Thanks John! I thought the idea about gaskets wearing out sounded like
BS. Now I just gota get motivated this weekend to fix the dang drip. Its
driving me batty.

Kath

"John G. Talpa" wrote:

I would expect it to somewhat reduce the life of rubber gaskets and washers.
They will tend to get hard and lose their elasticity more quickly. However,
in normal use, the chloramine level isn't very high and it probably won't be
a significant change.

As far as your shower is concerned, it probably isn't the chloramines. When
a faucet starts to drip, you compensate by tightening the handle more and
more to stop the drip. Then, when the washer is finally replaced, you
forget to 'lighten up' on the tightening. With the new flexible washer,
over-tightening cuts the surface and damages it.

So, when a faucet drips, fix it quickly. If you do wait, remember to close
down the faucet handle just enough to stop water flow without
over-tightening.

Many municipal suppliers are switching to chloramines because of the problem
with chlorine reacting with organics to form disinfection byproducts (DBPs).
These byproducts are possible cancer causing agents. Research is being
conducted to determine how significant a risk there is with DBPs.
Chloramine forms less DBPs and is being used more frequently.

John G. Talpa, CWS-VI
Certified Water Specialist
JT Company

"K Barrett" wrote in message
news:v6_ma.225233$Zo.42504@sccrnsc03...
Did anyone else (in the greater San Francisco Bay Area) read in the
Chronicle that chloramines will negatively affect the gaskets in our
faucets? This would have been in the series of articles the Chron did when
EBMUD said they'd convert to chloramines instead of chlorine for Hetch
Hetchy water.

John Talpa, I know this is out of your line but do you know anything about
this? gaskets 'wearing out' faster? Or hardening becasue of chloramines?

Sounded like total BS when I read the article, but now I'm beginning to
wonder.... of course because a gasket I changed in the shower is dripping
again after only 6 mos... LOL!! Guess my skills don't lend themselves to
plumbing...

K Barrett