Chloramines in your tap water are disinfectants used to treat swimming pools and drinking water.
They’re created by adding ammonia to chlorine and they come in three main forms:
- Monochloramine
- Dichloramine
- Trichloramine
Monochloramine is the strongest and is mainly used to treat the drinking water in water mains.
Trichloramines, on the other hand, are milder and more common in swimming pools.
What are Disinfection Byproducts?
Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are at the heart of the chloramine controversy.
DBPs are made when chlorine or chloramine mix with organic matter in water.
Worst of all, studies show they can have dangerous side effects, including birth defects and pregnancy complications.
How Common are Chloramines?
Chloramines in your tap water have become more popular in recent years as a supplement to chlorine.
Monochloramine has been used to treat drinking water for more than 90 years, especially in the US, Canada and Great Britain.
Several large US cities, like Philadelphia and Denver, have used chloramines for decades and the list gets bigger every year.
For now, let’s take a closer look at chloramine regulations in the US.
Who Regulates Chloramines In Drinking Water?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the amount of chlorine, chloramine and DBPs found in drinking water.
They require water utilities to meet strict health standards for average chloramine concentrations.
How Chloramines Help Keep the Public Safe
As you’ll soon find out, chloramine in your tap water can have some nasty side effects, but widespread disease outbreaks can be much worse.
Before the use of disinfectants, large groups of people would become sick or die from contaminated water.
Something as simple as a dead animal falling into a well could wipe out an entire town!
Chloramine and chlorine disinfection can reduce and even eliminate diseases like typhoid, hepatitis and cholera.
All those bacteria, viruses, and parasites don’t stand a chance!
With that said, chloramines and chlorine can’t kill everything. Cryptosporidium, for example, will survive.
How does chloramine disinfection work?
In order to kill as many germs as possible, water utilities use it in two stages:
- Primary disinfection: Chloramines are added at the water treatment plant to kill the majority of pathogens.
- Secondary disinfection: Chloramines are added to the distribution pipes on the way to consumers.
Most treatment plants combine chlorine and chloramine, but more on that in a sec...
Are Chloramines Really as Safe as Water Utilities Say They Are?
Although chloramines produce only a third of the DBPs of chlorine, it may still be dangerous.
Despite this, the EPA and Center for Disease Control and Prevention believe that the benefits of chloramines outweigh the potential health risks.
In their opinion, no studies indicate that chloramines are harmful to the skin or lungs, and cancer studies are inadequate.
But some early research tells a different story...
Potential Side Effects of Chloramines on Human Health
Chlorine has been studied for decades, but there’s limited research on the effects of chloramines.
Here’s what the earliest research has to say about the side effects of chloramines:
- Respiratory problems: Chloramine vapors in the shower and indoor swimming pools can cause DBPs to accumulate in the air. This may agitate respiratory problems and trigger coughing, choking, wheezing, shortness of breath and asthma.
- Skin problems: Chloramine can irritate the skin and cause rashing, flaking, blistering, itching, chapping, burning sensations and dry skin. It may also aggravate skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.
- Digestive problems and cancer: Chloramine may damage the gut lining. One study from the Journal of Gastroenterology even suggests that monochloramine may promote gastric cancer.
- Kidney and blood problems: Chloramine-treated water is dangerous for kidney dialysis patients because it can cause anemia. Other people may be more sensitive to chloramine DBPs due to age, genetics, and chronic health conditions.
Chloramines vs. Chlorine and other Disinfectants
Just how effective is chloramine?
Chloramines are best for disinfecting distribution pipes because they last longer and take a while to dissipate.
Overall though, chloramine is less effective than chlorine, so it works best when combined with other treatment methods like chlorine, ozone and UV light.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Monochloramine is about 2,000 and 100,000 times less effective than free chlorine for the inactivation of E. Coli and rotaviruses, respectively."
Most treatment plants use chlorine as a primary disinfectant and chloramine as a secondary disinfectant in distribution pipes.
Other fun facts about chloramine vs. chlorine:
- Chloramines are harder to remove than chlorine
- Some of chloramine’s DBPs may be even more toxic than chlorine
- In most cases, monochloramine is an ineffective primary disinfectant
- Chloramines are more chemically stable and last longer than chlorine
How to Remove Chloramines from Your Tap Water
Do you want to take the risk of drinking chloramines?
Unfortunately, removing it can be a pain.
It stays in water distribution systems longer and cannot be removed by boiling or distilling.
To remove chloramine, you’ll need to hit it with the one-two punch of extensive carbon filtration and reverse osmosis (RO).
Only a whole-house RO filter will protect your shower from toxic vapors, but all you want is to purify your drinking water then an under-sink RO system will do just fine.
RO filters combine sediment filters, carbon filters, ion exchange resins, RO membranes, and polishing filters to remove up to 99.9% of chloramines, chlorine and other harmful contaminants like arsenic and lead.
Whole-house filtration systems can cost between $10,000 to $15,000, but most under-sink systems go for only a few hundred dollars.
Cloud Water Filters come with white-glove installation. They also use built-in software to track water usage and automatically ship replacement filters right to your door.
Click here to learn more.
