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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Re: Chloramine neutralizing (Fred L Johnson)


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Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:30:40 -0500
From: Fred L Johnson <FLJohnson52 at nc.rr.com>
Subject: Re: Chloramine neutralizing

Tom Logan asked about how to rid his water of chloramine. Since no one offered a
response, I thought I should pull up some old posts on the topic for Tom's
benefit. (In the process I discovered the search engine at
http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/hbdindex.cgi/hbd_index isn't working, at least not on my
computer.)

My water can contain up to 4 ppm chloramine and 1 ppm free chlorine.

Quoting AJ deLange from previous years:

- -------------
       "The reaction between chlorine and bisulfite is: S2O5-2 + 4Cl + 3H2O -->
       2SO4-2 + 6H+  + 4 Cl-

       With mono chloramine it is: S2O5-2 + 2H2NCl + 3H2O -->

       2SO4-2 + 2H+ +2Cl- + 2NH4+

       In either case the bisulfite is oxidized to sulfate and the chlorine,
       while it is not 'removed',  is reduced to chloride ion."
- -------------

Thus 1 part bisulfite will reduce 4 parts chlorine or 2 parts chloramine. In my
particular case, I'll need 0.25 ppm bisulfite to reduce 1 ppm chlorine and 2 ppm
bisulfite to reduce 4 ppm chloramine in my water, for a total of 2.25 ppm (plus
it is appropriate to add a little excess to reduce the other reducible compounds
that will react with the bisulfite found in small amounts in typical drinking
water).

So let's say I'm targeting 3 ppm bisulfite to treat my water. (A little extra
does no harm and may reduce oxidation during mashing.) One mole of sodium
metabisulfite weighs 190 g of which 140 g (76%) of it is bisulfite, and 1 mole
of potassium metabisulfite weighs 222 g (roughly) of which 140 g (65%) is
bisulfite, not very different from each other. You can purchase either of these
as a powder. If you are working with campden tablets, I understand that some use
the sodium salt and some use the potassium salt, depending on the manufacturer.
I have also read that campden tablets weigh anywhere from 0.440 g to 0.550 g,
depending on the manufacturer, but I don't really know that they are pure
metabisulfite with no fillers. (Can someone confirm this?) 

If we assume a campden tablet is 0.440 g sodium metabisulfite, one tablet would
contribute about 0.334 g bisulfite. To achieve 3 ppm bisulfite, I need to
dissolve 334 mg into 111 liters or 29 gallons of water (roughly). Of course, if
the campden tablet weighs more than 440 mg, is not pure, or is the potassium
rather than the sodium salt, the math changes. And, of course, there is no need
to be as precise as I have described in this illustration, considering I was
targeting adding an excess of bisulfite in the first place.

Fred L Johnson
Apex, North Carolina, USA






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