Chloramine in my water for six years and 10 months By Ellen Powell February 25, 2014
People in my water district have been living with chloramine since 4/2006. Although the byproducts of chloramination are scary, what is *much* worse are the skin, respiratory and digestive symptoms that people in my water district began suffering from after chloramine replaced chlorine. I and a group of citizens-with-symptoms in my water district cofounded People Concerned About Chloramine (PCAC) in early May 2006. Over the next three years PCAC documented the skin, respiratory and digestive symptoms that 300+ people in my water district had developed since the switch to chloramine, some severe, and some even life threatening. Please follow this link to photos of skin irritations caused by chloramine in my water district: http://www.vce.org/chloraminephotogallery.html. Unfortunately, one cannot take pictures of respiratory or digestive effects. Some people have developed bloody diarrhea and intense trouble breathing, forcing them to be on IBS medications and multiple inhalers, after the switch to chloramine here. PCAC members also learned that *wherever* chloramine replaces chlorine, people develop these symptoms. We are in touch with other citizen groups in the U.S. who are documenting these very symptoms that people have developed in my community. Charlottesville VA citizens, after learning about the skin, respiratory and digestive symptoms people developed in Vermont and all over the country, pushed hard to keep chloramine from going into their public water supply, and they prevailed. They, as did Grand Isle VT citizens, chose a much safer way to meet compliance with the EPA Disinfection Byproduct Rule: run the source water through beds of granulated activated charcoal (GAC) to remove organic material and be able to continue using chlorine. (Since the water is cleaned so well by the GAC, in many cases less chlorine is required to disinfect the water than before.) In both Grand Isle VT and Charlottesville VA, citizens were told by officials that, although the EPA considers GAC to be the "best available technology" to disinfect public water supplies, the cost is way too high to even consider. The citizens in both towns demanded to see the numbers on GAC, and in both cases, GAC, although more expensive than chloramine, was affordable at around $12-$14 per month per hookup. They also learned that GAC not only removes the offending organic material, it also removes a lot of other contaminants from the source water as well, giving them really clean water. It was a no-brainer to choose GAC over chloramine. I highly suggest the citizens of Ketchikan get the numbers on the cost for a GAC system and make an educated choice. If you get chloramine, I have no doubt there will be people in your community who will suffer from skin, digestive and/or respiratory symptoms. It's a crap shoot on who they will be. Will it be you, dear reader? One or all of your kids? Your spouse? Grandma? Your best friend? Ellen Powell ( About: "I am a regular citizen who has been living with chloramine in my Vermont tap water for almost seven years. I cannot use my water for bathing/showering, or drinking/cooking due to getting skin, respiratory and digestive symptoms from exposure to water with chloramine in it. Since Aug. 2006, to avoid symptoms, I have been showering at a YMCA in a nearby town that uses chlorine to disinfect the tap water, and since May 2006, I have had to use 35 gallons per month of spring water for all my other water needs. I have spent almost $8,000 to avoid chloraminated water since this nightmare started." Received February 23, 2014 - Published February 25, 2014 For more information, go to www.chloramine.org. Here are some links to chloramine sufferers in my community testifying about their symptoms to CDC and EPA officials in 2007.
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