joe55555
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does bad water affect tree and its fruits?

Hello, I have a small question I have been trying to search for info and details but I couldn't find any interesting link so I was wondering if anyone can help....

if someone has polluted water which isn't good at all and has a bad smell.
is watering fruity trees like apple, mango, apricot.... with such bad water affect the tree and its fruits and it is not healthy to eat from these fruit?

we asked some Dr. and there are two opinions.
---- 4 doctors said it is fine to water tree with any kind of water because this do not affect the fruits nor its vitamins and it cannot make microbes to human if we eat these fruits
---- 5 doctors said it is not healthy at all !!!

I really don't know who is right and who isn't !?
so anyone has any clue or any idea about that issue !?

Thank you

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applestar
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Can you elaborate about "polluted water"? I get that it's not potable but HOW is it polluted. How do you define "bad smell"?

joe55555
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Bad smell like sewers and the water is somewhat jelly... they took an echantilon for test and the result showed no sewers or drain in it but not clean water at all... the thing is that how do some doctors say it can be used to water trees and others say of course not to use it to water any kind of plants pr trees

JONA
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The trees and their fruit should not be affected...but....the soil below them could be contaminated. This could be passed to any boots, containers etc that are placed on it. So beware of that. Also if any of the fruit is low to the ground there is the possibility for rain splash to carry infection onto the fruit.
(This is something that fruit growers are careful of because of phytophthora infection which is a soil pathogen that can get on the fruit from wheel scrape and rain splash, and causes rot.)

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GardeningCook
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I don't know about the science behind it, but since fruit itself consists of so much water (which has to come from somewhere), I'd find it extremely unpalatable to eat fruit from trees being watered (& thus absorbing) polluted water.

JONA
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GardeningCook wrote:I don't know about the science behind it, but since fruit itself consists of so much water (which has to come from somewhere), I'd find it extremely unpalatable to eat fruit from trees being watered (& thus absorbing) polluted water.

No GC...in plants this does not apply. Think of all the 'night spoil' that was used in days gone by to fertilise fields and gardens.. If the plants took these pathogens into their seeds and fruits we would have ceased to exist long ago.

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applestar
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Isn't it true that water is absorbed by plants by reverse-osmosis?

So I'm thinking that aside from transferred contamination as JONA mentioned, it's the water soluble and perhaps radioactive pollution that would be our significant concern.

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GardeningCook
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Like I said - the science aside - I simply wouldn't find it palatable from a mindset point of view.

JONA
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It's quite an interesting subject Star. From what I can find
basic pollution is no worry. Many countries have used polluted water for irrigation for decades with no effects, the plants filter the pathogens very effectively. However it seems that rare metals can be a problem in some pollutants. But...even in those cases it was in root vegetables that the problems happened.
The real problem with polluted water appears to be In contamination by direct contact between the water and the fruit or seed, and this is can so easily happen at any time in the plants growth.

JONA
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One interesting thing that happened to us here on the farm.
We use our reservoir for frost protection mainly as we are in a frost pocket ,so it was built to give us that aid in the spring time.
However, in hot summers it doubled as a source of irrigation water for the orchards via the overhead frost sprinklers. But...we are on heavy Wealden clay that contains very high iron deposits. These were settling out in the bottom of the reservoir and so getting sprinkled onto the fruit in the summer months. The iron was then oxidising on the fruit and causing severe russeting and making the affected fruit unsaleable.
Just shows how even accidental contaminates can bring problems.

CharlieBear
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This is a complex issue. If it is residential run off don't use it, it is contaminated with petrol chemicals. I am concerned about the viscosity of this water (thickness), that makes me wonder about what is really in it. It could contain heavy pesticide residues or heavy metals. If it does, you don't want to use it for anything. The smell, well that could be from anything even a dairy farm, in which case the water would be fine to use. If you take the rinse water from the washer and let is set overnight in the summer to use in the morning it will begin to develop that smell you describe and would not harm the plants at all. If it is from a well, then the testers should be able to tell you if it is safe to use. Without seeing the test results and knowing where it is coming from as well as smelling it etc, no one can really answer your questions, not even this environmental engineer.



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