How Water Purification May Affect Your Gardening
When you purchase a "whole-house" water purification system, there may be one detail you forgot. This is the use of purified water on your garden. Do you know how the purified water will affect your flowers, fruit trees, and vegetable plants? What about the grass? Sometimes the technicians who install these systems are able to answer these questions. Sometimes they cannot, and you will need to ask a horticulturist. Take a look at some of the possible effects of using purified water to water your garden.
The Purification Element and Soil pH
Plants and flowers are finicky things. They like the pH levels in the soil to be just a certain way. Depending on what you have planted, the current pH of the soil in your yard, and the purification element used in your water system, things could be affected for the worse, or for the better.
If you want to be sure that the purification element (e.g., sodium chloride, potassium chloride, etc.) does not have a negative effect on your garden plants, have the soil tested first. Standard salt (i.e., sodium chloride) as a purifying agent will have almost no effect on the soil and plants because it is an element found quite naturally in soil. It is also too diluted in your water to cause any issues. Potassium chloride is a little different, as it can make plants healthier and grow better. Coal and other purification elements have stronger effects on plants and soil.
The Physical Plant Parts above Ground
Plants do not typically absorb moisture above ground. If you are growing any sort of plant that "drinks" above ground, opt to water it with collected rainwater or distilled water instead of purified water from a garden hose. Then you do not have to worry about how these particular plants will be affected. Unless indicated by water and soil testing otherwise, spraying down bushes, trees and plants with the hose or sprinkler should be fine, considering that the water will drip off these plants anyway.
An Alternate Idea
If you ask your water systems technician to avoid connecting the purification system to certain pipelines, he/she is able to do that. Point out which pipes and outdoor spigots you want to avoid. Then you can use your garden hose to continue watering the garden with hardened water just as you were before. Some people who know that you can ask for this alteration during the installation process do just that, thereby avoiding the question of how the purified water will affect the garden.
If you still have questions or concerns, contact services such as Houston Water Products.