How often have you been to a restaurant, drank the water, and it smelled like a swimming pool?  Probably too often.  You can also experience this obnoxious smell when filling a glass of water at your home.  For homes on city water, you experience this because municipalities must add certain chlorine levels to keep the water safe from bacteria and contaminants.  The smell is always stronger the closer a home is to the treatment plant.

Further concerning, some municipalities now use chloramines, a mixture of chlorine and ammonia, to treat the water.  How does adding chlorine to city-supplied water affect your home?  What are the solutions to remove the contaminant?

Costs associated with chlorinated water can range widely, depending on the appliance and the parts to be replaced.  All home appliances have rubber gaskets and seals.  Chlorine’s harshness attacks the rubber seals and gaskets, causing them to malfunction.  It could be rubber parts in your washing machine, dishwasher, or kitchen faucet.  In the home’s plumbing, leaky faucets leak due to seals becoming warped.  Likewise, when a toilet leaks water, the flapper in the toilet tank doesn’t seal right.

Another issue with city-supplied water is the resin bed inside a water softener.  The water softener uses resin, tiny plastic beads, to make soft water.  When the resin is exposed to chlorine, it mushes together and causes no soft water within the home.  The cost to replace resin in a water softener can cost hundreds of dollars.  In addition, any water-using appliance using rubber hoses, such as a kitchen faucet, can leak over time because the chlorine will oxidize the rubber.  Have you ever experienced a water leak?  There is no value on damaged valuables.

Although it is safe to drink certain chlorine levels, the US EPA recommends four mg/L, which is not the preference of many people.  In addition to chlorine’s objectionable odor and taste, it can fade clothes faster, making you replace clothes.  Chlorinated water will also dry out skin and hair, leaving you to moisturize your skin and hair constantly.

These costs alone are enough for many homeowners to research potential solutions.  A simple dechlorinator with activated carbon will remove any chlorine odor and taste from the water.  The activated carbon will absorb the chlorine, therefore, giving your home odor-free water.  With a dechlorinator, there are no chemicals or salt to add continuously.  The only cost associated with a dechlorinator is that the media becomes exhausted and must be replaced over time.  Another option is to use reverse osmosis at your kitchen sink.  These systems are great for reducing not only chlorine levels in the water but also other contaminants.  With a reverse osmosis system, your drinking water is only water.

Chlorine is necessary to treat water as it moves from the water plant to your home.  It is not essential once it enters your home.  It will cost your home money it does not have to spend.  The next time you grab that glass of water, take a moment and think about the water you’re drinking.  Is it the best water for me? When you have questions about your water, don’t hesitate to reach out to us or call 815-385-3093.