Thank you, Brad, for the inquiry.  At this point we know of no at-home water test kit exists that test for THM's (trihalomethanes) or other DBP's (disinfection byproducts).  Testing for those sorts of substances/compounds requires laboratory techniques and equipment.

With that said, companies like National Testing Laboratories offer mail-in water testing services that include tests for THM's. The most basic one we know of is called "Watercheck City-Check Basic" and you can read more about it in the Water Test Kit Store.

Results of testing carried out by National Testing Laboratories typically get emailed to customers about 10 business days after the lab receives samples for analysis.

What are THM's?

The term trihalomethanes describes a class of compounds in the disinfection byproduct family which get created when a disinfectant (example: chlorine in the form of hypochlorous acid) interacts with and/or neutralizes organic contaminants in water.

Scientists and health officials have determined that consuming water with elevated levels of THM's poses a threat to human health and therefore the EPA regulates the amount of THM's that public water supplies may possess.  If a water system's internal testing reveals higher than allowed levels of THM's the water system must immediately remedy the situation and in most cases must also report the failed tests to its customers within a specified period of time.

Filtering THM's Out of Drinking Water

Can home water filters remove or drastically reduce THM's in drinking water?  Yes, some do have that ability.  As an example, several of the home water filters in the Multipure product line have been tested according to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for the reduction of a number of potentially harmful drinking water contaminants including THM's.

During that testing Multipure’s Drinking Water Systems' Aquaversa, Aquaperform and Aquadome water filter systems effectively reduced concentrations of unwanted contaminants to less than or equal to the permissible contaminant limits for filtered water leaving the systems.

If you'd like to see the full list of potential drinking water contaminants Multipure filters remove or reduce, you can view that information here.

To our knowledge, Michelle, in the retail world filters using activate carbon have the ability to effectively reduce levels of trihalomethanes in water. Many RO systems come with activated carbon pre- or post-filters as an add-on or option so if your filter has one such filter as an option, then yes, your reverse osmosis system which includes some sort of activate carbon filter should work for trihalomethane reduction.

As far as test kits go, you will need to have your water tested by a laboratory since no at-home DIY water test kits for trihalomethanes exists. You can choose to use a local laboratory or a mail-in service like National Testing Laboratories.

Removal vs. reduction?

You may have noticed that we spoke of REDUCING trihalomethane levels rather than eliminating them altogether. We did so because in the world of water processing and filtration, although many filtration methods do an excellent job of taking unwanted contaminants out of water, current analytical tools only allow us to measure down to certain concentrations... and so the possibility exits that lower levels of the contaminants MAY still exist in treated/filtered water.

Does all public water contain trihalomethanes?

If your public water system uses 'free chlorine' as its primary disinfectant, then yes, your water system distributes drinking water that contains trihalomethanes.  Keep in mind, though, that the EPA has set what it considers safe limits for the amount of trihalomethanes that public water treatment facilities may distribute so in all likelihood your water does not contain levels of trihalomethanes currently deemed as harmful to humans.

Water distributed by water treatment facilities that use chloramines as the primary disinfectant does not typically contain harmful levels of trihalomethanes.  You should know, though, that at least one a year most chloramine systems do flush their lines with water containing free chlorine as part of a cleansing protocol to get rid of any accumulated 'line slime' that chloraminated water did not keep at bay.

Free chlorine vs. total chlorine?  Which do I have?

To determine what primary disinfectant your water supplier uses, you can usually pick up the phone and ask them or you can use a basic water test like the WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine test strip to find out for yourself.  The WaterWorks 2 product detects free chlorine levels and total chlorine levels at the same time and if you subtract the free chlorine level from the total chlorine level...  In most cases if the total chlorine test pad give a reading, and the free chlorine test pad does not, then your water system more than likely uses chloramination to keep the water safe.

Looking for reverse osmosis water filters?

Remember:  Reverse osmosis on its own cannot effectively reduce potentially harmful levels of trihalomethanes so if your water quality goals include reducing trihalomethane levels in your water, we suggest you consider water filtration systems featuring pre and/or post-filters that contain Granular Activated Carbon (often abbreviated as GAC). You can find a number of different filter brands and types on the following sites: FilterWater.Com, FiltersFast.Com and Filter-Drinking-Water.Com.

