I just made my own garden hose dechlorinator

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 01 July 2003 14:23

This is more of an experiment for me than a necessity. I’ve read that the chlorine in tap water can kill off the beneficial microbes on the surface of the soil. I know that a 1 inch rainstorm does my grass 10 times more good than when I water an inch, so maybe chlorine is the reason.

I checked into prices and found these things for about $30 and not rechargeable. They looked to be about 15 inches long and 1.5 inches in outer diameter. They connect to the faucet at one end and the hose connects to the unit at the other end. So it is basically an inline filter.

Before embarking on this project, I conducted a scientific analysis of the parts I had in my garage. I found I had PVC pipe in various diameters, PVC cement, and nothing else of value. I settled on 2-inch pipe for the project. I wanted something that would hold about two cups of activated charcoal and Zeolite (from kitty litter) to soak up the chlorine. So I made a few calculations and discovered that a 2-inch pipe just under 14 inches long would hold two cups. That sounded about right. Another reason for using 2-inch diameter pipe is that the volume calculation (length x pi x radius squared) for a one inch radius tube is a lot easier than any of the other pipe sizes I had on hand!!

Here’s the parts list in left-to-right order of assembly…

One female hose thread to 3/4-inch male pipe thread adaptorOne 3/4-inch female threaded to 2-inch smooth male pipe adaptor. One 2-inch female smooth to 2-inch male threaded pipe adaptor.One 2-inch female threaded to 2-inch female smooth pipe adaptorOne 2-inch diameter pipe, six inches long.One 2-inch female smooth to 2-inch female smooth pipe adaptor.One 2-inch male smooth to 3/4-inch female threaded pipe adaptor.One 3/4-inch male to male nipple.

Total cost so far is $7.47.

1.75 cups of activated charcoal (I used Sta-Green Professional Charcoal from the garden center at Lowes)1/2 cup of generic kitty litter with zeolite (read the label looking for Zeolite).One Scotch Brite Heavy Duty Scour Pad cut into three 2-inch diameter disks.

Cost for these was $8. Total cost for parts is about $16. If you went to buy one of these, they’re about $30 so I’m ahead. Furthermore, I have enough charcoal and kitty litter to refill this thing at least 5 more times. I also have two extra scour pads.

Assembly was done with PVC glue and Teflon tape for the threaded parts. Cut the scour pad into circular disks that fit snugly inside the 2-inch tube. These are to keep the filter materials inside. After the parts are glued together, put one disk inside at each end and save one for when assembling the 2-inch threaded parts to keep the stuff from dumping out of the one you turn over before screwing it together. Fill each side of the tube with the kitty litter and charcoal and put the third scour pad disk on top of whichever side you decide to turn upside down. All this does is keep the charcoal from dumping out. I don’t mean to be redundant with this paragraph but I’m still not sure I said that in the clearest way.

Then screw it back together and you’re off to the dechlorinated races. I figure (without any justification) that it will last a year before needing to be recharged with a couple more cups of charcoal and kitty litter. The overall finished length is 15 inches. Finished weight with water is probably 3 pounds. This baby is heavy enough that it needs to lay on the ground, not hang from a faucet.

Note: I realize that the pipe threaded nipple is not a perfect match for the hose thread I used, but it’s so close that it really wasn’t worth the extra cost of the true 3/4 inch pipe thread to hose thread nipple.

I’m not convinced the charcoal I got is “activated.” I’ll do a test with colored water sometime soon. If it is activated, it should remove food coloring in one pass.

So for $16 and a little work, I have a rechargeable garden dechlorinator.

Ponyboy – posted 05 July 2003 11:50

Very interesting.I agree with you about the benefits of rain water. How is your experiment working thus far? Does your lawn show any difference yet?

Ponyboy

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 06 July 2003 00:04

Nature has taken over. We had no rain from Feb through May. First of June we got some and I built the dechlorinator after that. I started watering with it last week and we’ve had 3 inches of rain since then. So, my experiment has gone out of control.

I need to get some aquarium chlorine test strips to test the water going in and coming out. I’ve had other feedback on the project that says the water flows through too fast to dechlorinate it with the carbon. Another guy said that carbon worked so fast it would easily dechlorinate the water no matter how fast the flow. So I need to test some more.

trjonte – posted 25 July 2003 21:45

I’m very interested in this watering experiment. Please reply once more testing is completed.

Tracy