chlorine in water

[moneytank]

They just did some work on our well and added chlorine to the water to treat it. Now the water has a real strong smell of chlorine. What do i need to do in order to use it to top off my tanks? For my main reef tank the water is run through a ro/di (filters are kind of old though), but on my sons tank with just a few soft corals i usually get the water right from the tap.
Does the water need to be treated with anything before i can use it?
thanks

[caferacermike]

If it is only chlorine and not chloramine, I'd think the water would be safe for fish in about 48 hours. Chlorine only has a shelf life of about 24 hours.

[erick]

I use Prime. I use tap water for top off from Converse water, and all I add is Prime. You cannot overdose :huh , and I usually triple the recommended 1drop per gal. Works for chlorine and chloramine :D . BTW, chlorine is a gas, and dissipates over time when aerated.

[txstateunivreefer]

forget prime or letting it air out this gives you the excuse to get that RO/DI system of your dreams and your sig other cant stop you!!! Muhahha

[matt]

I'd run it through a carbon block if you can.

[prof]

Chlorine will dissipate when exposed to air. It is not instant but will happen. More surface area/areation will speed the process. Most municipal water systems use some amount of chlorine to treat drinking water. RO/DI will remove the chlorine.

[erikharrison]

Big ups on that prime Erick (brothers of the same name think alike?)

[alton]

One warning on the RO/DI removing Chlorine, most RO/DI units will only remove 2 PPM's. My rural water system sometimes over doses chlorine up to 4 PPM.

[caferacermike]

Some are mentioning municipalities. From what I read this is a well.

[moneytank]

yes, this is a private well. From what i was told they treated the water by adding chlorine and then shocked the water. They said it would taste really bad for about two days then it should go away. I filled my top off before they treated so it will be good for a few days. My main concern was my sons tank that i just manually add water to every other day. It just has a few fish with soft corals.
The regular tap water is nasty(forgot and took a drink)the ro/di water still taste the same as it did before so hopefully it will be ok to use. The good part is our toilets are sparkling clean....

[Richard]

I shock my well occasionally with bleach. When I do I turn off the water supply to my ro/di as chlorine will destroy the ro membrane the I turn on the faucets and let them run for 3-4 hours to flush out the chlorinated water from my holding tank.