"Do most folks just put chlorinated hard city water on their garden or do you filter it?"

Yep .. and city water is of exceptional quality for your garden.

Forget the filter .. I have landscaped everything from homes to parks over 20 acres for almost 20 years in the desert southwest and never seen a filter installed for the reasons you mention. Our hardness is over 300 ppm and the chlorine content is minamal for the garden and will have know negative effect on your plants.

Keep in mind any filter or other device ( like fertilizer injectors !! ) are a potential source for contamination NOT only for the garden but most important your drinking water as well.

Put your mind at ease and chack with your local extension service.

Good Day ...

Mohave,

So what your saying is that the chlorine in the water that is there to kill bacteria, when put on my garden will, for some reason, not kill the bacteria in my soil?

Now, I know the calcium and magnesium in hard water are probably good for my plants. But are you saying that the calcium and magnesium that clogs the pipes in the house will not clog a soaker hose or a small irrigation emitter after a couple of years?

I respect your years of experience and I'm not trying to be argumentative. I'm just trying to make sense of the situation.

Thanks.

If this is a garden application use it until it clogs then replace it. I couldnt imagine your garden being so immense and your harvesting skills to be so much that changing it out would not be more practical anyway.

Hello Mike ...

The amount of Chlorine in your water is very small by the time it reaches your tap and will not have a negative impact on your gardens ecology ect.. In all the gardens I have worked in none removed chlorine from the water. In a fish tank .. YES ... Chlorine is a concern a garden .. NO .. not that I have seen.

As I said check it out with the local water provider.

"But are you saying that the calcium and magnesium that clogs the pipes in the house will not clog a soaker hose or a small irrigation emitter after a couple of years?"

More exactly what I am saying is the filter you are linking to will clog up your extra money more then it will save your irrigation. Bits of sand that inadvertently find there way into your system during installation and while making repairs will be much more of a problem over the years then your hard water.

If an emitter clogs change it .. thats what we do on 20 acre landscapes all over the entire city and we do not have significant problems with emitters clogging anyway and our water is very hard.

Look ... I just don't see gardeners filtering water to the extent you feel is needed and I work in the industry every day.

If you really have prized plants and you decide you must depart from your normal growing conditions this can be done but it will cost significant money and rarely is this justified. Keep in mind even if your water was softened correctly your soils mineral level will still dictate "hard water conditions". So now we are talking replacing the soil as well ?? Are you trying to win a million dollar prize for the largest Pumkin ???

The drip systems I see in areas that have very hard water have only a simple straining filter to remove fine sand particles and most of the time city water does not even require this level of filtration. A more common repair is fixing a leaking filter !!

Good Day ...

My 2 cents: I chose 1" poly laterals and barbed emitters placed exactly where I needed them and at a gallonage of my choosing, for me spacing and gallonage dictated by integral drip tubing of the type you describe did not fit into my plan of putting the water, at the desired rate, right at each plant stem. I am on well water so conservation was one factor within my overall garden plan.

My experience with drip irrigation in general is that clogging due to root intrusion ranked as the number one clogging issue, followed distantly by particulate debris.

As for chlorine, if your concerned filter it, its that easy. I know folks on city water who have no success with plants I grow with great success, though the inverse is also true; could chlorine be part of their problem? Perhaps. I would suggest that when you submit your soil for testing to the experiment station or whomever you use, if you want truly *healthy* soil this step is crucial IMHO, inquire with them as they are a wealth of knowledge.

Regards

I haven't found chlorine to be a problem. The harder the water is the better for the health of the plants, I wouldn't filter it at all. The plants, like us, can use all the nutrients they can get out of the water so I wouldn't deprive them of that for fear of chlorine.
There is very little chlorine residual by the time it hits the soil and it will volatilize very quickly.
I plan to do the same thing and I will deal with the scaling issue separately or find products that are better suited for it.