Dechlorinating water for Quantum Total

[vegetalmatter]

About two month ago I received my order of Quantum Total and applied a treatment. smelly stuff. Since then I've been dabbling in aquariums and received advice to not rinse aquarium filter sponges with water straight from the tap because the chlorine will kill nitrifying bacteria. Just yesterday I skimmed the label on the Quantum bottle and what do you know, they advise that I use dechlorinated water only. Oops. Would a standard aquarium dechlorinator like Seachem Prime be safe for orchids? The city of Austin uses chloramine in our water supply and from the advice of fish people, I've been using twice the amount of Prime to take care of that when using tap water for my aquarium. What are orchid people using to dechlorinate water?

ps: I do use RO water for orchids, but I've been told by aquarium folks that some RO systems don't get rid of chlorine/chloramine. thoughts?

[isurus79]

Following

[Ray]

Question 1: Yes, using dechlorinated water is recommended. If you don't, it pays to increase the concentration applied, to help compensate for the "kill". You're still not going to get the full benefit, but it's better than none at all.

Question 2: I think a dechlorinator that is safe for fish will be fine for plants.

Question 3: In my experience, including some chemical analyses, a decent, well-maintained RO system will eliminate all the chlorine an chloramine.

[estación seca]

7 Ways to Remove Chloramines | InTheSwim Pool Blog

My brother, who is a water purification chemical engineer, told me numbers 4, 5 and 6 are the most practical for non-swimming pool situations, and shocking with free chlorine is the best swimming pool solution. He wasn't addressing the issue of removing other things in the water, so RO didn't enter our discussion.

[Ray]

I recently purchased a large (20” x 4” diameter) activated carbon cartridge filter for my outdoor orchid irrigation. It ought to be good for 150,000-200,000 gallons before I need to replace it. It is designed for much higher flow than I’ll have, so it likely won’t provide much pressure drop.