Chloramines in city water

18 years ago

I was reading that in combination with chlorine the city water provider also uses chloramines as a secondary disinfectant. Not that they are used in very high quantities but in looking to create a batch of compost tea I found that the normal aeration process to gas off the chlorines does nothing to rid the water of the chloramines. I just wanted to inform those compost tea makers on the forum that the only good way of removing them from tap water (if your provider uses them) is to use an active carbon filter (which would also eliminate the need to aerate). I suppose another alternative would be to capture some rainwater or find someone with a well. I found an active carbon filter on the walmart site for $5 or so; I was thinking of rigging something up with an old garden hose and some fittings so I could just run some water right through from the tap.

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Comments (5)

dchall_san_antonio
18 years ago
Fortunately we are not all so fortunate as to be blessed with chloramines.

I made my own filter out of some 2-inch PVC fittings, Schultze brand activated carbon (from a big box garden center), and zeolite (from 100% zeolite kitty litter). If you open up a Pur tap water filter you will find most of it is zeolite with less than 5% being carbon. Unfortunately I have no way of telling whether the filter is working.
lou_spicewood_tx
18 years ago
You could collect rainwater. That's what I do with my 30 gallon trash can under the roof eave...

But I never got around to making compost tea. I end up watering container plants.
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bullsigh
18 years ago
I listen to a local gardening show on weekend mornings. Someone called in a couple of weeks ago and said they have a well and have to add bleach to the water and were unable to use the well water on their garden. The show host said there are garden hose filters (the caller had a hose hooked up to the well). I am thinking about getting one for our house--even though we have City water--like you--it is treated with chloramines--a combo of chlorine and ammonia--as I understand it. We stopped consuming our household water when we discovered that pet fish can't live in it without adding chemicals to their water--you can't just let the water age when they use chloramines (also the annual water report that told of "acceptable" levels of several chemicals and pathogens helped us decide to forgo the City water). The filters are used mostly by people with ponds to fill or who would like to use as few chemicals as possible on their yards. I found several online by Googling "filter, garden hose"

Bullsigh
skoot_cat
18 years ago
I feel your pain, my county's water also adds chloramine. To top it off they also add the lovely chemical fluorosilic acid (Fluoride), which comes from Florida's phosphate fertilizer industry. (But, thats another story, I just had to vent) Luckily I have a well for my irrigation system.

For my drinking water I use a Triple Undersink Water filter system. Filter 1 CGAC For reduction of chloramine- Filter 2 - DeFluoridation, Filter 3 KDF/GAC for further reduction of chlorine, ammonia and over 500 other contaminates. I purchased this unit for under $200.

Most high quality home water filters will only reduce the amount of chloramines in the water. There are some filters that will completely remove them, but they are costly. The only single media filter I could find to greatly reduce chloramine is a CGAC Catalytic Granular Activated Carbon.

As with most water filters the flow rate is important for effective reduction of contaminates. The longer chloramine is in contact with the media, the greater the reduction. (ex, 1.0 gallon per minute) With that in mind I highly doubt a garden hose filter on full blast is going to be effective at reducing any contaminates.

I like the rain water idea but, If you plan on making your own as suggested above I would go with the C-GAC media (see link below) and zeolite. This filter would only be effective if used at a very low flow rate.

Here is a link that might be useful: CATALYTIC GRANULAR ACTIVATED CARBON
fescue_planter
Original Author
18 years ago
Well I decided to cook up a batch of compost tea and hopefully what I did to get rid of the tap water contaminates will work. I took about 18" of 1-1/2" PVC pipe and filled it with activated carbon filter material I got at walmart (~$5) and capped both sides with a paint filter material. Then I filled up my 5 gallon bucket by pouring water through the pipe (it took FOREVER). Some of the finer carbon dust got through at first but not enough to discolor the water (I don't think it is toxic to bacteria/fungi).

It's brewing up now in a modified Deuley's contraption that I think will be a lot easier to use in the future than the old style. I first a 3" long piece of 3"ID PVC, capped one end with a pressure test cap and filled it with wet sand and then capped off the other end (whole thing is a weight). Then I used a coupler to attach that to another 3" long piece of 3"ID PVC (the caps don't get in the way). Then I drilled 2 holes for the air stone lines in the open side and filled it with some compost and then rubber banded a filter over that (drain tile sock material). Now all I do is throw it in and it sinks and stands upright and it's fully reusable and durable!