Chlorine and Chloramines
Filtering Material

Applications

Residential

• Open and closed fixed-bed filters
• Filtration of turbid well, spring & surface water
• Filtration of chemical, biological, and/or contaminated raw water

Advantages

• Removes organic compounds and chlorinated organic substances by adsorption
• Increase in capture capacity of pollutants by in-depth filtration
• Combine with fine grain materials to improve filtrate quality

Technical Data

• Grain size I: 0.6-1.6 mm
• Grain size II: 1.4-2.5 mm
• Bulk density grain I: approx. 500 kg/m³
• Bulk density grain II: approx. 500 kg/m³
• Filtration rate: Open filter up to 15 m/h
• Filtration rate: Closed filter up to 30 m/h

EarthTrade Water’s system is a combination of granular activated carbon and pyrolyzed coal. The system works great on typical municipal tap water disinfected with chlorine and ammonia including Tri-Halo-Methanes and Chloramines. It also works on ground, well and surface water. THM is used mainly as an upper layer of materials in a dual media filters.

CHLORINES & CHLORAMINES

Cases of cancer are increasing in unprecedented numbers every day. While medical professionals work tirelessly to find a cure for this most deadly of diseases, the numbers of terminally ill patients continue to climb. Although the cure for cancer continues to elude medical professionals, it is completely within our own power to protect our families and ourselves and to reduce our risks whenever possible.

In recent years, individuals have begun to seriously examine known carcinogens and to protect themselves from these cancer-causing agents. Sunscreen has become an important defense against skin cancer, and its use is on the rise. The number of smokers attempting to quit rises each day, precisely because of new information about the carcinogenic nature of cigarettes.

The increase in such protective behaviors clearly indicates an increased interest in protecting oneself from cancer risks. Still, droves of people continue to use and drink tap water, not knowing about or not believing in the insidious nature of this substance. Whether we like it or not, the water that emerges from our taps, however pristine it may appear, is filled with carcinogenic compounds.

Chlorine and Tap Water: Tap water is filled with such dangerous contaminants as nitrate, arsenic, microorganisms, and chemicals from pesticide runoff. Once this water reaches a municipal treatment plant, many contaminants are removed. However, one of the most dangerous contaminants is actually added to drinking water as a part of the treatment process.

Chlorine, added as an inexpensive and effective drinking water disinfectant, is also a known poison to the body. It is certainly no coincidence that chlorine gas was used with deadly effectiveness as a weapon in the First World War. This gas was known to severely burn the lungs and other body tissues when inhaled; it is no less powerful when ingested by mouth. Each day, as we use, we are effectively pouring bleach into our water before we drink it.

This poisonous chemical, accompanied with its byproducts, is now known to cause at least three types of cancers, among other serious health problems. The U.S. Council of Environmental Quality recently released a report stating that the risk of cancer is 93% higher among those drinking chlorinated water than among those not drinking chlorinated water! In the following paragraphs, you can read about the specific cancer risks of chlorinated water and learn how to protect your family and yourself from this insidious poison.

Bladder and Rectal Cancer: Chlorine has long been known to be a leading cause of bladder and rectal cancer. Once in water, chlorine interacts with organic compounds to create trihalomethanes (THMs). These THMs are particularly harmful to the body when ingested. When taken into the body, THMs encourage the production of free radicals. These free radicals proceed to destroy or damage vital cells in the body. Because so much of the water we drink ends up in the bladder and/or rectum, ingestions of THMs in drinking water is particularly damaging to these organs. THMs cause innumerable cases of bladder and rectal cancer each year. In an effort to reduce the formation of THMs

Bladder and rectal cancer occur when malignant cells, often created by THMs, infect the inner tissues of the particular organ. Once they have taken hold in the bladder or rectum, the malignant cells can isolate themselves in the infected area or they can spread to infect other areas of the body, potentially causing more deadly forms of cancer. Each year, 13,000 new cases of bladder cancer are diagnosed in women while 37,000 new cases are diagnosed in men. Of these 50,000 new cases each year, slightly more than 20% of individuals will die from the disease. For rectal cancer, more than 40,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and approximately 55% of those individuals diagnosed will die from the disease.

Ironically, one of the best means of protection against these two types of cancer is drinking plenty of fluids. However, drinking larger amounts of contaminated or chlorinated water only exacerbates the risk.

