This Highly Toxic Compound is in Our Drinking Water:Vast Majority of Water Filters Can¼t Even Filter

In todayʼs world, it is common for companies to avoid customer service and full disclosure of issues or information they possess. However, this would not assist you, nor would it help us reach the goal of benefiting your health and household with the highest quality, USA-made whole home water filtration system from Environmental Water Systems.

So what is this issue and what information do we have that can help you?

It has to do with a damaging, highly toxic compound called chloramine.

EWS has seen the rise in the use of chloramines from just a temporary replacement of chlorine into a full-time disinfection treatment. The use of chloramines was less than 1% of the population in 1995. As of 2011, 22% of us now receive tap water that is treated by chloramines (source: EPA and FDA). As a result, we are seeing a rise in damage to pipes, fixtures, appliances, and to our health by the use of this disinfection compound.

As regular people and customers ourselves, we would want excellent customer service, solution options, and the most complete and accurate information to make an informed decision about this situation. Below is information that we have compiled just for that purpose.

Here is some background information which will help in this discussion. We know that all municipal water districts throughout the U.S. Are charged with the responsibility of monitoring and treating the water in order to meet federal, state and/or local regulations. This fact provides us – the public – with water we can rely on for daily use (drinking, cooking, showering, etc.), without fear of the waterborne illnesses found in our earlier history and currently in other areas of the world.

Chemical treatment and the need for disinfection. Ironically, we must disinfect our water supplies with chlorine and chloramine, but it is this very same treatment that may cause poor taste, odor and/or discoloration, dangerous by-products and cause us to seek out filtration or bottled water. The use of chlorine and its side-effects (which is the reason EWS was launched in 1987 – to filter all of the water coming into the home to protect a household and its occupants from the ravages of chlorine, its by-products, and VOCʼs) has been fully tested and documented, as two full generations have been exposed to this disinfectant. Just like bacteria that becomes tolerant to routine antibiotics, so too have microorganisms found in water become tolerant and unaffected by constant chlorine treatment. Since the late 1990ʼs, some water districts have used chloramine treatment as a temporary replacement option to chlorine in order to effectively treat the water and comply with regulations for zero tolerance on microorganisms.

Since 2000, the use of chloramines has become the treatment method of preference of many smaller municipal districts, utilities who outsource their management to contracted (for-profit) companies or areas within larger districts because of the zero tolerance requirement for microorganisms, and the fact that it is usually cheaper than chlorine..

What is chloramine and how toxic is it? Chloramine is a highly toxic chemical compound of chlorine and ammonia. It does not dissipate or evaporate into the air as chlorine does and unfortunately stays in the water longer. Chloramine will travel through the municipal delivery system and your home at a more constant level without degrading, creating higher concentrations throughout all systems, making it more persistent and difficult to filter. Chloramine is also lethal to marine animals and fish. When in contact with organic materials in raw water, it creates toxic by-products, bad taste, and odors. While chloramine is one of the many alternate methods of water disinfection available, it is the cheapest and easiest.

Chloramine is more corrosive than chlorine, and causes lead to leach out of copper pipes, brass pipes, and lead pipes. Because chloramine is highly corrosive, it also disintegrates rubber and elastomeric pipe fittings in pipe lines, faucets, hot water heaters, shower heads, sprinklers, water meters, bathroom toilets, ice makers, and fire suppression (extinguishing) systems. Studies show that with an increase in heat comes an increase in corrosiveness, therefore your hot water heater, dishwasher, hot tubs, and spas are all highly subject to this aggressive corrosion.

With budgets being strained, the option of chloramines is more of a consideration for our water treatment plants than ever before. Contract companies will use it to improve their bottom line. Local protests due to the resulting problems of chloramine usage have actually reversed some districtʼs decisions to use chloramine full-time.

What your municipal district is required to tell you. Your water district is required to monitor, test, and treat the water we all use. It is their duty to publish the test results which subtly includes current treatment (such as: chlorine (a gas), sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite (solid forms of chlorine like tabs used for swimming pools) chloramines, chlorine and ammonia (which is chloramine) methods and inform the public of any issues. It is not their responsibility to publicize their treatment method or any changes to that treatment method.

Does Environmental Water Systems know if my city uses chloramine? We only get that information from local showrooms or when we are asked to contact local water districts on behalf of distribution, contractors, and/or customers in order to assist with system specifications. The issue with chloramine has only become more widespread and apparent very recently.

As of November 2011, we have changed our How to Select guideline to include our EWS and CWL Chloramine Removal Series of whole home water filtration. Our distribution, showrooms, and retail stores are now being trained to ask the question, “does your city use chlorine or chloramine?” If anyone is unsure, we make a point to find out.

It is extremely important that the right system is selected for you to prevent any disappointment with filtration performance, and to enable our high-performance systems to perform to their highest capacity to ensure healthy water to our customers and their families.

Who else should know if my city uses chloramine? Local kitchen & bath showrooms and building/plumbing supply stores will acquire this knowledge as the chloramine issue gains more awareness – many people will be coming back to their showrooms, supply stores or big box retailers and demanding why their pipes, heaters, fixtures, rubber goods, gaskets and appliances are corroding or becoming damaged, and making purchases to replace these damaged items.

All professional contractors (general contractors, builders and plumbers) should be aware of chloramines and if they are used in your area.

Knowledge of the local water conditions will dictate the use of non- copper piping into homes and other resistant materials that receive chloramine-treated water. This information will find its way to local suppliers and customers alike in order for all of us to make better choices and understand the need for routine maintenance and inspection to prevent long term issues.

Environmental Water Systems and its distributors will also be able to assist you with selecting the proper filtration system for further preventative measures. Please visit www.ewswater.com or call EWS Customer Service at 702-256-8182 (Monday – Friday, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm Pacific Time).

