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Tap water is full of chlorine, or the waterworks increasingly favor the disinfectant chloramine. That is otherwise a toxic gas.
The water we drink should not contain more than 0.3 mg of chlorine per liter. Unfortunately, this amount is more often above the limit than below it.
It would therefore be good to test your water. This can be done easily using test strips that detect chlorine content, pH and alkalinity.
Risks of long-term consumption of chlorine in water
Chlorine and especially its by-products (DBPs) have several serious risks with long-term use.
They can lead to the following diseases:
- bladder cancer
- increased blood cholesterol
- asthma
- allergies
- skin problems
- vision damage
- breathing problems
The biggest problem of chlorinated water
The biggest and probably most widespread problem of long-term chlorine consumption is the development of osteoporosis.
However, it is not directly responsible for it, so it is often completely overlooked as a cause.
The point is that chlorine displaces iodine and thereby damages the thyroid gland, including its influence on calcium metabolism.
Over time the body is therefore unable to properly process this bone-important mineral and osteoporosis subsequently occurs. Doctors then prescribe calcium supplements because they mistakenly assume the body is deficient in it.
The real problem, however, is that the body cannot process calcium.
How to remove chlorine from water
Fortunately, removing chlorine from water is fairly simple if you know how. Here are four of the most common methods.
1. Boiling water
Almost everyone probably knows this method.
What few people know, however, is that simply bringing water to a boil is not enough. It must boil for up to 15 minutes for all the chlorine to escape.
How to heal the thyroid gland
2. Filtering water
Some water filters are able to remove chlorine from water.
When buying them, however, make sure they capture chlorine as well, because many common filters only remove coarse impurities, some heavy metals and bacterial spores.
You should rather always filter tap water, because besides chlorine it may contain other harmful substances.
3. Letting the water stand
You have probably also heard of letting water stand as a method to remove chlorine.
But you need to let the water stand for 2 to 3 days, not a few minutes as many assume.
The usual cloudiness of water after pouring it into a glass is not caused by chlorine, but by tiny air bubbles.
They dissipate quickly, but the chlorine in it will remain for a long time.
4. Lemon juice containing vitamin C
My favorite way to remove chlorine from water is to use lemon juice. It contains vitamin C, which chemically reacts with chlorine.
After the reaction, only a negligible amount of hydrochloric acid (HCl) remains in the water, which is harmless, since it is also found in our stomach.
To remove 0.1 mg of chlorine in a 3 dcl glass you will need 0.25 mg of vitamin C (ascorbic acid).
This amount is found in approximately 0.5 ml of lemon juice, that is about 10 drops.
But feel free to add more drops; after all, lemon is healthy!
