Chlorine | Chloramine

How to Remove Chlorine from Drinking Water

Chlorine is added to water in order to destroy common bacteria, microbes, and pathogens that can work their way into a water supply. Disinfecting the U.S. water supply has eliminated the risk of many diseases, including salmonella, typhoid, cholera, and dysentery. Chlorine has undoubtedly kept us safe from these deadly diseases over the past few decades.
Chlorine is an element that occurs in nature as a gas. However, the gaseous form of chlorine is extremely hazardous to humans. In order to add it to water, chlorine must be pressurized until it becomes a liquid. However, even as a liquid, chlorine can have negative effects on your health.
Before we discuss how to remove chlorine in drinking water, let’s first look at the long-term health effects of consuming chlorine:

Long Term Effects of Chlorine

As a disinfectant, chlorine is very effective for protecting you from bacteria and other harmful microorganisms that can cause infectious diseases. In recent years, however, the practicality of adding a toxic chemical to drinking water has come into question.
The primary issue with chlorine is that it naturally reacts with organic compounds that are present in your drinking water.
Thus, the chlorine will create disinfection byproducts or DBPs. The most dangerous byproducts created are trihalomethanes (THMs). THMs have been linked to several serious health problems, including cancer and reproductive issues.

Effects of Chlorine on Skin and Hair

In addition to these alarming health problems, you might experience unwanted symptoms of drinking chlorinated water. If you swim often or bathe in water that is treated with chlorine, your skin and hair can become dry or irritated. Hair can also become frizzy and damaged. If you dye your hair, the color can fade more quickly.
Your body naturally protects your skin and hair by producing proteins and oils. Unfortunately, chlorine can undo your body’s natural protective processes. Chlorinated water washes away these proteins and oils, exposing your skin and hair to further damage. 

How To Remove Chlorine In Drinking Water

If chlorine does its job, your water may be free of microorganisms that cause diseases. However, once the water reaches your home, there is no need for you to consume or bathe in chlorine. Most people dislike the taste and odor of chlorinated water, in addition to its long-term effects on your body. If you want to learn how to remove chlorine from tap water without chemicals, one of the most effective methods is a carbon filter. 

Removing chlorine with carbon filters

The most common type of carbon filter is the activated carbon filter. This filter uses granular activated carbon to effectively reduce and filter many contaminants and unwanted components from your water.
Additionally, Nova uses coconut carbon, which is superior in its ability to not only remove chlorine, but also other contaminants as well. Coconut carbon has a higher capacity for chlorine removal, ensuring that the resulting water is virtually chlorine-free. Coconut carbon filters can even reduce TTHMs and chloramines in your water.
The popular faucet-mounted filtration systems use an activated charcoal filter to treat tap water. However, removal is based on dwell time or the amount of time the water remains in the carbon chamber. Alternatively, our Nova carbon filter is much larger than the faucet types, allowing water to spend more time in the carbon chamber.

Removing chloramine with carbon filters

Chloramine is a disinfectant that consists of chlorine and ammonia. Generally, if chlorine cannot reduce the bacteria in the drinking water to safe levels, ammonia can be added. This results in chloramine. Much like chlorine, chloramine can give water a bad taste and smell. Additionally, many of the same long-term health effects of chlorine are also present with chloramine.
We use the best-activated carbon in our Nova water purification system to remove both chlorine and chloramine. This aquarium-grade carbon is microporous, which is best for the removal of chlorine, chloramine, and their byproducts. We have lab tested our filters to ensure the best possible results.
Nova’s high-grade carbon is not available in retail stores. While there are lesser quality carbon filters on the market at a lower price, they will not deliver the same results as our Nova filters. That said, even a low-grade carbon filter can provide some protection from high levels of chlorine or chloramine in your drinking water.

Conclusion

Chlorine is commonly used in water as a disinfectant, but it can have unintended consequences on your health over the long-term. As a result, chlorine removal (or reduction) is imperative for ensuring the safety of your drinking water. Moreover, removing chlorine can greatly improve the taste and smell of your water. 

Learning how to remove chlorine in drinking water is not as complicated as it seems. With carbon filters, removing chlorine (and chloramine) becomes a fast and simple process. If you’d like to use one of the best carbon filters on the market, try the Nova carbon filter today!