The district is converting its disinfection process from Chlorine to Chloramine. This project was started in 2022 and is nearing completion in late 2022. The change to Chloramine provides several advantages for the district. The first advantage is to allow the district to get access to the City of Richmond’s water supply in the event the district has a catastrophic failure at the water plants. The district’s water system has a connection to the City of Richmond’s water main and can be accessed easily if the need arises. The City of Richmond uses Chloramine for its disinfection process so accessing their water supply would not cause any issues should the need arises.
There are advantages for using Chloramine as a disinfectant over Chlorine.
- Chlorine gets used up during the disinfection process and may be used up before it reaches the end of the water system. Chloramine will last longer and provides a more complete disinfection of the water.
- Treatment with Chloramine will result in fewer Disinfectant byproducts as compared to Chlorine or other disinfectant chemicals.
Issues to consider after Conversion to Chloramine
- During the conversion to Chloramine the residents my notice a change in the taste of the water. The “chlorine taste” will be removed resulting in this change.
- Chloramine has an effect on fish, other aquatic animals, reptiles and amphibious animals since they absorb water directly into their bodies. Pet stores do have chemicals that can treat the water to remove the chloramine and make the water safe for these pets. The small amount of Chloramine in the water does not affect mammals and birds and this water can be safely used to water these pets.
- For anyone using dialysis at home they should consult the instructions with the unit and technicians to best treat the water used to flush the units. Dialysis units require a lot of water to flush the system and could have some affect.
Once the conversion at the plant is completed a notice will be provided on the door of each residence informing them of the conversion. Information will also be posted on the district’s website informing the residents of the conversion.
We are aware that letters were distributing advising that the Chloramine conversion occurred on December 18. The Chloramine conversion has NOT yet occurred.