Chlorine in drinking water

Why do we have Chlorine in drinking water?

Chlorine is added to the Mains water supply by the Water Authorities to reduce or eliminate bacteria, viruses and algae that can be present and has greatly reduced the risk of water borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. Chlorine is easy to add to water and enough of the chemical remains in the water from the treatment plants through the distribution network to the consumer's tap so that re-contamination by micro-organisms cannot occur after leaving the treatment plant.

Why remove Chlorine from drinking water?

Chlorine adversely affects the taste and smell of tap water and the release of chlorine vapour from chlorinated water is associated with respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis, and some allergies. A simple carbon filter fitted through the kitchen cold tap that is used for drinking and cooking, will remove up to 98% of chlorine taste and odour, also reducing the acidity of water, making food and drink more palatable and could reduce the incidence of respiratory problems.

Chlorine in the water supply may also contribute to bleaching of clothes during washing machine cycles. There are also concerns for vapour released from hot water during bathing and showering and from appliances such as dishwashers, affecting the air quality within the home. Whole-of-house filtering systems are available where a filter is not attached to a single tap but at the Point-of-Entry into the property to remove chlorine before water is distributed throughout the house. These are expensive systems as they must treat a huge volume of water, million(s) of Litres rather than the few thousand Litres of a single tap filter system.

Consumers with serious respiratory ailments could benefit from whole-of-house filter systems, removing the potential for chlorine vapours in the atmosphere. However, adequate ventilation of a property could be argued to be adequate to maintain air quality: opening windows and doors regularly to let the fresh air in is certainly a simple and cheap option. Also, if chlorine-free water is stored anywhere within the household, for example within a hot water cylinder or in toilet cisterns, the lack of chlorine could constitute a health risk over time as these are not sterile systems and there is potential for micro-organisms to contaminate the supply.

Filter systems can be adapted for removing a wide range of contaminants, including limescale, lead, heavy metals, hormone and herbicides and insecticides.

Why Just the Water business Now?

POU vs bottled water

The bottled water industry is worth £2 billion a year in UK alone. This is unbelievable: we are the lucky ones - we probably have the safest drinking water in the world piped through the mains right into our homes and workplaces - but we still prefer to buy bottled water! This is a 'luxury' that we have been conditioned to regard as a 'right' but in the current economic climate, it's becoming a luxury again as we all want to save money.

Bottled water is an incredible form of recurring revenue for the water industry and it has many disadvantages in expense, health and safety and environmental impact:

• for a water cooler, a 19L bottle of water for a water cooler costs from £3.99; if you use 1000L a year, it costs over £200 every year and this will only go up
  
• from the supermarket, a 1L bottle of water costs ~£0.75; if you use 1000L a year, it costs £750 and this will also only go up in the future
  
• water is used and wasted in the manufacture of the plastic bottles themselves
• water is shipped around the world from places like Fiji by plane, boat, train and truck (what a carbon footprint...)
• unless its clearly labelled 'spring' water then it's probably mains-water that is filtered and bottled so it doesn't taste of chlorine (if it is 'spring' water - there are fewer regulations governing its quality compared to mains water - so undetected contamination is possible in 'spring' water)
• storage is an issue - sitting in sunlight, bacteria and algae love to grow in it!
• it has a limited shelf-life even if stored correctly, again due to all that lovely bacteria and algae
• these huge water cooler bottles are HEAVY... and you certainly don't want to drop one on your toe when it's full!
• expensive servicing costs - they are supposed to sanitised 4 times a year
• recycling all that plastic is NOT going well here in the UK: currently less than 20% waste plastic is recycled in the UK - just think of all that landfill...

There are two answers to saving money: be rid of the luxury by going back to tap water or find a more cost effective way of keeping the 'right' by using a cheaper alternative. The water industry knows this and is developing and marketing Point-of-Use appliances now - we just need to get the message across to the consumer.

Point-of-Use is an appliance plumbed directly into the mains-supplied water to filter tap water in a more hygenic 'closed' system. It advantages are many compared to bottled water:

• cost of water reduced by 100% as POU filters mains-supplied water that consumers are already paying for
• servicing costs are reduced by 50% as sanitisation and filter changes are only necessary twice a year (half as often as bottled water) as its a 'closed' system
• consumers won't run out of POU water as it is always 'on tap'
• no expensive deliveries of water (lower carbon footprint)
• no storage issues of quality and shelf-life as it is available on demand
• no heavy lifting required
• the filters are either 100% biodegradable (carbon cartridge) or 100% recyclable through the supplier

Visit www.justwaternow.com to see how you can save money by paying less for water