What solution does EWS offer for chloramines? Environmental Water Systems offers two main series of whole home water filtration – the EWS Series Filtration & Conditioning, and the CWL Series Filtration Only. We now offer a third series in light of the demanding issues that choramines present – the EWS Chloramine Removal Series, and the CWL Chloramine Removal Series.

The high-grade filtration media in our two main series is designed for chlorine and only the temporary or occasional treatment of chloramine and is not meant to be on full-time chloramine treated water and especially in the parts per million ranges reported. Our long-standing EWS and CWL systems are designed for effective use for up to 10 years on the proper application. Yet we have noted that customers with chloramine-treated water experience a reduced lifespan of their systemʼs filtration media, and that the typical life is up to 2 years.

So what happened? Is it a poor quality system? Absolutely not! Itʼs like you bought the best sports car available but soon after you got married and had twins. The car still performs but no longer suits your needs. What happened is that the full-time use of chloramine by your water district exhausted the high-grade carbon media we use in our standard EWS systems. Currently, the carbon may still be effective on the chlorine portion of the chloramine compound, but the result is a shearing off of the ammonia which is evident in the form of a bad smell.

EWS developed and uses the highest grade of a proprietary granular activated carbon in our EWS and CWL series of whole home filtration product, which has been known since 1987 as a reliable, high-end, USA- made product. EWS filtration has been showcased by the National Association of Home Builders and represented in over 600 showroom locations throughout the United States. EWS filtration media is extremely absorbent and capable of removing 1 ppm of chlorine (municipal water tests at 0.2 – 1.5 ppm chlorine, with the vast majority testing at 0.4 - 0.8 ppm of chlorine, making our system highly effective) at up to 50 gallons per minute for up to 1 million gallons of water per cubic foot of filtration media. In the case of our 1354 units, which contain 2 1/2 cubic feet of filtration, the calculated useful life of up to 10 years for a family of 4 is not only achievable but is calculated with a safety factor of 20%.

However, we see chloramine ranges typically in the 3 ppm range, which surpasses even our high-quality filtration media and requires another form of filtration (see below under “The proper filtration media”).

What about other filtration devices? Effective removal of chloramine cannot be accomplished by a small amount of filtration material or a small filtration system. In order for chloramine to be removed from your drinking and showering water, it needs to pass through a large amount of material over a long period of time (known as “contact time”).

Inline refrigerator filters, faucet or shower attachment filters, and carafe or pitcher filters will just disguise taste but not effectively filter for chloramine, leaving you with this compound and its toxic by-products in your drinking and showering water.

We tell you this not to disparage anyone or any manufacturer, but because itʼs the 100% truth and you need to know this to protect your health and the condition of your home. Plain and simple.

In addition, most drinking water and reverse osmosis systems would be compromised by the corrosiveness of chloramine. The resins used in softeners would have very short lives. In preparation for a further increase in chloramine use and the expanding issues surrounding this compound, EWS has engineered a totally new sink product line (available in early 2012) to address these issues effectively and provide complete and quality filtration at the sink.

What has EWS done to address this issue?

The proper filtration media: EWS has developed a proprietary chloramine reduction media (CRM) for use in our EWS Chloramine Removal Series and CWL Chloramine Removal Series. You may hear terms such as “catalytic carbon,” which addresses chloramine. This is a better version of the standard activated carbon when dealing with chloramine, but it is ineffective due to the flow rates needed for whole home.

EWS Chloramine Reduction Media (CRM) is an advanced form of carbon media that has been engineered to develop chloramine reduction functionality. The product is unique in that it concentrates reactants via adsorption and then promotes their reaction on the surface of the pores of the medium. CRM is produced using a patented process. Although it is not impregnated with metals or alkali, it displays the catalytic functionality of these materials without the associated toxicity and does not present the disposal concerns associated with impregnated carbons.

The proper engineering and sizing: EWS has field-tested our CRM in real applications throughout the U.S. And Europe over the last 3 years and has calculated the amount of material needed over peak flow rates in order to have the proper contact time to filter chloramine from the water properly.

You may see the promoting of the ability to remove chloramine by adding more than two or three media to one single tank or creating a “multi- media tank” or “layer cake” of filtration materials. Be forewarned – this is just marketing and buzzwords targeted to our fears and aimed at separating us from our money without any benefit in exchange. The truth is that these systems do not have the proper amount of material or big enough tanks to effectively filter anything out of our water for any length of time. This is a huge waste of money and a huge safety and health concern.

The proper information: We anticipated and developed CRM product to address the more complex issue of chloramines. We have also put in place the questions and guidelines that need to be addressed and followed, which allows EWS to have the right information on hand to assist our customers. With additional training, it is our hope that all local distribution of EWS product will know enough to ask the simple question as to whether your municipal district is using chloramine or chlorine.

EWS will continue to make such product information available at www.ewswater.com and do all the right things that will allow all our distribution, contractors, and customers to be aware of chloramine and ask the right questions, which will prevent any future issues.

What can EWS do? EWS provides our EWS or CWL Chloramine Removal Systems as an effective solution to chloramine usage to ensure that the health of our customers and their homes will remain intact.

For information on our EWS Chloramine Removal whole home filtration and conditioning system, visit http://ewswater.com/products/ews-series- whole-home-filtration-and-conditioning-point-of-entry/ews-chloramine- removal-series.html

For information on our CWL Chloramine Removal whole home filtration system,visit http://ewswater.com/products/cwl-series-whole-home-filtration-point-of-entry/cwl-chloramine-removal-series.html

EWS will continue to be a trusted, quality water filtration manufacturer and be supportive of our customers in light of these issues.

About The Author:

Environmental Water Systems is the leader in whole home water filtration technology and is the pioneer in developing central water for the home.

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