Carbon Snake against Hyper-Chlorination

[stevew14]

I was just wondering,(due to a recent disaster), if the type and length of carbon snake that is widely discussed here would be sufficient protection against say 7-10 ppm at the tap.

[Zulaab]

EPA Guidelines set a maximum allowed level of Chlorine of 4ppm. Most water supplies target 2-4 ppm Chlorine. Note that 4ppm of Chlorine is actually 5.8ppm Chloramine. (The Chlorine is 69% of the chloramine molecule, ammonia is the other 31%) So, with a possible 5.8ppm Chloramine, you have 4ppm Chlorine, and 1.8ppm ammonia.

Reading this will help you : http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_chlorine.htm
Here is a good read : http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plant.../msg00139.html

[stevew14]

My water district told me they like to shoot for 3ppm, 4 at the most. I took a sample from my tap Christmas Day and it stayed closed in the bottle until the next day. When the representative came out to test my water at the house, he was getting readings of app 3 ppm. He told me he just took a sample the next street over and it was 5ppm. I asked him to check my sample from the day before, and it was 7.7ppm!. When I called the office on Monday, I was told that a sample that had been closed up in a plastic bottle for 24 hours was not accurate. I was thinking though, if being closed up in the bottle would affect the chlorine level, wouldn't it be lower than the day before, not higher?

Anyway, Christmas day ended with disaster and heartbreak for me this year. So, in the event of accidental overchlorination, do you think the snake would hold up to a level that high?

By the way I was told that My PUD had no immediate plans for Chloramine use, but that eventually it will come to that, and that we will be notified more than once before they begin.

[smk]

ahh for the good old days when i had well water no chems whatsoever straight out of the hose into the tank but i digress i feel like you about that sample i think at least it would remain unchanged if not dissolve but i sure can't see it concentrating i can't comment on the snake but i know my clorine levels change here to just by smell when its wc time i run the water before starting if it smells strong i wait if its something that has to be changed i fill up the 5g's od it with prime then test
scott

[cameracorpus]

I've tested mine at 7 ppm and above several times. The carbon snake will do wonders, but I'd test the output just to make sure. The amount of carbon in the snake, the water flow rate, and the chemical soup used are some of the variables. With a hard (fast) flow rate, mine went from 3.3ppm to .3ppm on it's first use, and has since done even better.

[Zulaab]

Yeah the problem I have is that where I live I have less than 2ppm and for the most part its at 1.0ppm so when I run it though 15ft of carbon I get 0.0ppm
I use a professional chlorine kit so I know its accurate because its what the EPA recommends the local water boards uses to test their water with.
Please understand if your Chlorine is over 4ppm you can contact the EPA and tell them that the local water board puts to much Chlorine in the water.
Understand at 7ppm most people who are sensitive get upset stomachs etc... at 10ppm and you are going to be one sick puppy.
If you have small animals like cats/dogs that dont have the adult average weight of 170lbs they cannot handle 7ppm..

[stevew14]

I think that mine is usually within the 3-4 range. I have done my water changes the same way weekly for many years and always overdo my dechlorinator just in case. I believe this was an accidental and for me, catastrophic water district screwup. What makes it even worse, is it happened before in the same house eight years ago. That time it was on Thanksgiving. They told me then that a malfunction of some sort ended up causing the overdose. I went on with my usual routine with no problems until last week.

.

[Gene D]

The carbon snake should take care of this for you. I would recommend only using the recomended dose of dechlorinator the reason being that it removes oxygen from the water. If you overdose to the extreme your could end up gasping for air. BTW do you happen to live anywhere around Spring?

[stevew14]

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Between Spring and Tomball just north of 2920. Why do you ask? Also is it true that Sodium Thiosulfate doesn't deoxygenate like the Amquel Plus type conditioners? I was going to use the Prime as usual and ad API Tap Water Conditioner as well. I believe it is primarily Thiosulfate. Maybe someone could correct me if I am wrong.

[Gene D]

The reason I asked is because I heard your story from Alex when I was at Ultimate Fish. I can not recall which conditioners deoxygenate off the top off my head. Let me see if I can find that information

[fshfrk]

Just found this thread. Sorry about your loss Steve. I beleave sodium thiosulfate does not deoxygenate near as much as the sodium bisulfate types like prime and amquell plus. But it does remove some oxygen. Prime and amquell are suppossed to handle chloramines. But sodium thiosulfate will remove the chlorine leaving ammonia which a properly set up wet/dry filter should handle it. If you use a carbon filter do not use dechlorinators. There won't be any chlorine and all you will do is remove oxygen. Which can be just as deadly.