Dechlorinators
- Thread starter Swimfins
- Start date
blueturq said:Chloramines ARE used in some places in Canada.
Ottawa for example.
Chloramine is actually worse for a fish than chlorine because chloramine is ammonia and chlorine bonded together!
I stand corrected. Sorry for the error.
I looked up the MUC (Montreal urban community) water treatment. We still only use chlorine.
As for Toronto. The city has this in their publishing.
{quote} TORONTO’S WATER TREATMENT
All current modes of water disinfection result in by-products (Table 1). By-products of
chlorination have been studied most extensively, whereas much less is known about the byproducts
from other methods of treatment. Many factors, including the hardness, acidity (pH)
and temperature, will influence the levels of contaminants in the treated water. Given the
complex chemistry, minimising unwanted by-products is a complex undertaking. Table 2
outlines some of the advantages and disadvantages of the major drinking water treatment options
currently available. The choice of water treatment method is a delicate balance between risks
and benefits as changes at one point in the treatment system have effects at another.
Toronto uses a combination of chlorination for primary disinfection followed by the use of
chloramine for residual disinfection. Activated carbon filters are also used to help address the
taste and odour problems that occur when warm summers lead to higher lake water temperatures.
These carbon filters also help remove other pollutants such as pesticides. {quote}
For treating chlorine any product that uses Sodium Thiosulfate as it's main ingredient will do the job nicely. You can even make your own Dechlor if you can find a photoshop that sells it. I make mine and We also make our own at the store. It cost me $5 for a pound and a pound makes enough dechlor to treat roughly 800 000 gallons of tap water.
If you have chloramines you need a product with Sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate as it's main ingredient. It will neutalize both the chlorine and the ammoina in chloramines.
The two best known and highest rated on the market are Prime and Amquel.
If you have chloramines and use only a Sodium Thiosulfate base dechlor. The chlorine will be neutralized but the ammoina that is bound will then be released into your tank. Not Good.
But you can get around this problem by also using ammo-lock at the same time. Why would you want to have to buy two products though?
mishi8 said:
mishi8.
Do you know when Edmonton started to use them?
The paper I have from 1998 says that they don't. Then again the same paper says Ottawa doesn't and according to their city info they started in 1992.
ScottoMacD said:
No, I don't know. I just moved back here a couple of years ago (was in Vancouver for 10 years - where they treat their water very differently). This is the info from Epcor in Edmonton: http://www.epcor.ca/pages/water/WaterQuality/daily/wqdaily.html
I did a little searching and found out this in Toronto's Quarterly Water Quality Report (July-September 2003):
"Chloramine is the major component of the total chlorine residual. The maintenance of an adequate residual during water distribution essential to the protection of public health."
"These byproducts are formed by chemical reaction of chlorine with naturally occuring organic matter. The maintenance of a chloramine residual within the City's distribution system provides protection from microbiological contamination while minimizing further formation
of these chemicals."
Toronto's report lists chlorine residual levels in their reports...apparently this means they do have some level of chloramine! Might be worthwhile to check out Montreal reports more indepth as well.
mishi8
mishi8 said:
I actually have a copy from last fall from the ville de pointe claire water department.
It has all the specs for the city water and it is only chlorine. I asked for the report because the Big Al's I work at needed the documentation.
The one thing in the report that I did find that was quite a surprise (on a different note) was that there are two rivers that feed the Lac St.Louis. Depending on the time of the year one or the other will feed more. Hence the city then either increases or decreases the amount of chlorine in the water.
The odd thing is that they "bomb" the system for a two week period. No explaination was given. This bombing is usually done the last two weeks of march and the first two weeks of november. This bombing plays havoc with the tapwaters ph and we were warned to check the tap ph before doing water changes during those weeks.
Helps that the guy in charge is an aquarist and knew whay we were asking.
ScottoMacD said:
I guess it's a good idea to do periodic tap water tests then.
I find the daily (lists 7 previous days) Edmonton water reports handy too...good to cross check with my tests, and can give a clue if something is "off" with the tank parameters.mishi8
Chlorine will not stay in the water, it gasses off rapidly. that is why we can age water for 24hours and use no dechlorinator.
Chloramine if I understand it correctly is designed to hold the chlorine stable in the water and prevent it from gassing off. Therefore aging water with chloramines will not help.
Dave
