v1rtu0s1ty,

I have the same concerns as you do. I've heard that plain chlorine disappates very quickly when sprayed out of a sprinkler head. However, if your water supply contains Chloramine instead of plain Chlorine, then it may not. I called the water company to find out for sure. I bought a Gard'n Gro dechlorinator for my hose, which is great for washing cars as well as for the garden.

Chlorine is less stable than chloramine. It would be reasonable to expect that chlorine will degrade faster than chloramine. The concentration of either product in drinking water should not be high enough to cause damage to plants. (I recall that chlorine treatment was 1 ppm.)
However, I would pay attention to the 'chloramine factor' if I were into organic growing. I would obtain dechlorinating products from a source that caters to the pet fish market.

Chlorine will readily dissociate from water as its aerated (be it from a hose end or a finer spray). To the extent it is present in tap water it should not be a problem (I would wager to say even in drip irrigation or other systems that have little/no contact with the air). It's just really minimal compared to all the other things that will also react to chlorine in the soil(it has no preference, it oxidizes anything in reach).

Chloramine however does not readily dissociate from water because it is bonded to an amine (NH2). In the fish hobby which I originally come from this can really wreck havoc in your tank because it will not only damage bacteria/fish from the chlorine, but it also releases amines into the water which become ammonia. These further damage your fish due to ammonia poisoning. But remember this is a closed system saturated in the water, with a relatively small biological filter providing removal of ammonia/nitrIte. It would be the equivalent of having your entire yard submerged in tap water...with few other oxidizable agents....not likely...

Now in a yard its an interesting trade-off. With chloramines in your tap you are essentially fertilizing with a (VERY) low dose of nitrogen. Again I feel the level is so low that it should not drastically harm your microbes, but its possible I guess.

The worst time to water would be just prior/after a big storm since many municipalities dose extra chlorine/chloramine around this time to eliminate the possibility of groundwater contamination getting someone sick (just smell your tap water during this time and you can often smell the chlorine). Fortunately for gardeners this is the LEAST frequent time you would water. I can just see it now, "Oh heck! It's about to storm, I better run out and water the lawn!". :)

So bottom line is this: There is a minute chance chlorine/chloramines could harm your lawn, but its ability to bounce back or outright shrug it off is much more probable. I wouldn't sweat it.

If your only options are watering with chlorinated water or not watering at all...... well, that isn't much of a contest. As for the microbes, total lack of water and blazing sun is going to kill most of them too. If you live in an urban or suburban area, you probably don't have any choice about your water, so I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it.

Assuming you have live beneficial organisms in a sprayer can that is connected to an end hose. That can can be like Ortho Dial N' Spray. Do you think that, when water exits out, the organims will be killed since there is chlorine in the water.

Thanks,

Ron

Ron,

Now that IS an interesting question. I think soil critters will be save unless the local water supply spills a tanker of chlorine in the system, but hose-end sprayers with live critters in it (like the beneficial nematodes) most definitely could be negatively effected. It's possible the short-time exposure could prevent a mass die-off, but it would definitely be better to be on a well (ie not public) if you were to use a hose-end sprayer, or use a small pump hand-sprayer that you can fill with spring water (not distilled obviously unless you want them to go *POP*).

Definitely something to keep in mind if planning a nematode or other live critter spray.

FWIW,

I bought nematodes from the site D_CHall recommends and asked them specifically if they could handle chlorine. They said it's not a problem for them, and that anything animals and plants can take, the worms can take as well.

As an additional aside, I saw 3 fire ant mounds go up last week, but as of today the ants were gone. Guess those Nematodes are kicking some ant butt!

dao4686,

It might be a war of attrition. As mentioned there is a finite amount of chlorine/chloramine in the water supply, and it should be small enough that a concentrated amount of critters (and fast multiplying at that!) will not be drastically decreased in a quick application.

I mentioned earlier but I'm an avid fishkeeper, but most of my effort is on the live plants I keep in the tank. Fertilizers, light levels, pruning occupy a large amount of time. It is far more difficult to grow aquatic plants than non-aquatic IMO, and the chief reason is CO2. It's abundant in the air but not so in the water. Many people with large tanks use compressed CO2 like you would use on a beer keg. Those of use with smaller tanks take the organic approach of CO2 production through the use of yeast.

Sugar, some trace elements, water, and some yeast in a capped bottle will quickly turned anaerobic and convert sugar directly into CO2 gas. This gas is then pumped into the tank to keep an elevated level dissolved in the water to keep the algae at bay and the plants happy.

I can guarantee you the tap water I use for the yeast mixture is killing some of the yeast, but the fact of the matter is that its a small % that is rapidly replaced by the ever growing population.

I'd be willing to bet its similar to the nematodes.

People used chlorinated water on and in their gardens for many years with no problems until someone dreamed up a means of seperating you from your money over this chlorine issue. Whether chlorinated water will have an adverse affect on the soil bacteria in your lawn or garden depends on how good and healthy you have made that soil. If the wee bit of chlorine in your water does kill off a significant portion of the soil bacteria you need to work on that soil and make it better. A good, healthy soil with a good active Soil Food Web will not be adversly affected by the amount of chlorine that is in most city water systems, just as that same chlorine does not kill off all the bacteria in the water. Ask your high school chemistry or biology student to do a test for you on your city water.

My city water report shows Chlorite, Fluoride, and Nitrate, all below federal standards. But will any of these harm the microbes in the lawn and garden soil? I've read here about Chlorine. Is Chlorite the same as Chlorine?

Does anyone know if the Gardn' Grow Dechlorinator also removes these chemicals listed above? Is there some other filter that would be practical to plumb into the whole irrigation system?

I'm testing conversion of our lawn to organic and going to include the journey in my native plant blog:
http://nativeplantconvert.blogspot.com

Thanks.

Hal

Chlorite is a more stable form of chlorine. People, where there is a municipal water system, have been spraying chlorinated, floridated water on lawns with few problems since at least the 1930's so there is little reason for concern in your area.
Many people do have filters that are supposed to remove chlorine but, since I have a well and do not have chlorinated water, I can smell the chlorine in treated water whenever I am somewhere it is and even after filtering I can smell, and often taste, that chlorine. My impression is that most all filters are largely a waste of your money.