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If you’re seeking ways to reduce the chlorine in your bathwater, a bathtub faucet filter could be just what you’re looking for.
Most municipal water supplies contain chlorine & research suggests that up to 60% of the chlorine we absorb on a daily basis may come from showering & bathing. As well as chlorine, many water supplies also contain chloramines – chemical byproducts commonly formed when ammonia is added to chlorine as a water treatment.
Exposure to chlorine and chloramines can damage hair and skin, both of which are highly absorbent. Chlorine may also irritate eyes, sinuses & lungs.
So reducing your everyday contact with these contaminants may lead to improvements in hair and skin, as well as conditions such as exzema, psoriasis or even asthma.
Bathtub Faucet Filter Top Picks:
1 – Best For Affordability: Santevia
2 – Best For KDF Bath Ball Filtration Sprite
3 – Best For Treating Chloramines: CuZn
4 – Best For Hot Tubs & Spas – Lifesbath
5 – Best Vitamin C Powder: Ascorbic acid
How Do Bathtub Faucet Filters Reduce Chlorine?
Bathtub faucet filters are an effective way to reduce chlorine in your bathwater – according to some manufacturers, by up to 99%. Whilst bath faucet filters aren’t always as effective at reducing chloramines, some filters, such as the CuZn offer a dedicated filter designed specifically for water containing chloramines.
In terms of the filter used, a bathtub faucet filter may use materials such as activated carbon and calcium sulfate to reduce chlorine. Other bath filters use a process called KDF (sometimes called redox), which utilises the science of electron exchange to bind & remove contaminants such as chlorine & chloramines, as well as pollutants such as sediment & odours.
Using Vitamin C as a Bathwater ‘Filter’
An alternative, cost effective, option to a bathtub faucet filter is to use vitamin C powder, or tablets, to neutralise the chlorine in your bathwater.
Vitamin C has a number of benefits as a method to dechlorinate bathwater. It’s cost effective & simple to use, plus it will neutralise both chlorine & chloramines. You’ll often see it used in shower filters. It’s also 100% food safe.
To use this option, you simply add around half a teaspoon (or 1000mg) of Vitamin C to your bathwater and give it a few minutes to take effect.
You can read the United States Department of Agriculture (ESDA) research on using Vitamin C to effectively dechlorinate water here.
5 Bathtub Faucet Filters & Vitamin C Tablets That Reduce Chlorine
Here are 5 of the best bathtub faucet filters, bath ball filters & vitamin C dechlorination tablets & powders:
1 – Santevia Bathtub Faucet Filter
Highlights: No installation is required with this simple to use bath filter, which reduces chlorine by up to 100% & adds in healthy minerals such as magnesium & zinc.
Further details: Santevia have been a leading name in water filters since 2007 & their bathwater filter couldn’t be easier to use. With no installation required, you simply hang the filter over your bath tub faucet and let the water run through. Once your bathtub is full, it’s recommended you swirl the filter in the bath for optimum results.
Santevia’s bath ball faucet filter works via bioceramic balls tucked neatly inside an organic cotton bag. The primary filter ingredient is activated carbon, which absorbs chlorine & other organic contaminants, with calcium sulfate also added for additional chlorine reduction.
To help nourish skin & hair, Santevia’s bath filter also incorporates a natural mineral stone (maifan), which adds traces of important minerals, such as magnesium & zinc into your bathwater.
Filters last up to 2 months, reducing up to 100% of chlorine & you can use them alongside bath soaps.
To get the most from your Santevia bathtub faucet filter, rinse after use & hang to air dry.
A practical, simple to use choice if you want to reduce chlorine in your bathwater and add minerals such as magnesium into your bathwater.
2 – Sprite Showers Ball Bath Filter
Highlights: Affordable & easy to use bath faucet filter that should fit most faucets & reduces chlorine, iron oxide, odours, rust & sediment.
Further details: The Sprite Showers bathtub faucet filter and conditioner uses the same filter media as the popular Sprite shower systems, reducing chlorine & other contaminants from your bathwater.
Using a process called oxidation-reduction (also called redox or KDF), Sprites Chlorgon filter media reduce water contaminants including chlorine, iron oxide (rust water), odours, dirt & sediment. KDF filters are generally considered more effective at removing chlorine from bathwater than carbon based filters, which were designed to work with cold water.
