|
The Dangers of Chlorine in Water |
 |
 |
 |
|
Written by Mike
|
|
Chlorine is dangerous in ANY amount in water. It is completely unnecessary and will eventually harm and kill you! You MUST purchase all sorts of filtration devices for your taps and showers before you grow a third arm!
The above paragraph is what any commercial seller of water filtration equipment wants you to believe. They want you to believe that because they want you to buy lots and lots of filters from them. While there is nothing wrong with using devices to treat the aesthetics of water, there is something wrong in claiming your municipal supply is dangerous when it is not.
To put it another way, who should you believe? The people who stand to make money from you, or the people who's concern is to deliver safe, potable tap water to your house on pentalty of stiff fines and even jailtime from the government?
So what is chlorine used for, anyways? Chlorine is a persistent disinfectant. The highest concern of water treatment is pathogens, because bad bacteria and virus's can cause immediate symptoms and rapid decline and even death. This is the duty of chlorine - to prevent that.
But chlorine does more. It's true that many treatment facilities use non-chemical means of primary disinfection, but almost all use chlorine as secondary, to send a small amount in th distribution pipes. This ensures that there is no regrowth of any bacteria in the pipes. Chlorine is also easily tested in the field, and tells water operators if the water is stale, if there is any contamination in the water supply, by seeing what the reading is compared to what it should be. Operators can then immediately take steps to remedy any possible problem before it becomes a real problem.
Finally, the amount of chlorine used is very small. It is usually around 1 part per million or less. The active ingredient when chlorine mixes with water is hydrochlorous acid. When this 1 ppm of hydrochlorous acid hits the tens of thousands of parts of your stomach acid when you drink it, it is utterly obliterated. The only danger from chlorine is to those micro-organisms who are a danger to you.
Chlorine is a necessity in a good drinking water system. The concerns are aestetic, a smell or a taste. And to correct that, purchase your tap filters but remember - if someone who is trying to sell you something tells you that tap water is going to kill you, don't listen. They're lying to make money. Be smart, be wise, and understand the real issues. If you have questions, call your local water purveyor, they will be more than happy to help.
|