Breast Cancer: Breast cancer is the newest type of cancer to be connected to ingestion of chlorinated water. Breast cancer affects one out of every eight women in the United States alone.

Recent research has linked this deadly cancer to a buildup of chlorine compounds in the breast tissue. In a shocking study conducted in Hartford, Connecticut, researchers found that “women with breast cancer have 50% to 60% higher levels of organochlorines (chlorination byproducts) in their breast tissue than women without breast cancer.” While chlorine can make its way into our bodies in several ways, there is no means of access more common or more frequent than the ingestion of common, unfiltered tap water.

A Simple Solution: One preventive solution to these three deadly cancers could not be simpler. If chlorinated drinking water is a leading cause of cancer, then the obvious method of reducing one’s risk of cancer is to refrain from drinking and bathing in chlorinated water. We cannot choose whether or not to drink water, but we can choose the type of water we allow into our bodies.

Municipal water treatment plants add chlorine to water to help make it cleaner and more pure, but once that chlorine has performed its function, there is certainly no reason for it to continue its deadly presence in drinking water. A home water filter removes chlorine and its byproducts from drinking water, producing clean, pure drinking water that can also serve as a useful protection against cancer. Water filters are one of the only methods of water purification capable of removing chlorine.

So, what can a water filter do for you? The answer is simple but extremely valuable. A water filter can protect an individual from cancer, one of the deadliest killers of the 20th century.

REMOVAL

Catalytic/Adsorptive Carbon

Catalytic/adsorptive carbon offers the latest in treatment and is now offered for whole home applicaitons. Catalytic carbon is an activated carbon with a traditional adsorptive pore structure. A patented process modifies the electronic properties of the carbon surface. The result is greater catalytic functionality as compared to traditional activated carbons.

Activated carbon is typically associated with adsorption -- a physical process where molecules adhere to the internal surface. Catalytic carbon retains all the adsorptive properties of conventional activated carbons, but combines them with the ability to promote or catalyze chemical reactions. In addition to concentrating reactants via adsorption, catalytic carbon promotes their chemical conversion. During treatment, catalytic carbon first adsorbs sulfides onto the carbon surface. Then, in the presence of dissolved oxygen, it oxidizes the sulfides.

There are several design considerations that affect the use of catalytic/adsorptive carbon. The first is the concentration of sulfide and dissolved oxygen. Both compounds react to form sulfate or elemental sulfur. Even though the stoichiometry indicates two oxygen molecules are needed for one sulfide molecule, experience has shown that excess dissolved oxygen is necessary.

Catalytic carbon combines organic-capacity benefits with the capability of removing sulfide. In applications where both volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sulfide are of concern, the adsorption system should be sized for the VOC removal with the appropriate contact time.

An additional adsorptive feature is the pore volume which can retain a number of non-reactive organic compounds. This pore volume also allows the carbon to tolerate wide fluctuations in inlet conditions from both an adsorptive and catalytic standpoint.

Eliminates Problems

Catalytic/adsorptive carbon provides a practical approach to removing chlorine and THMs from water. Because of its unique nature, catalytic carbon can be used in smaller granular carbon systems as well as typical VOC applications.

While catalytic carbon performs similarly to chemically and metal-impregnated carbons, it eliminates the potential problems and liabilities associated with these impregnants, including toxicity, thermal instability, difficulty of regeneration and disposal limitations. Trace organic removal capacities are improved, which reduces carbon usage and increases the capacity per unit volume of carbon.

A typical whole home filter is housed in an 8” X 48” cylinder. For optimal performance, the carbon absorbs chlorine/chloramines from the top down in a uniform pattern. In fact the first 3 inches of carbon removes half of the chlorine and chloramines, the second 3 inches the remaining half and so on through the column of carbon. To utilize the full chloramines removal capacity of the resin bed, a non backwashing system is preferred. However, this system requires periodic media replacement, typically every 2-3 years depending upon your water consumption rates. Replacement of the media costs approximately $500-$750 each time depending upon the size of your system. A backwashing system mixes up the exhausted carbon particles with the non-exhausted ones. In addition, chloramines based compounds are literally adsorbed onto the particle and cannot be removed by backwashing. The system is priced at $2,495 each.