Does chlorine in tap water harm beneficial microbes and bacteria in my garden soil?
Will the bacteria recover quickly?
How much chlorine is in tap or city water?
Should I remove chlorine from my tap, drinking or city water?
Soil Bacterial Count Lab Report:
http://www.albertaurbangarden.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/150604_AlbertaUrbanGardenCertificateofAnalysis-RevisedReportCityWaterSoilTests.pdf
City Water Chlorine Lab Report:
http://www.albertaurbangarden.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/150604_AlbertaUrbanGardenCertificateofAnalysis-CityWaterInitialChlorine.pdf
Epcor
http://www.epcor.com/water/water-quality/reports-edmonton/Pages/reports.aspx
Bacteria Found in Tap Water:
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jsme2/30/1/30_ME14123/_pdf
I have noticed over the years that people recommend watering the garden with water that does not have chlorine in it such as Tap water. The premise of this statement is the bacteria I your soil are a key player in the nutrient cycle and chlorine kills bacteria.
So today I thought today I would test this garden assumption.
The water treatment plant that provides my drinking water has been recognized as using the gold standard for water treatment. After getting the water from the North Saskatchewan River it is initially shocked with Sodium hypochlorite or bleach. This does a great job at killing bacteria and other pathogens that may be in the water. The downside to using bleach is the chlorine decays rather fast once in contact with the water and air.
In order to keep the water safe while shipping ammonia is added to the water creating chloramine. This essentially stabilizes the clean water until it gets to you to make sure it is safe for you to drink.
It is really important to note that even at the highest levels the chemicals used to sterilize and stabilize the drinking water here in Alberta are several orders of magnitude below what is considered to be mildly irritating to humans.
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