Does a Shower Filter Remove Chloramine?

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Does a shower filter remove chloramine? The short answer from the sources below is that shower filter manuals describe reduction of free chlorine, and the ones that address chloramine say the system was not evaluated for it. Chloramines are a form of secondary disinfection that some utilities use, so whether your shower water contains them depends on your water supply, not on the filter. This guide explains what the labels say, why carbon media behave differently, and how to check your own supply.

Quick answer

The shower filter manuals in this guide describe reduction of free chlorine. The Multipure manual says its filter “effectively reduces free chlorine only.”
Two of the manuals say the system has not been evaluated for free chlorine reduction in the presence of chloramines: the Multipure manual and the Brondell performance sheet. The Sprite manual says the same in its own words.
Carbon media are not all alike. NDSU describes catalytic carbon as “an advanced activated-carbon product designed to adsorb chloramines.” The UNL guide says “AC filtration can be effective in removing chlorine, chloramines, and some disinfection byproducts,” which is a general statement and not a product claim.
Check with your utility before you rely on any filter claim. Whether chloramines are used is a question for the local supplier, not for the filter box.

What chloramine is and why it shows up in tap water

The EPA chloramine page describes chloramines as a form of secondary disinfection. They are most commonly formed when ammonia is added to chlorine, and the page lists their purpose this way: “Provide longer-lasting disinfection as the water moves through pipes to consumers.” In plain terms, they are meant to keep the water protected on its way to the tap.

Utilities have used them for a long time. The EPA page says “Chloramines have been used by water utilities since the 1930s,” and it adds that “More than one in five Americans uses drinking water treated with chloramines.” The count is from the EPA page itself and does not say which of those households are on chloramine today.

Chlorine is still the main disinfectant for many systems. The page says: “Many public water systems (PWSs) use chlorine as their primary disinfectant.” It also says that “some PWSs changed their secondary disinfectant to chloramines to meet disinfection byproduct requirements.” So one city may use chlorine alone, while the next uses chloramines, and neighbors on the same street can be on different systems.

The EPA page also states: “Water that contains chloramines and meets EPA regulatory standards is safe to use for:” and then lists drinking, cooking, bathing and other household uses. That statement is about the water supply. The shower filter question is a different one: it asks whether a filter removes a specific disinfectant from the water that reaches the showerhead.

A 2009 EPA question sheet adds two points. Monochloramine is the most common form when chloramines are used to disinfect drinking water. The sheet also says chloramines last longer in pipes because they do not break down quickly. That durability is the reason the EPA page gives for using them.

Why carbon media handle chloramine differently

Activated carbon removes contaminants by adsorption. The UNL guide puts it this way: “Activated carbon filtration is an adsorptive process in which the contaminant is attracted to and held (adsorbed) onto the surface of the carbon particles.” The same guide says that “The source of the carbon and the activation method determine the effectiveness of removal for specific contaminants.” That is why two cartridges that look alike can perform differently.

The UNL guide is a 2013 revision. It describes carbon filtration in general and does not name a shower product or a removal rate. Its statement about chloramine is short, and it should be read as a general limit, not a guarantee for any one device.

NDSU describes a different class of media. Its extension page says catalytic carbon is “an advanced activated-carbon product designed to adsorb chloramines.” The same page warns about small devices: “Pour-through and faucet-mounted units do not provide the contact time for significant removal of contaminants.” Contact time is the length of time water spends in contact with the media, and a shower cartridge is a small device. The sources do not state the contact time a shower cartridge gets.

The Virginia Tech extension table of common water treatment devices lists the activated carbon filter as “Removes chlorine and some organics.” The same row says the filter “Does not remove bacteria or nitrate.” Chloramine does not appear in that row. The table is a quick reference, so it does not rule chloramine removal in or out for every product.

Carbon also reaches a limit. The UNL guide says “When all adsorption sites on the activated carbon become full of contaminants, the filter is saturated and has reached its capacity.” It warns that after that point the treated water can end up with a contaminant level that “may actually be higher than in the untreated water.” The guide also says a change in water pressure, taste, odor or sediment means the filter should be replaced.

What the shower filter labels in these sources say

Three manufacturer sheets in this guide cover chlorine and chloramine. The table records only what each sheet states. Where a sheet is silent on a point, the cell says “not stated.”

Source	Chlorine statement	Chloramine statement	Drinking water statement
Multipure AquaShower manual	Says the filter “effectively reduces free chlorine only.”	Says the system “has not been evaluated for free available chlorine reduction” and does not cover “performance in the presence of chloramines.”	Says the filter is “not intended as a drinking water filter.”
Brondell VivaSpring FF-15 performance and replacement sheet	Covers free available chlorine reduction	Says the system has not been evaluated for free available chlorine reduction in the presence of chloramines.	Says “The system is not to be used for drinking water purposes.”
Sprite shower filter manual, model AE7E	Names free chlorine removal as its rated use	Says the system has not been evaluated in the presence of chloramines.	States that it is not intended as a drinking water treatment unit.
Brondell VivaSpring FSH25 installation sheet	not stated	not stated	not stated

The Multipure manual adds a limit on what any cartridge can do. It says that no KDF or carbon shower filter removes all of the free chlorine. That is a statement about free chlorine, not chloramine, but it shows that even the chlorine claim has a ceiling.

How to check your own water

Start with the utility. The Multipure manual points readers to their local water utility to learn whether chloramines are used in treating their water. The utility can answer that question for your address, and that answer matters more than any general statement in a manual.

The UNL guide says “Water utilities are required to publish Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs),” and that these reports describe the “methods of treatment used by the utility.” The guide does not say whether a report names chloramines. If the report is unclear on the disinfectant, call the utility and ask which disinfectant it adds to the water in your area.

