Help -- my tap water's been blasted with chlorine!

[susangc]

Once a year, in March, my town flushes the water supply of chloramine by-products by loading the water up with plain chlorine. I forgot all about it when I drew water for a water change last night. I added dechlorinator as usual, but I'm nervous about using the water in my tank. But I can't wait a full month to do water changes!

• Is there such a thing as chlorine test strips?
• If not, how long would you suggest I leave the chlorine to evaporate?

Help!
Susan

 

[petitericeball]

i heard its like 1-2 days

 

[jiffy]

I am under the impression that if you use dechlorinator, you dont have to wait to put the water in the tank. Maybe give it a few minutes, but other than that, I think it works instantly...

 

[Bol]

The problem is, even though they are "instant", dechlorinators will only neutralize a given amount of chlorine. So, if you have more than that, you'd need more.

Susan, yes there are chlorine tests. I've seen them, usually grouped with the marine test kits.

Also, you could call your local water treatment plant, and ask them what the current chlorine output of your supply (i.e. at the plant) is.

 

[Chris_JT]

i wouldnt bother, just add some extra dechlorinator, thats what ive always done. i believe dechlorinators work by breaking chlorines chemical bond and arent harmful if a you add extra.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Agreed, if you have extra chlorine in the water, just use more dechlorinator. And it does work instantly, no need to wait.

How long it take chlorine to dissipate from the water depends on how well the water is disturbed. If it remains stagnant it can take a couple of days, if it is well aerated it can tak a few minutes. If the water contains chloromines it won't dissipate.

 

[Bol]

i believe dechlorinators work by breaking chlorines chemical bond and arent harmful if a you add extra.

Unfortunately, this is not quite true.

Some dechlorinators -- those that also claim to "detoxify" ammonia -- can be harmful if overdosed, To the best of my knowledge, they will say so on the label.

These are dechlorinators based on hydrosulfites. Some examples are Kordon's AmQuel, Marineland Labs' BioSafe, SeaChem's Prime, and (I believe) Tetra AquaSafe.

Other products, like Kordon's NovAqua and Marineland Labs' BioCoat, can be safely overdosed.

 

[susangc]

Thanks! Yes, I was concerned about overdosing, because I have no idea how much extra chlorine was lurking. The water's been standing now for about 36 hours; I dechlorinated it about 18 hours ago. Is that long enough? I'll check at the LFS for a test kit, because I'll have to do this again within the next month anyway.

Susan

 

[Tropjunky]

If you have a decent size tank say like 12 gl then you could put a small bottle of dechlorinator in ur water change I use nufrafin aquaplus and I don’t have any problems it’s quite difficult to overdose ur tank with dechlorinator or plant food for that matter.

I don’t have a problem with this because I use R.O. water ask ur LFS for a 25l contaner to hold water so that if this hapens again then u know that there is some water that you can use.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi susangc

If you add an airstone to circulate the water you are dechlorinating it will help it dissipate faster.

If your water authority uses chloramine, you will need a dechlorinator that removes it. Some dechlorinates do that, others do not. Wardley's ChlorOut is one that removes both.

 

[susangc]

Thanks, everyone!

I stopped by my LFS on my way to work. They don't sell chlorine strips, but they GAVE me half a dozen with instructions!

Apparently, 18 hours of sitting, then a normal dose of dechlorinator, and then an extra 18 hours are enough to detox a gallon of water

The manager on duty suggested that rather than stress over water quality this month, I use bottled spring water (NOT distilled or demineralized). I'm not sure I'll go that far, but I get her point: It's likely to be better than what smells like pool water out of the tap.

Susan