Chlorine and Chloramines

What is Chlorine?

Chlorine is used to disinfect water and to treat sewage and industrial waste (1). It is important to have chlorine in your water for transportation to ensure your water gets to your house safely. However, once the water gets to your house, the chlorine serves no use. It can impact the taste and smell of your water (2) as well as causing unnecessary chemical exposure.

What are Chloramines?

Chloramines are formed from the reaction between ammonia and chlorine. Many cities use chloramines to disinfect municipal water supplies because they do not combine with organics to form carcinogens. Chloramines are available in three forms. The amount of each form present depends on the physical and chemical properties of the water. Water treated with chloramines should not be used for fish or kidney dialysis equipment (3).

What does it do to my plumbing?

Chlorine is a strong oxidant that breaks down plastic and rubber seals & gaskets (3). This affects appliances as well and can cause leaks in your plumbing. Chloramines are corrosive and can cause pitting and pinhole leaks in pipes leading to costly repairs. They also cause bad taste and odor in your water (3).

What does it do to my health?

Chlorine has the potential to combine with organics in the water to form carcinogens like trihalomethanes (THMs). According to a study published by the National Institute for Health, drinking chlorinated drinking water is correlated to developing bladder cancer (4).

To find out if your town uses these disinfectants and what's in your water, check out these links:

https://projects.newsday.com/whats-in-long-island-water/

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/toxic-waters/contaminants/index.html

https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/#.W2jLuihKhnI

Carbon Filter

Chlorine is removed from the water using granular activated carbon which improves the taste and odor of your water by absorbing chlorine and other organic matter. To remove chloramines from your water, a special catalytically enhanced carbon is used. Coconut carbon is the best source for this filter because of its micro pore sizes which capture small contaminants (5)

Benefits of a Carbon Filter

Through the use of carbon filters, your water will taste and smell better. It will also prevent unnecessary exposure to chemicals both through inhalation, absorption through the skin, and through ingestion. These filters can also decrease your exposure to carcinogens. Carbon filters get rid of:

• Bad taste and odor

• VOCs

• Pesticides

• Herbicides

• Disinfection byproducts (THM)

• Halogens

• Chlorine

• Benzene

• Radon

Sources:

(1) https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/emergency/chemical_terrorism/chlorine_tech.htm

(2) https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/chlorine-disinfection.html

(3) https://novowater.com

(4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12594192

(5) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140607105215-105135096-why-coconut-shell-activated-carbon-filters-are-most-preferred-pre-filters-in-the-drinking-water-purification-industry/