City or tap water is chemical-laden water that offers some benefits but can cause harm to your fruit and vegetable garden grown in containers. Fluoride and chlorine are added chemicals to water to help keep teeth healthy and kill pathogens that can cause gastrointestinal disease. Since plants don’t have teeth, nor do they have guts, these chemicals can hinder optimal growth yields and cause plant tissue necrosis. Brown spots or leaf tip burn can be seen. It’s like a chemical burn to your plants. Plants grown in containers or grow bags have less soil to filter these chemicals so container gardeners are even more susceptible to chemical burns.

How to reduce fluoride and chlorine in the container garden

An easy solution to greatly reduce these toxic chemicals in your container garden is to use a water filter. The summers have been dry for most parts of the country so when rainwater runs dry, you can use a water pitcher with a water filter that removes both of these chemicals. There are not many water filters out there that can remove both chemicals from city water, but there is one brand that I favor. The Aquagear water pitcher filter has benefited my container garden (here’s what mine looks like) the most and here’s a list why the Aquagear is my top choice in the garden:

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our Affiliate Disclosure here.

  • Filters 150 gallons of water before the filter needs change vs 100 gallons from most other brands
  • Tested and approved by people living in Flint, MI water crisis
  • It is 100% recyclable (Aquagear has a recycle program with free postage if your municipality does not recycle)
  • It removes over 90 other contaminants found in city water including arsenic which is a carcinogen (learn how to reduce cancer risks)
  • Lightweight easy to pour spout
  • Filters quickly

An additional benefit to you and your family is you can use this water filter for your drinking water as well. If you have a larger family, the Berkey is a wise choice with even more benefits for your explained here.

Advertisement