Brudley
Well-Known Member
There are several older threads about adjusting PH or removing chlorine or chloramine (chlorine & ammonia mix) from tap water, but I just made a major discovery that I thought I would add as a new thread. I hope this helps others as it has me.
I am growing organically so the water PH is not supposed to matter, but the chlorine/chloramine in tap water can kill or at least restrict the good microbe bacteria in your soil. I've heard of adding ascorbic acid powder (Vitamin C) to the water to neutralize the chlorine/chloramine but did not realize that will also lower the PH of the water. Hmmm, this has solved all my problems and hope it solves someone else's!!
Fortunately I have city water with a PH of about 8 and PPM of about 250, so not that bad out of the tap. I've found that I can add 1/16 tsp of ascorbic acid power (or a pinch, I actually have a measurement spoon for this) to my water containers which are a little over half a gallon, and it brings my tap waters PH to exactly 6.0! I may tweak this slightly to get closer to 6.5 which is more ideal for soil. It takes VERY little to neutralize the bad stuff so I can adjust the amount added to get the PH exactly as needed. I’ve been researching and worrying about this crap for over a year or two!! So glad that ADaminCO reminded me of using the Vitamin C. So simple. No more Prime or PH down for me!
I've based my mix calculations on:
1/4 tsp per 5 gallons is the ratio to remove chloramine,
1/16 tsp for 1 gallonish, 1/16 tsp= 1 pinch
Happy growing friends!
I am growing organically so the water PH is not supposed to matter, but the chlorine/chloramine in tap water can kill or at least restrict the good microbe bacteria in your soil. I've heard of adding ascorbic acid powder (Vitamin C) to the water to neutralize the chlorine/chloramine but did not realize that will also lower the PH of the water. Hmmm, this has solved all my problems and hope it solves someone else's!!
Fortunately I have city water with a PH of about 8 and PPM of about 250, so not that bad out of the tap. I've found that I can add 1/16 tsp of ascorbic acid power (or a pinch, I actually have a measurement spoon for this) to my water containers which are a little over half a gallon, and it brings my tap waters PH to exactly 6.0! I may tweak this slightly to get closer to 6.5 which is more ideal for soil. It takes VERY little to neutralize the bad stuff so I can adjust the amount added to get the PH exactly as needed. I’ve been researching and worrying about this crap for over a year or two!! So glad that ADaminCO reminded me of using the Vitamin C. So simple. No more Prime or PH down for me!
I've based my mix calculations on:
1/4 tsp per 5 gallons is the ratio to remove chloramine,
1/16 tsp for 1 gallonish, 1/16 tsp= 1 pinch
Happy growing friends!