Free (available) chlorine refers to the concentration of chlorine molecules residing a water sample that have not, yet, oxidized contaminants. As a general rule you want to maintain a free chlorine residual in a body of water or water source.

Therefore, if a water sample has a total chlorine residual but no free, available chlorine, then the sample may or may not be ‘safe’. Some public (municipal) drinking water systems use only combined chlorine Why would they do that?

It seems counter-intuitive that a public water systems would choose combined chlorine over free chlorine given free chlorine’s superior disinfecting (oxidizing) properties, but monochloramines do still have oxidizing capabilities and they do not create compounds (disinfection by-products, tri-halomethames, TTHM’s, etc.) that may cause cancer.

So… if you want to know how much free chlorine you have versus how much combined chlorine you have, simply subtract the free chlorine concentration from the total chlorine concentration:

(Total Chlorine) – (Free Chlorine) = Combined Chlorine

For pool water you can use a test strip like the Pool Check 6-Way to determine the free and total chlorine concentrations of a sample.

For drinking water you can use test strips like SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check to determine the free chlorine concentration of a water sample and SenSafe Total Chlorine Water Check to determine the total chlorine concentration of a water sample.

OR, for an even easier test procedure, you can use the WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Strip which tests for both free and total chlorine at the same time.

So, without further ado, get ready for a list of chemicals and chemical compounds that call into the VOC category of NSF/ANSI Standard 53:

alachlor	endrin	simazine
atrazine	ethylbenzene	styrene
benzene	ethylene dibromide (EDB)	1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane
carbofuran	haloacetonitriles	tetrachloroethylene
carbon tetrachloride	bromochloroacetonitrile	toluene
chlorobenzene	dibromoacetonitrile	2,4,5-TP(silvex)
chloropicrin	dichloroacetonitrile	tribromoacetic acid
2,4-D	trichloroacetonitrile	1,2,4-trichlorobenzene
dibromochloropropane (DBCP)	haloketones	1,1,1-trichloroethane
o-dichlorobenzene	1,1-dichloro-2-propanone	1,1,2-trichloroethane
p-dichlorobenzene	1,1,1-trichloro-2-propanone	trichloroethylene
1,2-dichloroethane	heptachlor	trihalomethanes (TTHM)
1,1-dichloroethylene	heptachlor epoxide	(THM) bromodichloromethane
cis-1,2-dichloroethylene	hexachlorobutadiene	bromoform
trans-1,2-dichloroethylene	hexachlorocyclopentadiene	chlorodibromomethane
1,2-dichloropropane	lindane	chloroform
cis-1,3-dichloropropylene	methoxychlor	xylenes
dinoseb	pentachlorophenol

Note: While the NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for VOC Reduction deos specify just 43 compounds, the list above contains extra entries because the Standard considers three ‘families’ of compounds single entries and then goes on to specifically call out the names of individual compounds within those chemical families.

Where do these things called VOC’s come from?

The VOC Fairy brings them while you sleep… but not really. On the NSF Web Site we found the following definition which we think does an excellent job of describing the origin of VOC’s:

“The category of VOC (Volatile Organic Chemical) includes a number of chemicals that are both man-made and naturally occurring. Water from wells and utilities may contain some of these contaminants. Some VOCs are pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides that seep into the ground water after application. Other VOCs enter the water supply through industrial or other waste disposal. This category also includes total trihalomethanes, which are a by-product of chlorination.”

For those who believe VOC’s cannot get into their water supply because you don’t live in close proximity to industrial complexes or agricultural areas, think again. Once these things enter the environment they, like many other categories of drinking water contaminants, could possibly travel many miles before dissipating to a ‘safe’ level.

Thanks for the chemistry lesson, but…

“Why does any of that matter to me?”

In a nutshell, scientists and health officials have agreed that the presence of any of those chemicals in too high a concentration in water poses a potentially serious health risk to people if they consume the water. Devices that have tested and certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for the reduction of VOC’s must satisfactorily reduce levels of all the chemicals on that list to ‘safe’ levels.

With Christmas fast approaching we will now begin throwing interesting and USEFUL gift ideas out in the hopes that some of you will bypass this year’s trendy gimmick gifts and instead buy something of substance and worth… for the people in your family that you like.

