Absence of chlorine in tap water

JungleAquatics · Mar 23, 2011

Hi Tom,
You are more than welcome to confirm this with Dr. Bodo Schnell from SERA Germany, I have PM his details to you.
Hope this helps.

TomK · Mar 23, 2011

JungleAquatics said: ↑

Hi Tom,
You are more than welcome to confirm this with Dr. Bodo Schnell from SERA Germany, I have PM his details to you.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks Bryan, got it and will do.

Tom

JungleAquatics · Mar 23, 2011

Pleasure

TomK · Mar 26, 2011

Herewith Dr. Bodo's answer.

Hello,

> our local water board does not use chlorine as a disinfectant, but
> rather chloramines.

this is rather common, and so is using chlorine dioxide instead of
chlorine itself.

> The dealer here ensures me that the test kit will indicate
> chloramines as well, if present.

... which is correct.

> I tested my pool water and get a positive reading when I just dosed
> my pool with chlorine, but a day or two later, nothing. I know my
> chlorine in the pool can evaporate very quickly, especially if water
> conditions is not right.

It also reacts with any kind of organic matter (this, of course, is
exactly what it is supposed to do), which reduces the chlorine level as
well. Sunlight (in particular, the UV it contains) also triggers
chemical reactions involving the chlorine, thus lowering its level.
It is therefore very common that you cannot detect chlorine
anymore after a short while.

> My concern is however my tap water. How can I be sure that there is
> no chlorine or Chloramines present in my tap water? I do not see
> anywhere that Sera claim that it does indicate chloramines as well.

It does . Chloramines are usually detected in 'free chlorine
equivalents' - which includes that their levels are not described in
chloramine concentrations but are simplay treated as if they were plain
chlorine.

> It does not help asking our water people for an analysis, as I do
> not believe anything they say. For one thing, I do not believe they
> will admit to not disinfecting the water supply.

Why shouldn't they? Just as an example: Tap water in Germany is quite
often not disinfected in any way, simply because it is not necessary. It
is, however, *very* strictly monitored. And if bacteria, pathogens or
the like ever reach critical amounts, disinfection will be applied right
away.

> You will just get a vague reply like, they use 'other methods'.

Which is probably true - they may, for instance, use UV-C irradiation.

> So my question to you is really simple. Does Sera Cl test kit
> indicate chloramines and if it do, what level?

Yes, and the levels are those of 'free chlorine equivalents' as
described above. They are treated as if it were free chlorine.

> If you have time, you can also expand on the effect of
> de-chlorinator use and testing of the water afterwards,

Dechlorinators, including ours, reduce free chlorine (that includes
chloramines and chlorine dioxide) to form harmless chloride. The most
common chloramine used is so-called 'chloramine-T' which does not
directly lead to free ammonium or ammonia. Chloramine itself (NH2Cl) is
hardly ever used since it is much too difficult to store or handle.

> If chloramines is present and broken down as mentioned, will an
> ammonia test then indicate ammonia, whereas it did not before dosing
> Prime?

Not if chloramine-T is used, because there *is* no free ammonia in the
first place. Chloramine-T contains the amine nitrogen as a part of an
organic compound which is then (slowly) broken down biologically.
However, even in case of 'simple' chloramine, resulting ammonium/ammonia
levels would usually be so low that you very likely couldn't monitor
them with common test kits - plus, they would be converted into nitrite
and, subsequently, into nitrate by the biofilter anyway.

Best regards

sera GmbH
Dr. Bodo Schnell
Click to expand...

TomK · Apr 4, 2011

Tonight, getting water from the tap to pre treat, I smelled jik. I took a sample immediately and did a check with my Sera Cl kit. When the first drop hit the water, it turned yellow. So jay, the test work and our chlorine is back! Goes to show, our tap water was not disinfected for weeks!

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Absence of chlorine in tap water

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