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Why Tap Water Still Contains Chlorine After Treatment and What It Means for Your Daily Routine
Apr
Tap water carries a disinfectant on purpose. Chlorine or chloramine is left in the water so it keeps working on the trip from the treatment plant to your tap, and some of it is still there when the water reaches your shower. That is why so many people notice it in the shower.
From the treatment plant to your shower
Treated water travels through reservoirs, mains and the pipes in your street and home before it reaches you. A small amount of disinfectant stays in it for that whole trip, so the protection does not end at the plant gate.
Why some Australian utilities use chloramine
Free chlorine is the disinfectant most people know. Some utilities use chloramine instead, a compound of chlorine and ammonia. Seqwater, which supplies South East Queensland, says it adds chloramine “to maintain disinfection as it travels through the water network”. Which cities use which is set out on the chloramine and vitamin C page.
How long disinfectant lasts in the pipes
A disinfectant only helps while it lasts. From mid-August 2026, Seqwater is raising the pH of its treated water from about 7.8 to about 8.4 at its Mount Crosby, North Pine and Beaudesert plants, because a higher pH helps chloramine stay in the water for longer.
How much is left at your tap comes down to your utility and your supply.
Taking chlorine and chloramine out at the shower head
A Suhae shower filter does this where the water leaves the tap. Its cartridge holds 25,000 mg of vitamin C, which turns chlorine and chloramine into chloride as the water passes through, and ceramic beads and micro fabric ahead of it catch sediment, rust and pipe debris.
KEWI tested the cartridge under certificate IW-230133 and recorded 99.9% chlorine removal, with no chlorine detected up to 6,000 litres.
The Suhae Radiance hand shower keeps the cartridge inside the head and installs in about 2 minutes with no tools. Suhae Nourish and Suhae Aura use the same cartridge, and Vita Refill is the replacement for all three, AUD $29.90 in ten scents. Each one lasts two to three months, depending on how much the household showers.
Your tap water will carry whatever your utility puts in it. Your shower can be the one place it stops.
