Chloramine removal

[RussiReef]

Hello All,
I am currently using chloramine filter to remove chloramine from the water. Also, have heard that Calcium Ascorbate helps to remove chloramine as well. Did anyone have experience in use of this or other suggestions?

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

What kind of chloramine filter are you using? You need a standard RO sized carbon filter to break the ammonia and chlorine bond that is chloramine. Downstream of that you NEED a DI cartridge to absorb all of the ammonia released by the breaking of the chloramine bond.

Or, you can use Prime. I use it on all my freshwater tanks.

 

[DED65]

+1 on the Prime. I buy Safe which much more concentrated than the Prime. I also use this in my freshwater tanks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What sort of chloramine filter and why are you concerned it isn't working?

I discuss chloramine and how to remove it in detail here:

Chloramine and the Reef Aquarium - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/rhf/feature/index.htm

 

[Myka]

Fwiw, I deal with chloramines in the tap water here too, and test my system for chlorine often. I bought a bottle of pool strips that test total chlorine and free chlorine (the difference is the amount of chloramine) from a hot tub store. In my system, with a 150 GPD membrane and 1 micron sediment and 1 micron carbon (nothing fancy), the system is able to remove all traces of chlorine and chloramine according to those strips. I have a single DI resin at the end, and it is able to get all the ammonia as far as my multiple test kits can tell (Salifert, API, and Seachem). The RO membrane is over 6 years old, and has filtered THOUSANDS of gallons of water (for a couple years it was making 200 gallons of RO/DI per week) with tap TDS of about 180-220 ppm depending on the time of year. The membrane is still producing only 2-3 ppm TDS. I do flush it after every use. If there was any chlorine getting to the membrane it would have been toast a long time ago. So my point being, you may not need all those fancy cartridges that are so well advertised.

 

[jason2459]

FYI, apparently chloramines are much less damaging to an RO membrane then chlorine is. You can see that in the spec sheets for the RO membrane.

 

[RussiReef]

What kind of chloramine filter are you using? You need a standard RO sized carbon filter to break the ammonia and chlorine bond that is chloramine. Downstream of that you NEED a DI cartridge to absorb all of the ammonia released by the breaking of the chloramine bond.

Or, you can use Prime. I use it on all my freshwater tanks.

Yes, You are absolutely correct. Currently, I am using SpectraPure 5 stage RO/DI system.

 

[RussiReef]

What sort of chloramine filter and why are you concerned it isn't working?

I discuss chloramine and how to remove it in detail here:

Chloramine and the Reef Aquarium - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/rhf/feature/index.htm

Hello Randy,
I read your article and it is very informative. Thank you.
Currently, I am using SpectraPure 5 stage Ro/DI system and chloramine filter CF-CR-1-10. It looks like that the system is working, but if the system does not purify all of the cloramine, as an extra precaution, I would like to know if Calcium Ascorbate will help to remove it.
Your advise will be greatly appreciated.

 

[bbgobie]

Will be picking up some test strips just in case, but I've been reading about this for a while now.
Here's my areas water report, it states they use Chlorine and aqua ammonia which apparently is what combines with Chlorine to make chloramine, so is this just a different way of saying they use chloramine?
https://www.peelregion.ca/pw/water/quality/reports/2018/pdf/south-peel-water-drinking-system.pdf

 

[Myka]

FYI, apparently chloramines are much less damaging to an RO membrane then chlorine is. You can see that in the spec sheets for the RO membrane.

Absolutely, but thousands of gallons? The RO membrane would be affected by the chloramines or the resulting chlorine at this point, and it is not.

 

[jason2459]

Absolutely, but thousands of gallons? The RO membrane would be affected by the chloramines or the resulting chlorine at this point, and it is not.

Ok?

Refresh my memory are you not changing your your carbon filters?

I've been extremely happy with my buckeye hydro setup and rarely have to change my DI. I do have carbon filters up front I change just out of precaution once a year.

 

[Lasse]

I do not know if Calcium ascorbate will transfer the chloramines into Nh3/NH4 and chlorids but C- vitamine (ascorbin acid) do it for sure. Normally a tablespoon to 100 - 200 litre is enough.

Sincerely Lasse