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This year I've been smelling chlorine every so often, in the tap water coming out of the faucets. Before this year, I don't remember it ever smelling that way. Granted, most of the time it still doesn't smell that way, but it is pertinent to this post.
A few times the smell was so strong that I didn't even want to shower in it. One of those times there turned out to be a possible reason for it; some issue with the water supply which may have caused them to increase the added chlorine. Other people on the Nextdoor site were complaining about it too, so I knew it wasn't only me.
This year I also started using stainless steel water bottles to take water to work, instead of the glass bottles I used before. I made the switch because glass bottles can't be cleaned as well; the top is too narrow to get a brush in. With the steel bottles, I can brush them out after each use.
This year, I also started to smell an occasional unpleasant bleachy smell in the water from my steel water bottles, when drinking it at work. This is in spite of me using a faucet-mounted filter for my drinking water, like I've always done.
Yet the drinking water that I store in liter-sized glass bottles in the fridge never has that smell. (I'm not as concerned about not being able to clean those bottles out as I never put my lips on them. I only pour water into and out of them.)
It occurred to me that maybe the chlorine in the water doesn't dissipate as quickly in steel bottles, as the steel doesn't let light through.
So I started to store the filtered tap water in a couple of big glass jars by a window for a few days, before pouring it into my steel bottles to take to work. But I still notice the smell sometimes.
So. I'm not even sure if the smell is due to the water quality, or if it is somehow due to these steel bottles. Maybe it's due to the size of the bottle opening. Glass bottles have small openings, so maybe with those, the smell never hit my nose the same way. Drinking glasses have wide openings, so maybe with them the smell dissipates much quicker, also not hitting my nose in the same way. Or maybe it has something to do with the silicone ring on the bottle's cap, or something about stainless steel itself. Or maybe I've gotten more sensitive to the smell for some reason, even though the amount of chlorine hasn't changed.
I could switch back to taking a small glass bottle to work, to see if it makes a difference or not.
Maybe I should start refrigerating the water before putting it into the steel bottles, to see if that makes a difference. I could even boil a big pot of water once a week and store it, but from what I've read, I'm not sure even that would help.
Each time I've done research on the topic, I get overwhelmed by data, when I'm really looking for a simple fix.
Chlorine test strips, to see how much chlorine is in the water... apparently they are not very accurate, and rely on you comparing colors. Knowing how much bleach is in the water wouldn't really help with my problem anyway.
The smell may be from chloramines, not chlorine. Chlorine dissipates quickly when water is boiled or even when it just sits for a while. Chloramine takes much longer to dissipate even when boiled.
Based on the city's yearly water quality reports, they've been using both chlorine and chloramines for the water treatment since at least 2009. So it's not a new thing.
Now I've just read that adding vitamin C to the water can get rid of the chloramine. But I also read on a different page that some things break down chloramine into chlorine and ammonia, or something like that, and you need to make sure the ammonia isn't left in the water...
If vitamin C works, surely vinegar would too. I wonder if a small amount of vinegar in the water would taste bad or not. But I don't think I'm going to do that. Acid isn't good for teeth.
https://www.thesprucepets.com/remove-chloramines-from-tap-water-2924183
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/does-boiling-water-remove-chloramine.857730/
https://www.morebeer.com/articles/removing_chloramines_from_water
https://waterandhealth.org/healthy-pools/smells-chlorine/
Oh, I just remembered another thing. On my recent trip, the tap water in one motel in New Jersey smelled as bad or worse than the worst it's ever smelled here. I didn't want to shower and even brushing my teeth was unpleasant. I'd hate to live in a place like that.
A few times the smell was so strong that I didn't even want to shower in it. One of those times there turned out to be a possible reason for it; some issue with the water supply which may have caused them to increase the added chlorine. Other people on the Nextdoor site were complaining about it too, so I knew it wasn't only me.
This year I also started using stainless steel water bottles to take water to work, instead of the glass bottles I used before. I made the switch because glass bottles can't be cleaned as well; the top is too narrow to get a brush in. With the steel bottles, I can brush them out after each use.
This year, I also started to smell an occasional unpleasant bleachy smell in the water from my steel water bottles, when drinking it at work. This is in spite of me using a faucet-mounted filter for my drinking water, like I've always done.
Yet the drinking water that I store in liter-sized glass bottles in the fridge never has that smell. (I'm not as concerned about not being able to clean those bottles out as I never put my lips on them. I only pour water into and out of them.)
It occurred to me that maybe the chlorine in the water doesn't dissipate as quickly in steel bottles, as the steel doesn't let light through.
So I started to store the filtered tap water in a couple of big glass jars by a window for a few days, before pouring it into my steel bottles to take to work. But I still notice the smell sometimes.
So. I'm not even sure if the smell is due to the water quality, or if it is somehow due to these steel bottles. Maybe it's due to the size of the bottle opening. Glass bottles have small openings, so maybe with those, the smell never hit my nose the same way. Drinking glasses have wide openings, so maybe with them the smell dissipates much quicker, also not hitting my nose in the same way. Or maybe it has something to do with the silicone ring on the bottle's cap, or something about stainless steel itself. Or maybe I've gotten more sensitive to the smell for some reason, even though the amount of chlorine hasn't changed.
I could switch back to taking a small glass bottle to work, to see if it makes a difference or not.
Maybe I should start refrigerating the water before putting it into the steel bottles, to see if that makes a difference. I could even boil a big pot of water once a week and store it, but from what I've read, I'm not sure even that would help.
Each time I've done research on the topic, I get overwhelmed by data, when I'm really looking for a simple fix.
Chlorine test strips, to see how much chlorine is in the water... apparently they are not very accurate, and rely on you comparing colors. Knowing how much bleach is in the water wouldn't really help with my problem anyway.
The smell may be from chloramines, not chlorine. Chlorine dissipates quickly when water is boiled or even when it just sits for a while. Chloramine takes much longer to dissipate even when boiled.
Based on the city's yearly water quality reports, they've been using both chlorine and chloramines for the water treatment since at least 2009. So it's not a new thing.
Now I've just read that adding vitamin C to the water can get rid of the chloramine. But I also read on a different page that some things break down chloramine into chlorine and ammonia, or something like that, and you need to make sure the ammonia isn't left in the water...
If vitamin C works, surely vinegar would too. I wonder if a small amount of vinegar in the water would taste bad or not. But I don't think I'm going to do that. Acid isn't good for teeth.
https://www.thesprucepets.com/remove-chloramines-from-tap-water-2924183
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/does-boiling-water-remove-chloramine.857730/
https://www.morebeer.com/articles/removing_chloramines_from_water
https://waterandhealth.org/healthy-pools/smells-chlorine/
Oh, I just remembered another thing. On my recent trip, the tap water in one motel in New Jersey smelled as bad or worse than the worst it's ever smelled here. I didn't want to shower and even brushing my teeth was unpleasant. I'd hate to live in a place like that.