Chloramine Removal in Charlotte, NC

What Chloramine Is and Why Charlotte Water Uses It

Chloramine is formed by combining chlorine with ammonia. Many municipal water utilities, including Charlotte Water, use it as a secondary disinfectant because it's more stable and tends to persist longer through the distribution system than chlorine alone, which helps maintain disinfection all the way to the tap.

Charlotte Water sources its water from Mountain Island Lake and Lake Norman and publishes details on its treatment and testing in its annual Drinking Water Quality Report, which is the best source for specifics on the utility's treatment approach and water quality results.

Why Standard Carbon Is Slower at Removing Chloramine

Standard activated carbon is effective at reducing free chlorine fairly quickly, but chloramine is a more chemically stable compound and reacts more slowly with standard carbon. That means a filter sized and designed for chlorine alone may not fully address chloramine taste or odor, even if it looks similar on paper.

Catalytic Carbon: The Usual Approach

Catalytic activated carbon is manufactured and activated in a way that speeds up the chemical reaction needed to break down chloramine. It's the media most commonly recommended specifically for chloramine reduction, usually as part of a whole house water filtration system.

Contact Time and Sizing

Even catalytic carbon needs enough contact time — the amount of time water spends in contact with the media — to fully react with chloramine. That generally means a larger tank and/or lower flow rate than a system designed only for chlorine and sediment.

This is one of the main reasons sizing matters so much for chloramine-focused systems: an undersized tank can let water pass through faster than the media can fully treat it, leaving some chloramine taste or odor behind even though the system is "working." We size chloramine-focused systems based on your home's peak flow rate and fixture count, starting with a free water test.

Why Water Softeners Don't Remove Chloramine

It's a common assumption that a water softener will also improve water taste, since it's installed at the point of entry and treats all the water in the home. But softeners don't remove chloramine — the ion exchange resin inside is built to swap out hardness minerals, not react with chloramine. If you have a softener and still notice chloramine taste or smell, you likely need a separate catalytic carbon stage. See our water softeners page for more on how softening and filtration differ.

A Note on Aquariums, Dialysis, and Medical Equipment

Chloramine is harmful to fish and other aquatic life because it isn't filtered out by their gills the way it would be in a treatment system, so chloramine-removing conditioners are standard practice for aquarium water. Similarly, home dialysis and some medical equipment manufacturers have specific water quality requirements.

Chloramine and Showering or Bathing

Some people notice chloramine's smell more in a hot shower, where warm water and steam can make odors more noticeable. Because chloramine exposure during showering is mostly a comfort and taste/odor consideration rather than a treatment requirement, whole-house catalytic carbon filtration (which treats shower water along with everything else) is generally the more complete solution, rather than a shower-only filter alone.