My understanding is that it isn't good for them. The quantity in tea alone will probably ensure that some of them survive. I would consider buying a decholinator if you are very concerned.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gard'n Gro Dechlorinator

Interesting. Any other comments on this??

Anyone have experience with that dechlorinator attachment? Color me skeptical...

You're right to be skeptical. Been there, done that...the Hozon siphon is a Venturi siphon that works on pressure and volume, both of which are severly hampered by the use of pre-filters.

Add a little humic acid at the end of the brew and you'll be good to go.

How much humic acid you say? Good question! It depends on the volume of water and over what time frame. Here's a little experiment to tell you approximately how much humic acid to use in a brew to complex all of the chlorine:

Turn on your hose and fill up a 5-gallon bucket with water. How long did that take? Multiply by 0.20 and then divide by 60. This will tell you gallons per minute, approximately. If it takes 80 seconds to fill up five gallons, then 80x.2=16/60= .25 gallons per minute.

Attach your Hozon and drain the bucket with the siphon. How long did that take? Multiply it by the number of gallons per minute your hose runs normally. This will tell you approximately how many gallons of water you'll use to apply one 5-gallon bucket of ACT. Let's say it takes sixty minutes to empty the bucket with the Hozon, then 60x.25=15 gallons of water.

What does this matter? Well, fill your bucket back up again, or do this before you empty it. Either way you need about 5 gallons of clear water to work with. In small increments that are easy to measure, a tablespoon is fine, stir humic acid into the water until you start to see a substantial color difference. This is how much humic acid you need to complex the chlorine in five gallons. The reason this isn't a "fixed" number, like I can't say "use two cups of humic acid per brew", is because humic acid comes in different concentrations from different suppliers.

Divide the number of tablespoons by 5 and multiply by the number of gallons you expect to use and now you know how much humic acid you need to add at the end of the brew. Let's say it takes 6 tablespoons to see a color change. So 6/5=1.2T x15 gallons of water= 18 tablespoons of humic acid added at the end of the brewing cycle immediately prior to application. Don't wait a day and don't add it while your still brewing because the humic acid is also a microbe food (as well as a biostimulant). Without adequate aeration your brew will become anaerobic.

Greenjeans

P.S. The only thing I don't like about this method is I'm not taking my own advice: I've seen no test reports or data that shows this volume of humic acid added to the brew does not harm the microbes. That does bother me a little, but I figure it's got to be better than chlorine. Who knows? It may even be benneficial.

Thanks for the response GJ.

So your feeling is that the addition of the humic acid to the tea just prior to application will neutralize the chlorine in the tap water as it mixes through the Hozon?

el bumpo to el topo

Actually it complexes the chlorine which is the same term put a different way. The chlorine attaches itself to the carbon atoms in the humic acid. A molecular strand of humic acid is so long it can perform this process indefinitely. I'm sure there's a limit but overall the chlorine is rendered harmless. Especially in the small amounts (I think it's Another method involves using ascorbic acid which is much, much cheaper than humic acid, but you'll use so little of it and there's such a large host of other benefits that I chose to use the humic acid.

Another method that I haven't tried yet is to put the humic acid in a hose end sprayer prior to the Hozon siphon. The only thing is if you're not getting enough pressure the siphon won't work properly. Miracle-Gro brand hose end sprayers sell one that adapts hose fittings to both sides.

Greenjeans

"Turn on your hose and fill up a 5-gallon bucket with water. How long did that take? Multiply by 0.20 and then divide by 60. This will tell you gallons per minute, approximately. If it takes 80 seconds to fill up five gallons, then 80x.2=16/60= .25 gallons per minute. "

If it takes 60 secs to fill 5 gals, then you are at 5 gal/min. I think the formula should read 5/(#secomds/60).
I mention this because my "Dramm" siphon (this looks a lot like the Hozon) needs 6 gal/minute min to operate (35psi min), which equates to 50 seconds (or less) to fill 5 gal bucket. If that flow rate is not achieved, then remove any "Y" fittings, hose end shut offs & nozzles and use a 5/8" hose less than 50' or a combination of those steps.