Tap Water Chlorine Removal

[Balakrishnan]

Hi,

I am using tap water only.  I have no other source.

If I use a Bio-filter with the following materials stacked and compacted in a 7" PVC Pipe,

will it remove all chlorine, chloromine and other sediments, etc.,

    a) Rock Gravels

    b) Seived Soil

    c) Bio-Char (Char Coal)

 

Please advice

Regards

 

[Jessica Johnson]

Your first step should be finding out whats in your tap water. If you have chlorine (and not chloramines) you can just aerate the water for a few days with an air stone and it will off gas the chlorine. If you have chloramines I would suggest using vitamin c to neutralize it because the bio-filter you list above will not remove chloramines.

[Balakrishnan]

Hi,

Thanks.  Just go through the att. pdf.  a filter in ebay to remove chlorine, chloromine etc.,

Will this work for long? 

Is it worth for this cost?
 
Jessica Johnson said:

Your first step should be finding out whats in your tap water. If you have chlorine (and not chloramines) you can just aerate the water for a few days with an air stone and it will off gas the chlorine. If you have chloramines I would suggest using vitamin c to neutralize it because the bio-filter you list above will not remove chloramines.

[Jessica Johnson]

I have used one to fill up a children's pool and the reason it is not recommended for fish is because it does not remove all the chloramines. It took our tap water down by 1ppm but that's not enough to be safe for the fish. I was hoping for better results. I got ours on Amazon for $19.99 US but that was 2 summers ago and looks like the price has gone up to $35 US. http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Hose-Filter-Chloramines-Pesticides/dp/...

[Suzanne Hayes]

How do you us vitamin C? Can you just dissolve a vitamin C tablet or is there more to it than that?

[Glenn]

To neutralize 40 gallons of tap water known to be treated with chloramine and/or chlorine, I first aerate (air bubbler) to degas the free form gasses like chlorine and ammonia. Then, I mix in 1000MGs (about 1/4th teaspoon) of ascorbic acid powder. They are all pretty much the same. but in the powder form, it's a lot cheaper than using vitamin C tablets. This neutralizes the chloramine bond of ammonia and chlorine and frees them for gassing to atmosphere. 

Ascorbic acid is very stable and safe in such low dosage but will somewhat lower pH. a little. I don't advise using the sodium version of vitamin C but it might have less effect on pH and be less effective or take longer to neutralize Chloramines than ascorbic acid does.

I try to have 40 gallons of water available for topping off and emergency water exchanges.

[Jessica Johnson]

I use basically the same method as Glenn. I fill up my 55 gallon barrel with water from my hose. I add 1/4 level teaspoon of Vitamin C and mix it up. I add an air stone from my air pump and let it sit for 24 hours. I always use a test strip to make sure the chloramines have been removed. Twice I have had the water test positive for chloramines after 24 hours, so I added another 1/8 level teaspoon of Vitamin C and let it sit for an additional 24 hours and tested again. I think this was due to the city water fluctuating so make sure you test. Just because 1/4 teaspoon worked before doesn't mean it's doing the job every time. 

I buy my vitamin c (ascorbic acid) on amazon, I prefer to buy food grade so I can use it for other things as well. The chloramine removal doesn't use much!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AYIM9ZM/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=...