula.  Unless you know that you situation is worse than the average, I'd go with the manufacturer recommend.

No, these are KDF filter media, not carbon. These remove chlorine only. You are suppose to flip the direction every month. I talked to owner of company prior to purchase and he was really nice to call me back saying they do not act like a filter so would only take seconds to clear out any buildup that may have occurred.
KDF media is like a commodity in water filtration, so price is fairly fixed and these guys replacement cost is very cost effective compared to any other way of using kdf media. KDF has far more chlorine removal capacity than charcoal, it's not even close. Charcoal also requires such a slow rate of flow in order to be effective, not so with KDF media.

[stormin]

Here's a picture of my setup. From the spigot to a sediment filter bought from Home Depot, to the Gard'n Gro filter, to the waterhose reel.