Chloride is not the same as chlorine in drinking water although they both are related.
Chloride is a negatively charged ion of chlorine and is also a common compound that is found in drinking water in the form of sodium chloride also known as table salt.
Chlorine is a element which is added to the water for disinfecting purposes.
Chlorine is also a greenish yellow diatomic gas and is highly reactive and a powerful oxidizing agent and is used in water treatment for disinfection and is almost never found free in nature and is mostly commercially produced.
Chloride is the negatively charged ionic of chlorine and is formed when chlorine gains an electron and combines with other elements.
Chloride is a common compound in nature like in sodium chloride or table salt and is an electrolyte that plays a role in nerve function and hydration.
The amount of chlorine that is in tap water is between 0.5 to 2.0 parts per million or milligrams per liter although it can vary depending on the treatment plant location and the distance from the treatment plant to the user.
Most municipal potable water supplies are often chlorinated to provide a residual concentration of 0.5 to 2.0 ppm of chlorine.
The amount of chlorine that is too much in drinking water is any amount of chlorine over 4 milligrams per liter or over 4 parts per million.
Chlorine is added to drinking water to kill off harmful bacteria and viruses and is considered safe up to levels of 4 mg/L but anything over 4 mg/L is considered unsafe for human consumption.
The problem with chlorine in drinking water is that it can potentially lead to health issues in some people who drink it and can lead to kidney failure, bladder cancer, colon cancer etc.
While chlorine is said to be safe for human consumption, the chlorine can actually cause health issues in people overtime and although it kills harmful bacteria in the water that can make you sick, the chlorine also causes issues with the body.
You can get sick from chlorine water but it often takes years to become sick or have other health problems from drinking the chlorine water.
Drinking chlorine water is safe in the short term but it can cause health issues including bladder cancer, colon cancer, kidney failure, acute kidney injury, liver failure and other health issues and not everyone is affected the same way and some people never get sick from it and others do.
If your stomach is hurting when drinking chlorinated water then it's likely causing health issues with your body and you should avoid drinking it.
We started adding chlorine to drinking water in 1908 in the United States.
Jersey City, New Jersey actually became the first city in the United States to implement large scale chlorination of their drinking water supply which was led by Dr. John L Leal, to combat outbreaks of dysentery and typhoid fever.
And in 1908 George A. Johnson in Chicago, IL, also instituted chlorination by adding chloride of lime to contaminated river water.
And by the 1920s thousands of cities worldwide began using chlorine disinfectants to treat drinking water which lead to a dramatic reduction in waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever.
In 1917 Chlorination of drinking water began in Canada.
Chlorine does kill off bad things in water that can make you sick but the consumption of the chlorinated water itself can cause illnesses overtime as well.
Chlorine does affect your kidneys and can lead to acute kidney injury, kidney disease and kidney failure over time.
Chlorine Dioxide and it's Metabolites which are also other disinfectants can metabolize into chlorite and chlorate and are strong oxidizing agents which can lead to kidney problems and kidney failure.
In some cases cute kidney injury as a result of chlorine dioxide poisoning can be reversible but not always.
Chlorine dioxide poisoning or exposure to it's metabolites can also lead to acute kidney injury, including acute tubular necrosis and interstitial nephritis.
It's best to filter out the chlorine from your water before drinking it.
It is considered safe to drink chlorine in tap water as it's considered to be at low enough levels to make it safe for human consumption.
However in reality even the small amounts of chlorine in the tap water can cause health issues in some people over time.
Over time the chlorine in the tap water can cause kidney failure, kidney disease, colon cancer, liver failure, bladder cancer and other health effects.
Chlorine corrodes and eats away at brass and even copper piping and fittings over time so you can imagine what that same chlorine is doing inside your body.
You can filter out the chlorine which is what I would do because even though it's said to be safe it really is not and chlorine can also be absorbed into your body as well by showering or bathing or swimming in chlorine.
It is better to drink filtered tap water instead of bottled water as filtered tap water is much cheaper and also better for the environment as well.
Tap water without the chlorine and fluoride is just as healthy for you as bottled water is and if you can get well water that is even better for your health than any bottled water or city water would be.
The chlorine in city tap water can be bad for your health overtime and could cause bladder infections, kidney disease, kidney problems, colon cancer etc.
However you can filter out that chlorine before drinking the tap water from the city and it will be just as healthy as bottled water but can lack the nutrients of well water.
I have well water where I'm at and drink it all the time and it tastes better than bottled water and city water and unlike city water that causes my stomach to hurt, the well water doesn't cause any stomach problems for me.
Most bottled water is actually tap water that goes through a filtering and reverse osmosis process before being bottled.
Bottled water is not recommended mainly due to environmental concerns such as the plastic waste and energy consumption as well as the potential health risks that can come from the plastic leaching and lack of stringent regulations when compared to tap water.
Bottled water is not really that much healthier than tap water and even some bottled water can still contain chlorine like your city tap water does.
Bottled water is just basically tap water that comes from a city water supply in most cases and is then filtered and may go through reverse osmosis.
Although some bottled water may come from a well on the bottled water factories property but the majority of bottled water is just the same tap water that you get from your tap and comes from a city water supply.
In some bottled water you can still taste the chlorine in it and so it's not any healthier than tap water and is much more expensive.
The healthiest water is well water without any additional chemicals added and without all the nutrients filtered out.
Well water contains natural nutrients including iron that you need for the body to function properly and keep you healthy.
Bottled water and many city supplies filter out and strip out all that healthy nutrients in the water and some city supplies and even some bottled water may add fluoride to the water along with chlorine.
Chemicals in drinking water including chlorine and fluoride can actually be bad for your health over the long term.
Other reasons for bottled water being not recommended are the plastic waste, energy consumption, resource depletion, chemical leaching, lack of regulation, microplastics, chemical exposure, contamination and taste and quality.
Some people find that bottled water has a different taste or quality when compared to tap water which can be a factor in choosing bottled water.
Bottled water can also be contaminated with harmful bacteria which can cause illness
And chemicals like phthalates and BPA can leach from plastic bottles into the water and potentially cause health problems.