A Primer On Effective Chloramine Filters

Chloramines are perhaps the most damaging chemicals being applied to water treatment at various water  treatment plants throughout the country today, and contrary to what water suppliers have attempted to say about the subject for many years, it is now apparent that these compounds are potent carcinogens. Notwithstanding this information, utility companies around the country routinely misinform their customers, telling them that chloramines are effectively neutralized by stomach acids before they can reach the blood. It is also known that chloramines cause DNA damage and are potential carcinogens. They are extremely dangerous to all forms of fresh and salt-water fish because they are absorbed directly from the gills and transported directly into the blood causing death in a short period of time.

Chloramines can exist in three forms: monochloramine (NH2Cl); dichloramine (NHCl2) and nitrogen trichloride (NCl3) Monochloramine is the most difficult of the three chloramine species to remove because it is small (allowing it to pass through a reverse osmosis membrane).

Monochloramine is also the most chemically stable of the chloramine species, so it is the hardest to break down. It won't dissipate from the water as easily as chlorine, and it isn't as likely to combine with other chemicals; but chloramine isn't as good at killing off the microorganisms in the water as chlorine, so higher levels of chloramine are often used. Typically, water treatment plants use about 1 ppm of chloramine.

This realization forced the EPA to drastically lower the amount of these dangerous disinfection by-products it will permit in domestic drinking water supplies with a new regulation called the Stage 1 Disinfection Byproduct Rule.

This new regulation requires water producers to limit the running average to THMs to 80 part per billion in the distribution system. The rule was phased in gradually but all water utilities were required to comply with the new regulations by January 2004.When ammonia is added to chlorine in water treatment, chloramine is fomed. This is particularly nasty stuff and most water filtration systems including reverse osmosis and distillation systems will not remove it. The small pitcher-type filters will certainly not remove it. Right now, over 30% of the municipal water purification facilities use chloramine during some part of the year. Many cities in the U. S. and Canada have used chloramines either in place of or along with chlorine for decades. Denver, Colorado, for instance, has used chloramines since 1917. Omaha M.U.D. uses chlorine for primary disinfection (at the water treatment plant), and then chloramines for secondary disinfection (in the water distribution system). The Lincoln, Nebraska Water System uses ozone in the east plant and chlorine in the west plant for primary disinfection, but both plants use chloramines for secondary disinfection. So, you need to be concerned about what kind of water you have and know what works to make it safe.

The first thing you should be aware of is that chloramine can, in fact, be removed, but filtration for chloramine is very expensive when compared to filtration for chlorine. Don't expect to be able to purchase an inexpensive water pitcher or faucet type of filter. At a minimum, removing chloramine requires an extensive catalytic carbon filter followed by a reverse osmosis or cation filter. The carbon filter removes the chlorine and one approach is to use Catalytic Granular Activated Carbon CGAC made from Bituminous Coal. Catalytic carbon retains conventional carbon’s ability to adsorb contaminants but it also possesses greatly enhanced capacity to catalyze, to promote beneficial chemical reactions. It is by catalytic action that chloramine is reduced. Coal based carbon is the most inexpensive carbon filtration, but not necessarily the best. The reverse osmosis filter removes the ammonia and other contaminants.

There are some inexpensive chloramine filters on the market, but they are really not adequate for removing chloramine from your drinking water and the water you bathe and shower in… and it's important that you treat the water used for bathing and showering because the chloramine can be absorbed directly through your skin.

You should be extremely cautious about shower filters that claim to remove chloramine. Removing chloramine requires a slow water flow rate, and the high flow rate and large volume of water in a shower generally makes showerhead filters useless.

Sink water filters for chloramine handle low flow, cold water conditions only.

If you want to invest your money in a water treatment system wisely, remember that the primary purpose for a water filtration system is to make the water safe to use. If you focus on saftey, water filtration systems must do some very basic things. First, they must eliminate pathogens like bacteria. They must remove dangerous chemicals including prescrption drug residues. They must remove fluorides. They must remove chlorine and chloramines and in so doing they must allow the water to have sufficient time in contact with the catalytic carbon. Whole house systems require substantial amounts of carbon. A flow of 2 gallons per minute requires a cubic foot of carbon media so the average home will require 3 to 4 cubic feet in a backwashing filter to reduce the average amount of chloramine from 2 ppm to less than 0.1 ppm. In a drinking water appliance like most countertop or undercounter units, an entire 10" cartridge filled with the media is required on flow rates of 1/4 gpm. Ideally water treatment systems must be designed with redundancy so that if part of the system fails you will continue to get safe water. They should not require electricity to function. 

There is one additional item to consider. Chloramines make water quite acidic, which adds another problem to the mix. Depending on the degree of acidity, chloramines can cause accelerated corrosion in metal pipes which can add unhealthy levels of metals and minerals to your water. This corrosive effect can also contribute to the degradation of elastomers such as gaskets in the distribution system, which is a good reason to consider a whole house system if you do learn that chloramines are being used by your local water treatment plant.

So, for all practical purposes, the best solution for chloramine filtration is to use whole house filtration systems. That is usually an important step to take and it's important to know what works if you are going to spend that kind of money. There are really several important components to a water filtration system. First, a ceramic type of filter using silver is good for eliminating bacteria. Second, there are non-carbon components that can work chemically to convert chlorine and chloramine into harmless chloride. They also can remove heavy metals. The carbon filtration system is most frequently used to remove chloride and heavy metals, but if other chlorine removing substances are present, then the carbon filter is very effective at removing  organic contaminants. Most filters rely on carbon to do all the work. That is not the optimum approach. Finally, a micro filtration filter is important for removing other biological contaminants.

It's important to keep in mind that you should fit the water filtration system to your house and municipal water treatment. So the first step you should take are to find out exactly what kind of water you have. There are many kits suitable for measuring chloramine, with avrying limits of detection. Chloramines can be detected sing the same kit to test for ammonia, however, chloramine is difficult to measure quantitatively in low concentrations, and particularly when a conbination of chlorine and chloramine are presented. Therefore the best and most direct approach is to ask your local Municipal Water Treatment Plant if they are adding chloramines in the treatment protocol.

If you don't know who your water supplier is, the American Water Works Association's List of Water Utility Home Pages can help; or you can google water treatment for your city and state. If you own your own home another simple way to find your local plant’s contact info is to look on your water bill.

If your water treatment plant uses chlorine, you might want to regularly contact your water supplier, so that you are aware of any planned switch to chloramine. Slowly, more and more water treatment plants seem to be switching to chloramine.

Be aware as well that your treatment plant may occasionally increase the amount of chlorine or chloramine. So you might be somewhat fine 99% of the time, but the water treatment plant could suddenly increase the levels.  Future posts will reveal the Enjoy A Better World pick for the best filtrations systems to use.