I was committing a horrendous error, I was adding de-chlorinator to my water, the kind used for aquariums, only to find out it kills fungus in the tea! I wish I had well water but I don't. Can I use wood ash from my wood burning stove to de-chlorinate large volumes of water? I am trying to find a very cost effective way to de-chlorinate large volumes of water quickly, say 100 gallons at a time.

I'm going to install a rain harvesting system which will help, but it hardly rains here anymore. I read where one guy actually uses pond water to make his tea which I found interesting.

if what you mean is chlorinated water supplied to the domestic water connection, then just leave the water in buckets in the open and stir the water once or twice a day for about 4 or 5 days and then you can use that water.
all the best
sultan

QUOTE:
I was adding de-chlorinator to my water, the kind used for aquariums, only to find out it kills fungus in the tea!

Where did you hear this information?

I was under the impression that chlorine in water wasn't as big of a deal that people make it. I read, I think on here, that chlorine evaporates out mid spray, or pretty darn quick. I've always thought rule of thumb was let your water sit a day (24 hours), no stirring and its good to go.

I don't do retail or make huge quantities of castings and tea. But I use nothing but city water, which I don't let sit at all, and have no problems.

Any inputs from somebody who may no for sure?

You need to know for sure whether your local water supply uses free chlorine or chloramine. Many towns are switching to chloramine. Chlorine will disperse out of water if left in buckets overnight. Chloramine will not, and must be chemically dechlorinated.

To dechlorinate chemically (for either chlorine or chloramine), you want to use Sodium Thiosulfate. I very much doubt that would kill fungi in worm tea -- it's supposed to be an extremely benign chemical which you could even drink without harm. You should be able to buy enough to last you forever for $5 or $10. It comes as solid crystals which you dissolve in water. You then add just a couple drops per gallon to dechlorinate immediately.

Interesting subject . The first thing that jumps to mind is the swamp water thing . A little is good for microbes soooooo probably more is gooder . As for chlorine I have heard some stuff about if you take long showers that it releases chlorine gas which can be harmful . If this in fact is true then maybe the water that you put in the bucket overnight or for a full day should be hot water so the chlorine is already prone to "depart". If you have any access to swamp water then I would go for "The Full Monty" , that is to use IT only .Good luck .