Thanks for the links CG. I have heard of chloramine and that it was used in purifying drinking water but had no clue that is was, of all things the combination of chlorine and ammonia (something you should NEVER mix at home!). I also did not know that carbon would not remove ammonia. The one thing I did note is that both excellent discussion are several years old and I wonder if there are standard filters not that do remove the ammonia part of the mix.
I never thought I would be glad for my naturally acidic water but IF it is in my water supply, my 6.0 or lower PH water should keep the ammonia in the easily removed range in the DI sand bed. I have seen people report low ammonia in well established thanks and am wondering if it is their supply rather than a tank cycling issue now. Unfortunately, the articles did not suggest that the ammonia would return to gas form like chlorine does if allowed to stand (with or without aggitation).
SK, probably the place to begin is to check the PH of your tap water. If it is below 8.3 try changing out your DI resin first. If it is above 8.3 you may want to look for a chloramine removing filter that will replace the carbon filter in your existing unit. Lastly, a simple thing to try would be to pull off 5 gallons, check for ammonia, bubble it heavily for 24 hours and check again to see if it will come off as a gas (this may not be a sound suggestion because of my lack of basic chemical knowledge but it won't hurt anything if CG or one of our other chem/bio people does not come and shoot the thought in the scientific foot). CG, if just air exposure would not release the ammonia as gas, what temp (ie can she use a simple aquariuim heater) would cause it to be released from the water?.
I never thought I would be glad for my naturally acidic water but IF it is in my water supply, my 6.0 or lower PH water should keep the ammonia in the easily removed range in the DI sand bed. I have seen people report low ammonia in well established thanks and am wondering if it is their supply rather than a tank cycling issue now. Unfortunately, the articles did not suggest that the ammonia would return to gas form like chlorine does if allowed to stand (with or without aggitation).
SK, probably the place to begin is to check the PH of your tap water. If it is below 8.3 try changing out your DI resin first. If it is above 8.3 you may want to look for a chloramine removing filter that will replace the carbon filter in your existing unit. Lastly, a simple thing to try would be to pull off 5 gallons, check for ammonia, bubble it heavily for 24 hours and check again to see if it will come off as a gas (this may not be a sound suggestion because of my lack of basic chemical knowledge but it won't hurt anything if CG or one of our other chem/bio people does not come and shoot the thought in the scientific foot). CG, if just air exposure would not release the ammonia as gas, what temp (ie can she use a simple aquariuim heater) would cause it to be released from the water?.
