Poison in Our Orange County Tap Water?
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| Ocean View South Laguna We all Expect Clean Blue Water |
In
the past two years I have purchased two new water heaters, two washing
machines, changed out my toilet flappers every four months, installed new
toilets, notice yellowing in plants, dinghy white laundry and blue and white
scale on my pool. The cause is Moulton Niguel Water District’s switch to
chloramine. Chloramine makes water highly corrosive. I can’t find any
studies completed to demonstrate if it is safe.
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| my toes in the bathtub |
Plumbing
trucks are now common neighbors working on replacing leaks, toilets, water
heaters in Laguna Niguel. Changes in water chemistry have caused the water to
become aggressive towards the piping. Copper, galvanized, plastic and
fiberglass used in pool pumps are all effected with fissures, cracks and pin
holes at the start.
Moulton
Niguel Water Company started using chloramines recently. This cocktail of
chlorine and ammonia is employed in the water treatment process to kill
bacteria in our drinking water. NH2Cl
is used as a disinfectant in as an alternative to chlorination.
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| desert plant |
Why did they switch? Moulton Niguel Water saves money by
cutting chlorine costs with chloramines.
Lennar Homes and others have filed lawsuits against
Moulton Niguel Water ( MNWD). The complaint alleges leaks in copper "are the
direct and/or proximate result of corrosive, aggressive, and/or improperly
treated water" supplied by MNWD. Lennar sued MNWD for construction leaks
and for any costs, damages or settlements incurred by the home builder as a result of the
leaks.
A
few facts:
Chloramine releases mercury from dental amalgams (you know the old silver colored fillings in the back of your mouth).
It shakes loose lead solder in older pipes.
It
quickly kills frogs and other amphibians, reptiles, turtles, fish and other
aquatic and marine life, to the extent that you cannot use chloramine-treated
water to fill up a fish tank or backyard fish pond.
I
didn’t know it was toxic to turtles until recently after my pet of 29 years
died in my yard this spring.
Chloramine
corrodes rubber toilet flappers and gaskets, rubber hoses, and rubber fittings
in dishwashers and water heaters.
Chloramine
de-elasticizes PVC pipes. The pipes become brittle plastic. Particulate of
the plastic and oil by products leach carcinogens from the plastic pipe and
joint compounds into drinking water.
Chloramine
doesn’t evaporate by letting it sit out in an open container. A carbon filter
can remove the chemical from your drinking water.
Taking
a long relaxing shower might be toxic. Heat converts chemicals to a toxic gas.
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| murky water |
Some
Suggestions:
Adding
fruit, such as slices of peeled orange, to a 1-gallon water pitcher, which will
softens but not totally neutralize chloramine in about 30 minutes by adding
degradable food substance and raising the PH.
Boiling 26 hours or 8 hours of Ultraviolet light Dissolving a 1,000-mg
vitamin C tablet into your bath water, which will neutralize the chloramine in
an average-size bathtub. Ascorbic acid and
sodium ascorbate neutralizes both chlorine and chloramines but degrades in
a day or two which only make it usable for short-term applications. SFPUC
determined that 1000 mg of Vitamin C (tablets purchased in a grocery
store, crushed and mixed in with the bath water) remove chloramine completely
in a medium size bathtub.
Adding water softener salt to your toilet tanks and wash
loads helps a bit with the rapid breakdown of rubber and plastic parts.
I am researching water filtration systems that we might
install at the water head. Even my shut off valve to the main is so badly corroded;
it is difficult to turn the water off in an emergency.
There
are other disinfection techniques available to City Water Districts , such as
ultraviolet light and micro-filtration, which would be safer. I hope other
local residents will investigate and find solutions. Meanwhile MNWD increased
the cost of water…
