Chlorine is NOT the problem. CBP's Chloirine-by-products are the concern. Critical to learn what happens when chlorine reacts with other ' things '. Especially if you are going to drink it or bath in it. If you are going to drink the water then it is very important that the water being used be filtered as finely as possible to remove the greatest amount of ' things ' possible. The finer the filtration the better the quality of the water. Multi-step down to 1 micron (or 1 micron absolute) is probably recommended if you will drink it and GAC or GIP (granular activated carbon or granular impregnanted paper to remove any chlorine if you are an expectant mother. Certainly there should not be a chlorine odor if you are going to drink it or swim in it. THM's trihalomethanes of great concern in a swimming pool and more chlorine will make the situation worse not better. The over use of chlorine is not recommended since more complex by products are formed which are toxic to the human body. Conclusion: filtration filtration filtration will reduce the amount of chlorine required to maintain the distribution system. The concern of using UV in drinking water since it dechlorinates the water and may form UV by products is critical to investigate prior to installing a system used by a group of people.
We have had many complaints from customers in Florida that their chlorinated water tastes terrible. One municipality in Central Florida conducted a "burn-out" of their distribution system by switching from Chloramine to Chlorine for a couple of months. Cannot discuss treatment options with GAC or offer pricing on the Bulletin Board. Contact us privately to discuss.
As many of the DBP (disinfection by-products) precursors are dissolved in the source water, filtration alone will not eliminate DBP formation resulting from chlorine disifection. The EPA Ultraviolet Disinfection Guidance manual indicates that no significant by-product formation occurs with UV doses of 200mj or less. Any studies indicating the formation of by-products with chlorinated or unchlorinated water from UV irradiation alone used UV doses of 1000mj to 5000mj and used MP (medium pressure) lamps. Compared to the more commonly used LP (low pressure) monochromatic lamp technologies, the polychromatic output spectrum of MP lamps initiate higher levels of photo-chemical reactions. Present practice to reduce chlorine DBP formation is to filter the raw water, use UV as the primary disinfectant, and then use chlorimine as the residual disinfectant to maintain the water in the distribution system. This reduces DBP formation as the chlorimines are less reactive and can be dosed at lower levels while still maintaining the minimum disinfectant residual at the extremity of the water distribution system. The maximum UV dose of 40mj found in most home or small commercial / industrial systems would reduce the chlorine residual by .1ppm (EPA Ultraviolet disinfection guidance manual). This is obviously not a issue with most private water supplies such as wells, lakes etc.
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