You have just moved into a beautiful development that includes municipal water that has been treated with chlorine from a water treatment building right inside of the development. You have been considering getting a Culligan reverse osmosis system, but will a Culligan reverse osmosis system remove chlorine from your water?
A Culligan reverse osmosis system will remove chlorine from your water if it has a carbon-based filter. It is not the process of reverse osmosis that removes chlorine from your water on a Culligan reverse osmosis system but the carbon filter included with the system.
Your water has been filtered and treated with chlorine to make it safe for you and your family to enjoy, but do you really want to drink water that has chlorine in it?
Make sure that you choose a reverse osmosis system with a carbon filter or you may end up drinking water that smells like a swimming pool.
Which Culligan reverse osmosis systems will remove chlorine from my water?
Culligan currently offers three reverse osmosis systems that can remove chlorine.
Culligan’s basic reverse osmosis system:
Culligan’s most basic reverse osmosis system which has been around for many years is a very standard type reverse osmosis system. It starts with a particle filter to remove any sediment in your water and then it has an activated carbon filter for municipal water chlorine reduction.
This activated carbon pre-filter is a solid block filter that is rated for up to 3 parts per million of chlorine in your water and is suggested by Culligan to be changed at least once per year in order to continue to reduce the amount of chlorine in your water.
Although the level of chlorine in your water will depend on how much chlorine is added to your water by your municipal water supplier, it is not very common to find chlorine levels above 3 parts per million.
Culligan’s advanced reverse osmosis system:
Just like the Culligan’s basic reverse osmosis system, the advanced system has a sediment pre-filter followed by a carbon-based filter for chlorine removal.
The difference between the basic system and the advanced system is that Culligan’s advanced reverse osmosis system can use a carbon block filter, a Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filter, or a large Granular Activated Carbon (GAC)Filter to reduce chlorine that may be in your municipal water supply.
Any of these carbon filters will reduce the amount of chlorine in your water, using more than one carbon filter will provide extra protection for your reverse osmosis membrane against damage that can be caused by chlorine.
Culligan’s tankless reverse osmosis system:
Culligan also has it’s premium tankless reverse osmosis system which comes with a carbon block pre-filter that is designed to be able to last for 1 year or up to 4,755 gallons of filtered municipal water.
Of course, the effectiveness of any carbon filter for chlorine reduction will depend not only on the amount of water used but also on the level of chlorine that is in the water being filtered.
Although I do suggest that you change your chlorine reducing carbon filters on a regular basis, it is important to understand that any carbon filter will only be able to remove a limited amount of chlorine from your water before it will have to be replaced or you will need to rinse and reuse the carbon filter.
The Culligan tankless reverse osmosis drinking water system also has optional filters available for additional filtering of other water impurities besides chlorine, but it will adequately remove chlorine from most municipal water.
Does a Culligan reverse osmosis system remove chlorine better than other systems?
There are many reverse osmosis systems that have the ability to remove chlorine from your water and most will reduce the amount of chlorine in your water just as effectively as a Culligan reverse osmosis system.
Culligan reverse osmosis systems use filters that contain activated carbon to reduce the amount of chlorine in your water. As long as there is enough activated carbon inside of the filter, it should reduce chlorine levels in municipal to zero or near zero.
The fact that a reverse osmosis system is made by Culligan does not mean that it is any better at reducing chlorine in your water than any other reverse osmosis system that has a carbon pre-filter for chlorine removal.
Although, there are several different types of carbon that could be used to reduce chlorine in your water, the activated carbon filter contained in a Culligan reverse osmosis system is not much different than a standard activated carbon filter that may be used by another reverse osmosis drinking water system.
| Brand | Model | Approximate Price | Current Price | Removes Chlorine |
| Culligan | Aqua-Clear | $1000+ | ? | Yes |
| Apec | ESSENCE ROES-50 | $230 | Current Price | Yes |
| iSpring | RCC7AK | $219 | Current Price | Yes |
| iSpring | RCC1UP-AK | $539 | Current Price | Yes |
Do I need a Culligan brand water softener to use a Culligan reverse osmosis system for chlorine reduction?
Not at all! Although a reverse osmosis system will work best when your water is soft and free of iron and manganese, any water softener will do to remove hard minerals from your water. Even a basic water softener would do a fine job of softening your water.
But if you are considering a Culligan reverse osmosis system for the purpose of removing chlorine from your water, the resin in a Culligan or other brand water softener can be damaged by chlorine in your water.
See my article “Can Water Softener Resin Go Bad” for more details about how chlorine can affect water softening resin.
If you already have a water softener and you have chlorinated water from a municipal water supply, you should install a whole house water filter with an activated carbon filter cartridge to remove the chlorine before it gets into your water softener or your reverse osmosis system.
Do other reverse osmosis systems remove chlorine also?
Absolutely! Most reverse osmosis systems have a carbon pre-filter stage so that the system can be used for both well water as well as chlorinated municipal water.
There are several reverse osmosis drinking water systems available that can remove chlorine from your water just like a Culligan reverse osmosis system would, and for a fraction of the price.
A Culligan reverse osmosis system can remove chlorine from your municipal water and many other impurities, but it is not the process of reverse osmosis on a Culligan system that actually removes the chlorine.
An activated carbon filter as part of a reverse osmosis system is what you should look for in a reverse osmosis drinking water system if you get your water from a municipal water supplier.
A municipal water supply is commonly treated with chlorine to disinfect your water to make it safe for you and your family to drink but taking that chlorine back out of your water before you drink it is usually your responsibility.
Using a reverse osmosis system with a carbon pre-filter to remove the chlorine from your water is a simple and economical way to make your municipal water not only safe but also a pleasure to drink.
