In recent years, many water treatment plants across the country (including those in North Carolina) have been switching from using chlorine to chloramine as their primary disinfectant. Although this switch is becoming increasingly popular, many researchers, scientists and activists have expressed concern over the effects that chloramine can have on a home's water quality. Today we're going to talk about why water treatment plants are switching from chlorine to chloramine, the possible health consequences of the switch and what you can do to remove chloramine from your water!
What's the difference between chlorine and chloramine?
Chlorine disinfectant is simply made up of chlorine, whereas chloramine is a mixture of chlorine and ammonia. The choice between using one disinfectant over the other results in a tradeoff. Whereas chlorine is a more powerful disinfectant than chloramine, it dissipates much easier and therefore does not last as long. Chloramine, on the other hand, is the less powerful disinfectant of the two, but it is more stable and is able to remain effective for a longer period of time.
Why are water treatment plants switching from chlorine to chloramine?
Water treatment plants have been using chloramine as a secondary source of disinfection for a number of years, but recently there has been a push in many cities to switch to chloramine as the primary disinfectant. The reasons for this switch include:
- Chloramine is less expensive than chlorine, making it more budget-friendly for cities.
- Water treated with chloramine contains less amounts of chlorine, which improves the taste and smell of the water.
- Chloramine's disinfectant properties last for a longer period of time, which protects water as it travels through a city's water delivery system.
- Chloramine produces smaller quantities of trihalomethanes (THM's) than chlorine.
Why should you consider removing chloramine from your tap water?
Although it's true that chloramine produces less THM's than chlorine, it still produces small amounts of those dangerous chemical byproducts. Exposure to low levels of THM's has been linked to many serious health issues, including respiratory problems, weakened immune systems, digestive issues, skin rashes and cardiovascular problems.
Another issue with chloramine is that it releases its own set of chemical byproducts that are not found in water that's treated by chlorine alone. Many of these byproducts have not been well studied, which means they have the potential of producing health effects that we are currently unaware of. Some of the research that has been done on chloramine byproducts has suggested that they are 1,000 times more toxic than chlorine byproducts.
One additional problem with chloramine is that it has much more corrosive properties than chlorine. In homes with lead pipes, chloramine can corrode the pipes and allow lead to seep into the water supplies. Consuming drinking water with traces of lead is linked to some very serious health effects.
How can you remove chloramine from your tap water?
There are a number of filtration methods available for removing chloramine from your home's tap water, including carbon filtration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet lights. Both whole-house and point-of-use systems are available to remove chloramine from water. Because chloramine can have health effects both in drinking water and in the water vapors we breathe in while showering, we suggest installing a whole-house system that can remove the disinfectant from every single tap in your home.
If you have any questions about removing chloramine from water, or if you'd like a water system serviced or installed in your home, contact North Carolina Water Consultants, your water softener and water filtration system dealer in North and South Carolina. We provide service all over the Carolinas, including areas like Union County, NC, and York County, SC.