We don’t care if you still want to send lumps of coal (or stale fruitcakes) to the other people on your Christmas list, though.

Rain water in your shower

Most of us have fond memories of walking around outside on a nice, warm Summer or Spring day enjoying the feeling of rainwater falling on our face. Each of the large, gentle drops striking our face softly and washing away some portion of the day’s dust.

Now imagine getting that same feeling each and every day in your shower… and NOT having the unpleasant smell of chlorine in the water.

With the Culligan RainDisc, an NSF/ANSI 177 Certified product for the reduction of free (available) chlorine in shower water, you can have it!

Reduces chlorine and more

Not only does the Culligan RainDisc reduce free chlorine levels by 97% (test results verified by independent lab), but it also reduces scale, rust, sediment and the odor of sulfur (if present).

Chlorine keeps water safe… Why get rid of it?

While very true that tap water with a free chlorine residual will most likely contain a lot fewer bacteria and/or other biological contaminants than water without a free chlorine residual, but once the water reaches your shower, the chlorine has done its job — and most people want it to go away at that point.

Not only does chlorine have a tendency to smell really bad, prolonged and/or repeated exposure to chlorine residuals in shower water can dry out a person’s skin (especially in the Winter), damage their hair and in some cases cause acne.

Additionally, several studies have also pointed the finger at chlorine vapors given off by heated swimming pools and showers as potential sources of carcinogenic compounds called TTHM’s (Total TriHaloMethanes). Other studies have suggested that repeated exposure to TTHM’s may result in a higher likelihood of a person developing respiratory problems.

Worried that a lack of chlorine will result in bacterial growth?

The Culligan RainDisc uses a specially blended bed of KDF filter media whose chemical nature allows it to also act as a bacterial growth inhibitor as well as an effective filtration mechanism.

Easy to install

Worried that you (or the person you give this to as a gift) will need a plumber’s license to install the Culligan RainDisc RDSH-C115? Nonsense!

This unit comes with everything the average person would need to get the job done in a matter of minutes and more or less just screws onto the same place as your/their old shower head.

Oh, and did we also mention you have the option of easily adding subtle, tasty flavors to the purified water it produces?

What importance does NSF Certified have?

Getting back to what really matters when it comes to a water filtration system, the PUR Pitcher Water Filter with PUR Flavor Options has passed independent laboratory testing and certified to NSF Standards for its ability to reduce levels of the following nasty water contaminants (if present to begin with):

• 2,4-D Reduction
• Atrazine Reduction — test for atrazine
• Benzene Reduction
• Cadmium Reduction
• Carbofuran Reduction
• Carbon Tetrachloride Reduction
• Copper Reduction — test for
• Cyst Reduction
• Mercury Reduction — test for mercury
• Simazine Reduction — test for simazine
• Tetrachloroethylene Reduction
• Toluene Reduction
• Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction
• Chlorine Reduction – Aesthetic — test for total chlorine / test for free chlorine
• Nominal Particulate Reduction, Class I
• Taste and Odor Reduction
• Zinc Reduction — test for zinc

The PUR Water Filter in this water filter pitcher was successfully tested and certified by NSF International against NSF / ANSI Standards 42 and 53.

No, this filter will not protect your family against EVERY possible drinking water contaminant, but it does offer a decent amount of protection against some truly unpleasant compounds that don’t belong in your water.

Know what contaminants your drinking water contains

The best thing to do before ordering a water filter of ANY size, brand or type… Get your water tested to find out what you need to remove! If you have serious reason to suspect your water contains contaminants, consult with a certified water testing laboratory with proper accreditation. A lab like that will have the equipment and expertise to accurately assess any risks posed by contaminants in your water.

As an example, National Testing Laboratories, a water testing lab certified to perform water testing in pretty much every State in the US, offers three different water testing packages as well as a host of other contaminant-specific tests to the general public.

Click here to view National Testing Laboratories residential water testing packages.

I’m thinking of getting a water filter pitcher. Must it be kept in the refrigerator in order for the filter to work? I prefer room temp. water.

Thanks, Martha

We knew that hot water posed a problem for certain types of filters and filter housings — hence the need for special hot water filters & housings — and we knew that frozen water would not work all that well, either (obviously!), but as for whether or not a filter would perform all that much differently at room temperature versus the temperature of a refrigerator, we never gave that a whole lot of thought.

