- Chloramine can assist chlorine in controlling bacteria but constitutes a great danger to the integrity of water lines.

"For many years chlorine has been used in municipal water systems as a disinfectant because it's effective against bacteria, viruses and other undesirables. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of chlorine wanes after leaving the water treatment plant. The free chlorine dissipates rapidly, reacting with microorganisms and other contaminants, and may even be consumed completely by the time the water reaches the faucet. Interestingly, this reaction is minimized when other chemicals are added to the water supply in order to tie up the free chlorine - specifically to form chloramines..Chloramines are formed when ammonia is added to water either before or after chlorination.... Unfortunately, chloramines can wreak havoc with elastomeric seals used in fitting and connectors...Even thoug styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) has been used successfully in potable water applications for many years, the presence of chloramines affects the SBR compound very dramatically...Even ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM) compounds, historically the material of choice for water applications, can exhibit severe volume swell and physical deterioration when exposed to chloramines if not compounded correctly. Unfortunately, there's no simple test to perform to determine whether the seals you're currently using are chloramine resistant."

Dale M. Ashby, Resistant Seals for Keak-free Tubing, Fittings and Connectors in Water Conditioning & Purification, April 2000.