Be careful with home test kits. The Multipure manual warns that “Chlorine testing using the OTO (standard swimming pool kit) or DPD test kits” can give misleading readings, and it says that “disinfectant in the water supply will also produce erroneous test results.” If you use a pool-style kit on a chloramine supply, the number on the card may not reflect the chlorine you think you are measuring.

The UNL guide gives the only certain check: “the only way to be certain if a filter is successfully removing contaminants is by repeated testing of the filtered water.” For chloramine, that would mean checking the filtered water for chloramine itself, not reading a chlorine color card.

What to check on a label or sheet

Whether chloramine is named as a condition the product was evaluated for. The three chlorine manuals above say it was not. A named chloramine result would be a different claim, and the sources in this guide do not contain one.
Whether the sheet says the product is for drinking water. All three chlorine manuals say it is not intended for drinking water.
The rated life. Each manual gives one. This guide does not repeat those figures, so use the number on the sheet for your own model.
The contact time. None of the opened sources states it for a shower cartridge.

If weak spray is the bigger complaint, the guide to high-pressure shower heads that save water covers the flow side of the choice. If you want a handheld with a stronger spray, see the high-pressure handheld option. For a water-efficient handheld, see the guide to water-efficient handheld shower heads. A filter does not change either of those questions.

How we chose

This explainer uses nine sources, all opened and read on 2026-10-22. The criteria were government pages (EPA), university extension publications (UNL, NDSU and Virginia Tech), and manufacturer sheets for shower filters that name chlorine or chloramine. Retailer listings, vendor blogs, patent texts and pages that returned errors were left out. The post does not rank products or brands, and it does not recommend a model.

What we could not verify: what the sources do not say

None of the opened sources says that a named shower filter removes chloramine.
No source gives a chloramine removal rate, for a shower filter or for a carbon cartridge.
No source states the contact time a shower filter cartridge gets.
The manuals give rated lives. This post does not repeat them, and no source here gives a replacement interval that applies to every cartridge.
The certifying body’s pages could not be opened, so this post does not describe any certification test or what it covers.
No source here says which utilities in a given area use chloramines.
Two sources are dated. The UNL guide was revised in 2013, and the EPA question sheet is dated 2009. The current EPA page says it was last updated on March 12, 2026.
Patent text on catalytic carbon was not used as evidence.

Frequently asked questions

Does a shower filter remove chloramine?

The manuals in this guide do not say so. The Multipure and Brondell sheets say the systems were not evaluated for free chlorine reduction in the presence of chloramines, and the Sprite manual says the same. No opened source shows a named shower filter that removes chloramine.

Is chloramine the same as chlorine?

No. EPA says chloramines are most commonly formed when ammonia is added to chlorine. The 2009 EPA question sheet says monochloramine is the most common form when chloramines disinfect drinking water.

Can carbon remove chloramine?

Some carbon can. NDSU describes catalytic carbon as designed to adsorb chloramines. The UNL guide says activated carbon filtration can be effective in removing chlorine and chloramines. The sources do not give a removal rate for any shower product.

How do I know if my water has chloramine?

Ask the local water utility. EPA says many public water systems still use chlorine as their primary disinfectant, and that some changed to chloramines. Consumer Confidence Reports describe the treatment methods a utility uses, but the UNL guide does not say whether those reports name chloramines.

Is chloramine water safe to shower in?

EPA says water that contains chloramines and meets its regulatory standards is safe to use for bathing, along with drinking and cooking. The question in this post is whether a filter removes a disinfectant, not whether the water is safe to use.

Can a home test kit show whether a filter is working?

Not reliably for chloramine. The Multipure manual warns that chloramine in the supply can produce erroneous results with pool-style chlorine kits. The UNL guide says the only certain check is repeated testing of the filtered water.

Bottom line

If the label or sheet does not show chloramine as a condition the product was evaluated for, treat the filter as unproven for chloramine, and confirm your utility’s disinfectant before you rely on it.

Sources

U.S. EPA, “Chloramines in Drinking Water,” https://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/chloramines-drinking-water (opened 2026-10-22; page says last updated March 12, 2026)
U.S. EPA, “Basic Information About Chloramines,” 2009 question sheet, https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-09/documents/q1.pdf (opened 2026-10-22)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, G1489, “Drinking Water Treatment: Activated Carbon Filtration,” revised 2013, https://extensionpubs.unl.edu/publication/g1489/na/html/view (opened 2026-10-22)
North Dakota State University Extension, “Filtration: Sediment, Activated Carbon, and Mixed Media,” https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/publications/filtration-sediment-activated-carbon-and-mixed-media (opened 2026-10-22)
Virginia Tech Extension, Publication 442-670, Household Water Treatment, https://www.wellwater.bse.vt.edu/files/WaterTreatment442-670_pdf.pdf (opened 2026-10-22)
Multipure, AquaShower manual MPI-2107-030, https://www.Multipure.com/content/mp-aquashower-manual.pdf (opened 2026-10-22)
Brondell, VivaSpring FF-15 performance data and replacement cartridge sheet, https://www.brondell.com/content/FF15_installation-instructions.pdf (opened 2026-10-22)
Brondell, VivaSpring FSH25 filtered shower head installation sheet, https://www.brondell.com/content/Brondell_ShowerFiltration_Filtered_Shower_Filter.pdf (opened 2026-10-22)
Sprite Industries, use and care instructions, filtered shower head model AE7E, https://pdf.lowes.com/productdocuments/2f2d7fcf-12c2-4356-8ace-3378e646f692/45590394.pdf (opened 2026-10-22)