Until now.

Our quick research has determined that water filter pitchers ought to work just as well at room temperature as they would in a refrigerator. We do, however, suspect that one could possibly need to replace the filters more frequently since warmer temperatures in the filter would make an excellent breeding ground for bacteria. We suspect that water pitcher filters that use certain blends of KDF Media may prove more resistant to bacterial growth than filters that do not use KDF Media.

The Crystal Quest Pitcher Water Filter does something that similar products made by other leading water pitcher filter manufacturers do not. It uses a total of FIVE stages of filtration.

• A one micron sediment pre-filter takes out dirt, rust, sediment and any other large particles.
   
• In filter stages 2 & 3… Blends of KDF55 and KDF85 resin media reduce dissolved metals (i.e. iron, mercury, copper, nickel, chromium) and harmful bacteria. As we mentioned before, KDF resin media also has properties which help to prevent the growth of bacteria in the filter.
   
• In the fourth stage of filtration a bed of ion exchange resin further reduces heavy metals including lead, copper and aluminum. This stage also reduces water hardness (calcium and magnesium).
   
• The fifth stage of filtration contains granulated activated carbon (GAC) reduces chlorine (99.9%), bad taste and odors. It also reduces pesticides and chemicals that science has linked to increased cancer risks in humans (i.e. VOC’s, benzene, TTHMs and toxaphene).

Nitrate & Nitrite Test Strips

We have posted a number of articles about nitrates in drinking water and given a number of links to products that can remove nitrates from drinking water… and today we found out that FilterWater.Com has started carrying a highly effective nitrate removal system made by Crystal Quest that costs less than $150, features a dual filter system containing a total of 7 filtration stages, and qualifies for free shipping.

Do I have nitrates in my drinking water?

Nitrates occur naturally in the environment and may come from any number of sources in nature including, but not limited to, animal waste that filters down into the aquifer. Wells tapping into that aquifer as a source of drinking water then pull the water to the surface where it gets used by the well owner for cooking, drinking, bathing, etc.

• Testing for Nitrates in Drinking Water
  – includes a simple explanation of Blue Baby Syndrome
• Springtime Testing of Well Water in Farming Community?
• Simple Test for Nitrates and Nitrites in Water

• Nitrates in Well Water / Private Well Testing

What harm can nitrates in drinking water do?

The USEPA summed up the effects of nitrates in drinking in the following ways:

“Short-term: Excessive levels of nitrate in drinking water have caused serious illness and sometimes death. The serious illness in infants is due to the conversion of nitrate to nitrite by the body, which can interfere with the oxygen-carrying capacity of the child’s blood. This can be an acute condition in which health deteriorates rapidly over a period of days. Symptoms include shortness of breath and blueness of the skin.” ( source )

“Long-term: Nitrates and nitrites have the potential to cause the following effects from a lifetime exposure at levels above the MCL: diuresis, increased starchy deposits and hemorrhaging of the spleen.” ( source )

How can I get rid of nitrates in my water?

We started this posting by saying that Filter Water now carries a dual filter counter top nitrate removal system… so now we figure we ought to tell you a little more about it.

Stage 1 — This product uses as dedicated nitrate removal filter. Water first flows through a nitrate-selective resin cartridge designed to reduce nitrate levels in water by 90 to 95 percent. The cartridge has an expected nitrate capacity of approximately 5500 ppm and owners can regenerate (aka: recharge, flush out, clean) the cartridge using a sodium chloride brine solution when it gets full.

Stages 2 & 7 — Pre and post one-micron filter pads remove suspended particles such as silt, sediment, cyst (Giardia, Cryptosporidium), sand, rust, dirt, and other undissolved matter in the water.

Stages 3 & 4 — Specially formulated beds of copper and zinc (KDF-55D, and KDF-85D) use a process known as oxidation-reduction to exhaust any chlorine in the water and convert iron and hydrogen sulfide into insoluble matter which attaches to the surface of the media. Heavy metals such as lead, mercury, copper, nickel, chromium, cadmium, aluminum, etc. also get removed during stages 3 & 4.

Stage 5 — Ion exchange resins reduce heavy metals such as lead, copper and aluminum further and also reduce water hardness by filtering out magnesium and calcium.

