Many people wonder how to remove chlorine from water in an easy and fast manner at home. One of the most straightforward answers is to boil the water. Some say 20 minutes are enough to remove chlorine from a pot.
The key issue here is that many of us have to deal with pungent chlorine smell and taste every time they turn on their kitchen or bathroom taps. So, does boiling remove chlorine from water? Yes, but only if you use this method for small to moderate amounts. Let’s see today other ways to remove chlorine from water in a constant, efficient manner.
How to Remove Chlorine from Water: Long-Term Sustainable Solutions
In case you do not want to boil a pot of water every time you are thirsty, you need more permanent solutions to the taste, smell, and dangers of chlorinated water. Let’s discuss them!
1. Activated Charcoal Filters
Activated carbon filters work by absorption, capturing the chlorine ions against the charcoal’s surface. They are among the most efficient methods to remove chlorine from water. Here is what you need to know about activated charcoal filters:
Here is what you need to know about these filters:
- Activated charcoal filters are also the answer to how to remove chloramine from water; we will discuss chloramine filtration with a future occasion.
- For the best results in the chlorine (and impurities) removal, pick the filtration systems coming with NSF/ANSI certifications or at least third-party laboratory test results.
- If you want to use dechlorinated water for drinking purposes only, filtered water pitchers may be the most affordable and practical solution at hand.
- In case you want to enjoy chlorine-free baths and showers, use shower filters for hard water to remove not only iron, other metals, and impurities, but also the chlorine and chloramine that dry your skin, hair, and nails.
Generally, you should use either Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filters or Carbon Block filters at the point-of-use. Check the various types of water filter systems we reviewed so far and make sure you pick the right product for your needs.
2. Reverse Osmosis Systems
We have talked about water purification and reverse osmosis technology a few times before. Nevertheless, it is important to stress out that RO water filters may be the best answer you can get to the “how to remove chlorine from water” question.
Reverse osmosis systems do feature activated charcoal filters able to remove chlorine from water, but we know them mostly for their capacity to purify water of all its contaminants and impurities.
In case you need reminding, let’s discuss how to dechlorinate water in correlation with reverse osmosis.
- Reverse osmosis filters remove everything from the water – from impurities of a certain size to chlorine, chloramine, and other contaminants;
- You can install a reverse osmosis system under your sink or go for a whole house reverse osmosis water filter to make sure your entire home/business benefits from clean, safe water;
- The advantage of modern RO systems is that they add a few supplemental stages to add back the healthy minerals the system removes in the first place.
You need to understand how reverse osmosis water filters work to make an educated choice regarding your actual needs in water filtration. As we said on previous occasions, you should test your water with the help of professionals to see what levels of chlorine and chloramine you have to deal with and make sure you pick the right solutions.
3. Distillation
When it comes to how to remove chlorine from water, many people think that distillation is the same thing with boiling. Distillation is a much more complex process in comparison to home-boiling a pot of water to allow the chlorine to evaporate.
However, as experts confirm,
Distillation can remove nearly all impurities from water. Compounds removed include sodium, hardness compounds such as calcium and magnesium, other dissolved solids (including iron and manganese), fluoride, and nitrate. Distillation also can remove many organic compounds, heavy metals (such as lead), chlorine, chloramines, and radionucleides.
One of the main issues with distilled water, nevertheless, is that it turns the water flat and tasteless. In comparison to reverse osmosis filtration systems, you do not get back the minerals and healthy water compounds.
How to Remove Chlorine from Water: Solutions
In short, here is how to remove chlorine from water:
- Boil the water for 15-20 minutes and then let it cool down to drink it, in case you do not have access to other filtration methods. Boiling does dechlorinate water but it does so for small amounts and it certainly cannot be a holistic solution when you consider you want to use dechlorinated water for drinking, bathing, cooking, and other activities.
- Invest in carbon filters and charcoal-based filtration solutions in case you need portable alternatives (filtered water bottles, filter water pitchers, portable water filters, etc.);
- To make sure the chlorine problem – or TDS and heavy metals in water, impurities, and other contaminants – stays away from you for good, you can opt for whole house water filters (for large families and households), reverse osmosis filtration systems, and more.
Why Should We Remove Chlorine from Water? Isn’t it Harmless?
Chlorine in water is a nuisance for many of us. Chlorinated water tastes and smells funny, not to mention it sometimes leaves stains and spots behind. On the other hand, we all know we have some chlorine in our tap water.
Used for decades in many parts of the world, chlorine plays the role of a powerful disinfectant, able to remove bacteria, viruses, or protozoa that might develop in our water. In the United States, people do not contest the benefits of having chlorine in their water for the above-mentioned purpose.
Nevertheless, more and more voices become louder and louder on the amount of chlorine in their water for drinking and bathing and the solutions they have to avoid the potential side-effects of prolonged exposure to chlorine in drinking water.
What We Know
- Chlorine in water leads to the creation of byproducts – namely, trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids. Science has known this for about 50 years, and, in the meantime, science also demonstrated that THMs cannot be yet established as a direct causal factor for bladder cancer, as it a very complex health issue with a wide area of risk factors and incidence.
- While the “chlorine causes cancer” myth has been busted a long time ago, chlorine and chlorine gas in drinking water is an aggravating factor for respiratory problems and other health complications.
- According to the C.D.C., the U.S. EPA established that 4 milligrams/liter (4 parts per million) is a safe level of chlorine in our drinking water.
Chlorine in drinking water posed enough concern in the past decades to determine authorities to introduce chloramine in tap water to disinfect it. Chloramine disinfection is an alternative method that adds ammonia to chlorinated water.
While there is consensus upon the safety and stability of chloramine – more efficient than chlorine and less harmful – there is a debate whether or not people should consider chloramine filtration in their homes.
If you browsed our home water solutions so far, you already learned that many of the modern devices feature technologies capable of also removing chloramine from your drinking water.
Chloramine Water Problems? Here are the Fastest Solutions!
We will discuss chloramine filtration next time – and whether it is necessary for us to remove it with the help of home water filters. Until then, here are our final solutions on how to remove chloramine from water without boiling a pot of water every time you want to quench your thirst, refresh the water for your pet, wash a piece of fruit, or clean your face.
| What You Look For |
Solution |
| Affordable chlorine removal for drinking & cooking water for people and pets |
Faucet water filters & under-sink reverse osmosis filtration systems |
| Cheap chlorine removal for bathing water for adults, kids, and pets |
Shower filters for hard water |
| High-capacity chlorine and contaminant removal for the home |
Reverse osmosis water filters |
| Long-lasting high-capacity chlorine and contaminant removal for large homes or buildings |
Whole house water filters |
| Versatile chloramine removal for drinking water at home |
Water filter pitchers |
| Portable chloramine removal for drinking water on the go |
Filter water bottles, portable water filters |
Conclusion
We hope we were clear on how to remove chlorine from water with the help of more permanent and sustainable solutions than boiling pots every day. In case you want to add your thoughts to the discussion, feel free to do so! We also appreciate any input you have regarding water filtration systems and their capacity to remove chlorine.
