Hmm... I love google
"
Can chloramines be removed from water?
Chloramines remain active in the water system for a considerably long period of time. Like other molecules, chloramines contribute to the total amount of dissolved solids in the water. Like chlorine, chloramines are selectively reactive and may have damaging affects when they remain in the water for too long.
When chloramines are present, there are usually trace amounts of ammonia and hypochlorite in the water as well. Chloramines are hardly ionic. As a result and because of the low molecular weight, chloramines, mainly monochloramine, are difficult to remove from water by
reverse osmosis (RO) or
water softening. Boiling and distillation cannot be used either. Substances for chlorine removal cannot be used for the removal of chloramines. Sunlight and aeration may aid chloramine removal.
Chloramines can be removed by means of a granular
active carbon filter. This filter brings down chloramine concentrations from 1-2 ppm to less than 0,1 ppm. One must make sure that the active carbon comes in contact with chloramines for a significant amount of time. An active carbon filter is a selective, which means it also removes other compounds, such as chlorine (reduction to chloride),
hydrogen sulphide, organic compounds, THM, pesticides and
radon. When these compounds are present in water, this will influence the capacity of the filter."
Chloramines as a disinfectant
BTW: this is the chemical equation for the creation of chloramine
NH3 (aq) + HOCl -> NH2Cl + H2O
NH3 (aq) = ammonia dissolved in water
HOCl = Hypochlorus acid
NH2Cl = chloramine
H20 = water
Above is the chemical equation for the creation of chloramine. What is left out, however, is the reverse arrow to show equilibrium (I can tell it wasn't an organic chemist who wrote this equation as they NEVER leave that bit out). Outside of strong acid/base reactions pretty much all reactions have an equilibrium point. At the equilibrium point, a certain amount of stuff on the left is being created, but so is a certain amount of the stuff on the right. As this is an aqueous reaction (it occurs in water), it would make sense that any water treated with chloramines will initially be in equilibrium. So some of the stuff on the right is turning into some of the stuff on the left and simultaneously some of the stuff on the left is turning into stuff on the right.
However, when you treat chloramine treated water with a chlorine remover, what is being removed is the HOCl compound (hypochlorus acid). As that is the compound that is created when pure chlorine is added to water, it is the active decontaminate in chlorine treated water that the Prime (Amquel, whatever brand you use) removes.
Well the dictates of chemistry say that when when you remove something from the left side of the equation, then equilibrium will shift so that more stuff on the left is being produced. The purpose of this is to try to reestablish equilibrium. Thus using a product like Prime on chloramine treated water has the effect of actually increasing the amount of ammonia (NH3) that is in the water (and showing up on your tests) in theory.
Now I'm going to wait until morning to run my theory against my API tests as I have perfectly bad tap water to test.
Did any of this make sense (if there are any actual chemists around here, please feel free to point out any mistakes)?