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Toxins in the Water Supply

The water company can be your friend or your foe.

Chlorine or chloramine are routinely added to the water in many parts of the world. A simple color test kit will determine the presence and concentration of either. Removal of chlorine or chloramine is part of the process known as conditioning your water.

There is more than one way to skin a cat, and there are many ways to condition your tapwater. Conditioning is the process of adjusting the chemistry of the water to bring it into line with the requirements of the fishes you are keeping.

Chlorine is readily removed from tapwater by activated carbon prefiltration, aging the water, or permitting contact of the water with the air through the use of a spray. Chlorine can also be removed by adding prepared chlorine removers. If you are conditioning your water with reverse osmosis or deionization, these processes remove virtually all toxins (and a lot of necessary elements as well, that must be replaced), but more about reverse osmosis and deionization later.

Chloramine is a combination of chlorine and ammonia, and some water companies need to use this for disinfection of the water supply. Chlorine is not good for fishes and chloramine is worse. If your test reveals chloramine, be sure to use a water conditioner that is chloramine specific. Aeration will not remove chloramine.

Written by Mary Ellen Sweeney