Stage 6 — Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC), a universally recognized and widely used adsorbent for a wide variety of unwanted drinking water contaminants such as chlorine (99.9%), chemicals linked to cancer (i.e. THM’s, benzene) pesticides & herbicides such as atrazine and simazine, insecticides, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), PCB’s, MTBE’s and hundreds of other chemical contaminants which could possibly exist in your water supply.

Other features of the Dual Filter Nitrate Removal System?

Many people simply do not want to mess around with plumbing under their sink so a unit like the Crystal Quest Dual Filter Nitrate Filter System which requires no plumbing will work out beautifully.

The unit sits quietly next to the sink on the counter top and connects easily to pretty much any standard kitchen faucet. It also comes with a diverter valve which allows people to switch between filtered and unfiltered water with the flip of a switch.

Not digging the stark white appearance of the filter? Don’t worry! You have the option of ordering the unit with a chrome finish if that better suits the decor of your kitchen.

How long will the filters last and what do replacements cost?

The manufacturer estimates that the filters ought to last between 1 and 3 years depending upon the initial quality of source water. Keep in mind, though, that a soaking of the nitrate-specific cartridge in sodium or potassium chloride solution at room temperature will recharge the cartridge for additional use.

1. Remove cartridge from unit
2. Immerse the cartridge in a sodium or potassium chloride and room temperature water for a period of 30 minutes
3. Rinse off and then soak the cartridge for 30 minutes in salt-free water
4. Shake excess water off of and out of the cartridge
5. Place the cartridge back in the filter housing
6. Run through the systems for a period of 5-10 minutes

When it comes time to replace the nitrate-specific filter cartridge it will cost around $50 and the 6-stage filter cartridge will cost about the same.

NSF/ANSI Standard 42: Drinking water filtration systems that are certified to this standard remove chlorine and sediment/particles from water for the purpose of improving its look, smell and taste. The design of these filter do NOT lend themselves to the removal or reduction of health-related contaminants.

NSF/ANSI Standard 44: Water treatment systems certified to this standard typically function as cation exchange water softeners designed to reduce or eliminate water hardness (i.e. calcium and/or magnesium). Water filters designed to remove barium and radium may also certify to this standard.

NSF/ANSI Standard 53: Water purifiers certifying to this standard have designs that remove health-related contaminants such as waterborne organisms and industrial chemicals. Cryptosporidium, giardia, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) and trihalomethane compounds (THMs) fit into one of those categories or the other.

NSF/ANSI Standard 55: Devices rated to this standard function as point of use (POU) or point of entry (POE) ultraviolet microbiological water treatment systems. These water treatment systems feature designs which disinfect microorganisms (such as bacteria and viruses) potentially present in water.

NSF/ANSI Standard 58: Typically one will find reverse osmosis water systems (RO) certified to this standard. Devices in this category will normally have the ability to fully remove organic contaminants, but may only partially remove inorganic compounds and heavy metals.

NSF/ANSI Standard 62: Certified to this standard one will typically find water distillers. The process of distillation removes a wider range of drinking water contaminants than all other methods of drinking water purification. Arsenic, mercury and bacteria all get eliminated through the use of water distillation systems.

NSF/ANSI Standard 177: Water filtration units certified to this standard function as shower head filters designed to remove chlorine from water.

Crystal Quest pitcher replacement filter

Manufacturer: Crystal Quest
Model Number: CQE-RC

4 stages of convenient filtration with a 2,000 gallon capacity.

In stages 1 and 2 KDF55 and KDF85 media reduce iron, mercury, copper, nickel, chromium, other dissolved metals, and harmful bacteria.

Stage 3 features an ion exchange resin that reduces heavy metals (such as lead, copper, aluminum) and lowers water hardness.

The fourth and final stage, a bed of granulated activated carbon (GAC) reduces chlorine by 99.9%, gets rid of bad tastes and odors, reduces pesticides and chemicals that are linked to cancer risks (i.e. benzene, THM’s, toxaphene).

How do you know if you need a water filter?

The answer, quite simply, involves testing your water. You can either test it yourself using a home water testing kit like the Water Quality Test Kit from SenSafe… or you can have a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Labs analyze your water.

In cases where homeowners suspect contamination, we always suggest using a certified water testing lab. Better to play it safe than sorry because… It’s your water, your health… and your LIFE!