Chloramine & Chloramine Removal

The recent debate over water fluoridation in Calgary has lead to a lot of discussions amongst my peers and colleagues.  It has brought up chats over the broad range of chemicals in the water - some naturally occurring (arsenic, sulfates, sodium, etc.), some due to pollution (hexavalent chromium, hydrogen sulfide, etc.), and some are there because we feel it is appropriate and/or the risks are outweighed by the benefits of their addition (chlorine, chloramine, fluoride, etc.)

In speaking with a Spruce Grove family about this, their concern was over the chlorine in the water supplied by the city of Edmonton.  Several years ago, Edmonton switched from adding straight chlorine for disinfection, to a mixture of chlorine and ammonia known as "chloramine."  There are a few advantages to this, namely:

1. Less is needed to maintain effective dosage.  Because chloramine doesn't tend to dissipate into the air the way chlorine does, less is required to ensure a strong enough level reaches the homes at the end of the supply chain.  If you've ever poured a pitcher of water and let it sit in the fridge overnight to get rid of the stink, it was the chlorine that was off-gassing.  Over a few hours, it would dissipate and the odour would be gone.  This doesn't happen with chloramine, so leaving it overnight will do little to reduce the chemical load in the water - only the "free chlorine" or a very small portion of the chemical can be removed this way.
2. Less disinfection byproducts are produced.  Most people think chlorine is added just to disinfect the water - but when it is added, it reacts with organic compounds in the water to form disinfection byproducts.  Chlorine is an oxidizer and acts similar to fire.  Just as fire burns organic materials and produces "ash" - chlorine reacts with organics and converts them as well.  The difference being, this "ash" stays in the water and you end up drinking it and bathing in it.  By switching to chloramine, fewer of these byproducts are produced.  -NOTE: they are still created, just fewer and slightly different forms of them are produced.
3. Cost.  The chemical is relatively inexpensive and because it doesn't dissipate as much as straight chlorine does, less is required.  This translates to a cost savings by the city.
4.  Odour.  Ammonia reacts with the chlorine and changes the putrid smell to a more-tolerable one.  It is still very noticeable - if you pour a glass of tap water and a glass of reverse osmosis treated water and just give it the "ole sniff test" you'll immediately know which is pure and which is chemical laden...

The down-side?  It is much-harder to remove.  Simple carbon filters (like those typically found on shower head filters) will NOT remove chloramine.  In order to remove it, catalytic carbon with a lot of contact time, or special metallic filters are required.

Because the shower filters this family initially inquired about aren't recommended for chloramine removal, we discussed a whole-home option to accomplish this.  The clients were not interested in a water softener, or a combination unit would have been recommended.  Although I personally feel every home should have softened, conditioned water, this simply was not what they were after.

As such, a chloramine reduction filtration system was installed.  This is a special filter unit that requires little to no maintenance to keep going and you don't need to add salt or any chemicals to make it work.  The filter has a special metallic compound which removes the chloramine, then the water passes through a bed of granular activated carbon to remove the chlorine, the organics and other contaminants that affect taste, odour and (in some people's opinion) the safety of the water.

The system runs around the clock and cleans itself in under 15 minutes once a week.  The set up will last them about 5 years before the media needs to be changed out, and in the meantime, no maintenance or upkeep is required by the family.  Odour and chemicals gone - no impact on lifestyle!