It’s natural to be concerned about water contaminants, and to want the best water for every area and aspect of your home and yard. With an ever-increasing rise of new synthetic chemicals being added into the water table, and the wider world, seemingly every day, we should all be conscious of the threats lurking in our pipes, hoses, and coffee cups. Avid gardeners often wonder if they might have better results come harvest-time if they used filtered water instead of just feeding their plants municipal tap water. There are several different factors to consider here, so let’s dive in.

Understanding Water Quality for Gardens

The first thing to note is simply that yes, water quality will affect the quality of the crops that you grow, just as water quality affects the health of your body, and the way the meals you cook turn out. Water affects everything that it comes into contact with, especially living things, as all organisms on the planet require water for their ongoing physical processes. Without reliable access to clean, potable water, life is simply impossible to maintain. So, while there is a clear answer to the question of whether filtered water can be better for a garden than non-filtered, the confusion comes in when it comes time to make a specific decision about your water and your garden. Is the tap water in your area hurting your flowers, fruits, and vegetables? Or is it ok to keep using?

Later on, we will consider some specific signs and symptoms that your plants may be struggling with the water they are receiving, but for starters, take a broad view of your current water filtration situation. What is the water like in your area on the whole? A quick Google search should easily yield the most recent federally mandated water quality report for your city or municipality, so start there to hone in on the types of contaminants that your area is facing. Talk to neighbors with excellent gardens to see what they do to combat any problems in the water, and spring for a home water test if need be, to really isolate exactly what is happening in the water at your home. The more information you have on your specific water up front, the better off you will be, and the easier the whole process will become.

Signs Your Garden Water May Need Filtering

Some telltale signs of poor water quality inhibiting plant growth include visible damage to plant structures, such as brown or dead spots, discoloration, limp stalks, insufficient growth, poor soil that may be compacted, or water-logged, and hard white limescale deposits on plant leaves, stalks, or the soil, can all be indications of bad water quality. Trace amounts of contaminants, and even relatively hard water, shouldn’t damage plants exorbitantly, but if your water has elevated disinfectant levels, or is severely hard, then you may start to see some visible problems in your crops. Even if you don’t notice any wilting or drooping, if you can see the effects of heavy limescale elsewhere in your house, it may be an indication that the amount of mineral content in the water is higher than plants would prefer.

Types of Garden Water Filters

There are a few speciality garden filters on the market, but really, nearly any type of filter could conceivably work to filter garden water, though some are more advisable than others. Dedicated garden filters are likely to contain a combination of activated carbon, and KDF (kinetic degradation fluxion), a copper and zinc compound that is adept at reducing chlorine, chemical content in water, and a host of other common contaminants. KDF is prized for its ability to do a good deal of filtration work in a relatively small package, so it is often used in applications such as garden filters, shower filters, and RV filters, where space is limited. This type of filter can be excellent for a garden setting, but there are other options as well, and you can easily custom-build your own system, focusing on those elements and media that will address exactly what is in your water.

Sediment Filters

Sediment, and bits of particulate matter in your water may not be particularly harmful to the plants in your garden, but it depends on the nature of the sediment. Bits of dirt, sand, dust, or grit are all perfectly fine for plants, as that is the substance they are used to living in. However, there are new and emerging contaminants, such as microplastics, that definitely do pose a threat to living things. Plastic does not biodegrade naturally–instead, it gets ground and worn down into ever smaller bits and pieces, collectively known as “microplastics.” These bits of synthetic substance are being discovered everywhere on our planet, including in Arctic snow, and inside human blood. Plants definitely won’t benefit from a smattering of polyurethane particles, so utilizing a sediment filter is a good way to keep such problematic elements out.

Carbon Filters

Activated carbon is one of the oldest, most trusted, and most effective filtration media types in existence. Used since time immemorial to filter water, as well as pulling impurities out of smelted metal, carbon filters are made from charcoal produced from carbon-rich substances such as wood, bamboo, or coconut husks. The activated carbon matrix has a huge surface area, and is able to chemically pull contaminants out of solution, adhering them to itself in a process known as adsorption. Carbon filters are excellent at reducing chlorine, VOCs, PFAS, and a host of other chemical contaminants in water.

UV Filters

Ultraviolet filtration is a good tool to use when you suspect that your drinking water may have problems with microbial life. Usually this sort of thing isn’t a huge concern for watering plants in the garden, but if you have a strong concentration of E. Coli, or Coliform bacteria in your water, then you may wish to take the extra steps to sanitize the water before showering your home-grown veggies with it.

Reverse Osmosis

One of the most aggressive and intense forms of water filtration available today is reverse osmosis. An RO filter utilizes membrane technology to force clean water through microscopic pores, filtering out chemical contaminants at the molecular level. Much like a sediment filter, an RO membrane filters mechanically–that is, it only uses principles of physical restraint to trap and remove contaminants–unlike a carbon filter, which works chemically. Where an RO membrane differs is in the miniscule size of its openings, which are small enough to only allow pure H20 through, along with trace amounts of various contaminants. When reverse osmosis is paired with sediment and carbon filters, the combination is a potent one, with such a multi-stage system being capable of handling most anything that water may throw at it.

Inline Filters

If you are opting for a garden-only filter, then the easiest style to look for is an inline filter. These work just the way they sound–you simply screw the filter onto an appropriately sized hose fitting or other port, and start using the filter. Depending on the filter you choose, you may need to by a coupler or adapter to fit the filter onto your hose.

Benefits of Filtering Garden Water

Wherever you are filtering it, the benefits of cleaner water are simple and evident–you are taking fewer contaminants into your body when you filter the water that you drink, cook with, and water crops with. Everything that is in water will, in turn, get into growing things that utilize that water, including your spinach and tomatoes. If you don’t like your salads with a dose of PFAS on the side, then you can benefit from filtering your garden water.

How to Choose the Right Filter for Your Garden

Plants are somewhat forgiving when it comes to water quality, so don’t spend ages agonizing over this decision. Get a filter that removes the problematic elements in your water as well as can be expected within a reasonable budget, and use that water. Provided that most of the problematic elements are cleaned up, your plants should do just fine.

Conclusion

Water safety is human safety–the two go hand in hand. When it comes to the water we drink, and the food we eat, we often simply rely on governmental bodies to regulate these things for us, but sometimes the law is not as swift as technological progress. There are more dangerous elements in our water than there were forty years ago, and legislation often moves quite slowly. Get peace of mind and better crops this fall with a dedicated garden filter.

FAQs

Can filtered water improve my vegetable yield?

Potentially, though your yield will be determined by a wide range and variety of factors, of which water quality is only one.

How often should I change my garden water filter?

A dedicated garden filter should be good for an entire season of normal watering, though if your water is highly contaminated, that time may be reduced by as much as half.

Is rainwater better than filtered tap water for my garden?

Not necessarily–rainwater often contains smog, smoke, ash, tar, and other pollutants.