The filter is really easy to use and attaches easily to most bathtub spouts using a universal detachable harness. Water then flows through the filter as you run your bath.
Sprite filters are replaceable and should last you for approximately 30 baths.
An easy to install filter that should fit most faucets.
3 – Cuzn Bath Ball Faucet Filter
Highlights: Easy to fit bathtub faucet filter that offers separate KDF filters for chlorine treated water & water containing chloramines.
Further details: Designed to help alleviate water quality issues that may contribute to dry hair & skin, as well as eye or sinus problems, the CuZn bath ball is lightweight & easy to use.
Simply hang the bath ball over your faucet with the attached strap and run the bathwater through the filter when filling your bath. A new flow rate extender should help reduce overflow with fast running baths.
Using the KDF filtration method, the CuZn bath faucet filter is designed to tackle both chlorine and chloramines.
Opt for the standard BB-104 Model for chlorine treated waters & the BB-104-85 Model for water containing chloramines. If you’re not sure what’s in your local water supply & live in the US, you can contact CuZn on their live chat & they’ll advise you. In the UK & other countries, your local water company supplier should also be able to advise you.
The CuZn bathwater faucet filter housing is also reasonably eco friendly, as it’s reusable – you simply need to replace the interior KDF filter – however, keep in mind replacement filter costs are only a little less than buying a whole new system.
4 – VitaBath Dechlorination Tablets
Highlights: An affordable way to neautralise chlorine & chloramines in bathwater, hot tubs & spas, using vitamin C tablets.
Further details: An affordable alternative to a bathtub faucet filter is to use dechlorination tablets. This option from VitaBath contains 20 tablets per bottle, with each tablet containing a mix of ascorbic acid, citric acid, sorbitol & sodium bicarbonate.
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C), is well documented as a natural organic compound that can effectively neutralise chlorine & chloramines very quickly.
Tablets are suitable for use in bathwater, hot tubs or spas & the suggested use is one tablet per bath or one tablet to fully neutralise 1 ppm chlorine and chloramines in 100 gallons of water..
Once you’ve dropped a tablet into water, the vitamin C will become effervescent and begin to fizz. Leave for a few minutes for best results.
Whilst these dechlorination tablets are much cheaper than bathtub faucet filters, they only contain 20 tablets, so long term you’ll need to weigh up which is more cost effective to you. A good option though for hot tubs & spas. Avoid if your are allergic to sodium bicarbonate, or sorbitol, as these are listed ingredients.
5 – Ascorbic Acid
Highlights: A simple, quick & cost effective way to neutralise chlorine & chloramines in bathwater using ascorbic acid vitamin C powder.
Further details: Using approximately half a teaspoon of ascorbic acid is one of the simplest & cost effective ways to help neutralise chlorine & chloramines in bathwater.
Bottles or packets of ascorbic acid (many also come with a handy scoop) are readily available in health food stores and online at a reasonable cost.
Keep in mind there are two forms of vitamin C – ascorbic acid & sodium ascorbate. Ascorbic acid is generally the preferred option as ascorbate acid can slightly change the pH of bathwater, making it a little more acidic. Both, however, will work.
Suggested use is half a teaspoon (or 1000mg) of Vitamin C for an average bath. Simply leave the vitamin C to work for a few minutes before taking your bath.
Keep in mind that whilst dechlorination tablets & vitamin C powder are effective agents at neutralising chlorine & chloramines, they can’t filter out sediment or dirt, which some bathtub faucet filters claim to do.
Bathtub Faucet Filters – Conclusion
Low levels of chlorine can contribute to dry skin & hair, as well as eye & lung irritation, so reducing levels in your bathwater may alleviate symptoms or improve condition of hair, scalp & skin.
To reduce levels of chlorine in your bathwater, bathtub faucet filters are an affordable way to help neutralise contaminants such as chlorine, as well as filter out pollutants such as dirt, sediment & odour.
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is another way to help neutralise chlorine & chloramines in bathwater – you can either use ready made dechlorination tablets or simply drop a teaspoon of ascorbic acid powder into your bathwater for quick & effective results.
