Happy Thursday!

I just sent this email to San Francisco's Public Utility Commission (PUC) and wanted to share it with you/make it public because I'm concerned about the safety of our drinking/cooking/bathing water AND I'm very concerned about the safety of the marine life in San Francisco Bay/ the Pacific Ocean/etc...

I'm guessing these might also be issues that are important to you.  Especially since most municipal water departments have switched from using 'free' chlorine as a disinfectant in drinking water to using chloramine (a chlorine/ammonia compound).  Not only is chloramine not easy to remove, effectively... it is deadly to fresh- and salt-water fish, amphibians and reptiles.

Hello PUC:

I was compelled to contact you after discovering glaringly conflicting information in regards to what the Public Utilities Commission (sfwater.org) states about effective methods of removing chloramine from tap/drinking water and what the EPA states about such methods.

According to the EPA (http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/disinfection/chloramine/pdfs/Q29.pdf):

Neither boiling water; nor allowing water to sit at room temperature; nor reverse-osmosis filters removes monochloramine from drinking water.

Yet, sfwater.org's (http://www.sfwater.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentID=6920) "QUESTIONS REGARDING CHLORINE AND CHLORAMINE REMOVAL FROM WATER Updated March 2015" states:

"If desired, chloramine and ammonia can be completely removed from the water by
boiling; however, it will take 20 minutes of gentle boil to do that."

In another paragraph, it discourages "... letting an open container of water stand because it may take days for chloramine to dissipate."

It also states: "If desired, both chlorine and chloramine can be removed for drinking water purposes by an activated carbon filter point of use device that can be installed on a kitchen faucet."

In researching this last statement, I learned that the activated carbon filter alone is not enough to remove chloramine from tap water.  Brewers of beer and - especially - aquarium-keepers repeatedly confirm this statement.

Also, since chloramines are deadly to fish and amphibians at levels used for drinking water, I am very concerned about the harm being done to marine life in San Francisco Bay (and, in turn, the Pacific Ocean) by run-off from fire hydrants, water mains, etc. and from water released from wastewater treatment plants into the environment.

I look forward to hearing from the PUC in regards to these two important matters:
1.) Why are there such glaring discrepancies between SF's PUC and the EPA re: effective chloramine removal at home/What is the Truth? and
2.) What is San Francisco doing to protect San Francisco Bay's (and the Pacific's) marine life from toxic chloramine exposure?

Thank you.

Best regards,

San Francisco, CA