Ageing Tap Water In Barrels

[The Kenosha Kid]

Does anyone have experience in ageing water in the blue barrels (30 or
55 gallon) until the chlorine/chloramine is dissipated to a level safe
for fish? I wish to know if this is possible with a barrel with the
bung hole open and how long it takes for the water to be safe.

I am in San Jose and some of the water is chlorine treated and some is
chloramine treated.

[Dave Millman]

The Kenosha Kid wrote:

> Does anyone have experience in ageing water in the blue barrels (30 or
> 55 gallon) until the chlorine/chloramine is dissipated to a level safe
> for fish? I wish to know if this is possible with a barrel with the
> bung hole open and how long it takes for the water to be safe.
>
> I am in San Jose and some of the water is chlorine treated and some is
> chloramine treated.

I am also in San Jose. You can effectively age tap water to get rid of
Chlorine, especially if you agitate or aerate it. But that is NOT a viable
way to remove Chloramines. Just use Amquel or Prime and be done with it.
If you need large volumes of water (>100gallons per week) and want to save
money, you can investigate some of the sodium thiosulfate-based dry powder
products available. But a $5 bottle of Prime lasts me a year.

To quote from the San Jose Municipal Water System:


> In Evergreen, water is disinfected using chloramines (chlorine and ammonia).
> Currently, water serving North San José and Alviso is disinfected using
> chlorine. By December 2003, chloramines will be used. Except for a slight
> chlorinous taste or odor, these disinfectants are not harmful to the
> general public. However, they must be removed for kidney dialysis machines
> and aquariums. If you are receiving kidney dialysis treatment, please
> contact your doctor or dialysis technician and for pet fish, contact your
> local fish store for more information about special water treatment.
>
Look here for more:

Chloramine Warning from San Jose Municipal Water System:
http://www.sjmuniwater.com/chloramine.htm

Chloramine Warning from Santa Clara Valley Water District:
http://www.valleywater.org/Water/Water_Quality/How_we_clean_your_water/_Chloramine_level/Frequently_Asked%20Questions.shtm

Chloramine Warning from California Water Service Co. (serving parts of San
Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Mountain View and others)
http://www.calwater.com/News/ChloramineFishOwnerGuide2003.pdf

Chloramine Warning from San Francisco Public Utilities Commission:
http://sfwater.org/detail.cfm/C_ID/1293/MC_ID/7/MSC_ID/67/MTO_ID/97

Chloramine Warning from KRON Channel 4 News:
http://www.kron.com/Global/story.asp?S=1622704

Chloramine Warning from Stanford University:
http://facilities.stanford.edu/environment/Stanford_Fish_E.pdf

Chloramine Warning from Foster City
http://www.fostercity.org/Services/water/index.cfm?renderforprint=1&print_mode=1

(See the "Chloramine Fish Fact Sheet")

Chloramine Warning from Alameda County:
http://www.acwd.org/waterquality-chloramines.html

Chloramine Warning from San Bruno:
http://sanbrunowater.ca.gov/fish.htm

Chloramine Warning from Alameda County Mosquito Abatement:
http://www.mosquitoes.org/Chloramines.html

[The Kenosha Kid]

On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 00:25:50 GMT, Dave Millman
> wrote:

>The Kenosha Kid wrote:
>
>> Does anyone have experience in ageing water in the blue barrels (30 or
>> 55 gallon) until the chlorine/chloramine is dissipated to a level safe
>> for fish? I wish to know if this is possible with a barrel with the
>> bung hole open and how long it takes for the water to be safe.
>>
>> I am in San Jose and some of the water is chlorine treated and some is
>> chloramine treated.
>
>I am also in San Jose. You can effectively age tap water to get rid of
>Chlorine, especially if you agitate or aerate it. But that is NOT a viable
>way to remove Chloramines. Just use Amquel or Prime and be done with it.
>If you need large volumes of water (>100gallons per week) and want to save
>money, you can investigate some of the sodium thiosulfate-based dry powder
>products available. But a $5 bottle of Prime lasts me a year.
>
><<SNIP>>

Thank you. That was very helpful.

[CS]

Ageing the water may not help you with chloramine. Before the chlorine can
"gas out" the bond between it and the amine(ammonia) must be broken.
Furthermore, the amine will not gas out. You best bet is an inexpensive
additive that will greak the chloramine bond and remove the chhlorine and
ammonia.

I hope this helps.


"The Kenosha Kid" > wrote in message
...
> Does anyone have experience in ageing water in the blue barrels (30 or
> 55 gallon) until the chlorine/chloramine is dissipated to a level safe
> for fish? I wish to know if this is possible with a barrel with the
> bung hole open and how long it takes for the water to be safe.
>
> I am in San Jose and some of the water is chlorine treated and some is
> chloramine treated.

[The Kenosha Kid]

On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 16:55:33 GMT, "CS" > wrote:

>Ageing the water may not help you with chloramine. Before the chlorine can
>"gas out" the bond between it and the amine(ammonia) must be broken.
>Furthermore, the amine will not gas out. You best bet is an inexpensive
>additive that will greak the chloramine bond and remove the chhlorine and
>ammonia.
>
>I hope this helps.
>

Thank you. It did help.