Re: [compost_tea] Chlorine, bacterial resistance to

From: Ted Peterson <ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net>
Date: Mon, 3 May 2004 21:25:19 -0700

----- Original Message -----
From: Jeff Lowenfels
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, May 03, 2004 5:33 PM
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Chlorine, bacterial resistance to


<<<It seems there may be other factors afoot that may explain why tea can b=
e brewed using drinking water. >>>>

Ted,

What are you talking about? There was nothing in that article that suggest=
ed tea should or could be made using drinking water with chlorine.....What =
am I missing. These kinds of blank statements are not helpful to those who =
are learning how to make and use tea, IMHO.

Jeff et al.

I must be miswriting or assuming or something. I thought my explanations w=
ere pretty clear but the whole of what I write usually has to be read and d=
igested to see where the individual statements fit into the whole. I will =
correct that in the future and make sure that each and every statement I ma=
ke is explained in context. Sorry for the confusion.

What I was stating was that most people use tap water for their water sourc=
e. Tap water in most cities contains either chlorine or chloramine. The w=
ater can be dechlorinated (without adding a chemical dechlorinating agent) =
by some simple steps. One of those is filtration. The other is aeration. =
 Another is letting the water sit in the sun. UV reacts with chlorine and =
causes it to gassify and leave water. According to people I have talked wi=
th, that is anywhere from 1 to 12 hours. Chloramine is different. UV has =
less effect on it. It can be cleared with aeration but takes longer. My e=
xperiments were based on a 6-24 hour time span. I brewed tea and tested fo=
r biomass during that time. In other words, I aerated for 6 hours then bre=
wed for 6 and tested the tea. Then I aerated for 8 and brewed for 6 and te=
sted. Then 10 and so on. So my brewing time was always the same, my compos=
t was always as similar as I could make it (2 quarts) and I added the exact=
 same amounts of inputs. The only things that changed were the time (day/n=
ight, morning/afternoon) and the amount of time I aerated before brewing. =
 

I noticed that there was no remarkable change when I aerated longer than 6 =
hours. I got the 6 hour figure from California Coastal Water District who =
manages our local water. I asked them how long to dechloramine the water. =
 They gave me that figure. So I filter with charcoal and aerate for 6 hour=
s. However, I will probably run a test to see if I don't aerate but just f=
ilter the water and see what happens. Then I can report that back.

You know if we sell brewers to homeowners, it is getting pretty complicated=
 to have them dechlorinate their water before use. Most will do it once an=
d then go back to miracle gro becuase it is much simpler and less time cons=
uming. I am trying to find ways that the typical homeowner user can find b=
rewing fun and worthwhile. Commercial brewers (us mostly) should have the =
water thing all figured out anyway.

Ted Peterson
EW/SOE



Received on Tue May 04 2004 - 12:23:46 EDT

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