Which term describes chlorine in water that is chemically bound to ammonia or organic amines?

Prepare for the American Water Works Water Treatment Plant Operator Test. Study with multiple choice questions, each with hints and explanations. Get ready to excel!

When chlorine meets nitrogen-containing compounds like ammonia or organic amines in water, it bonds with them to form chloramines. Those chloramines—monochloramine being one of them, along with dichloramine and trichloramine—are collectively described as combined chlorine. This is different from free chlorine, which remains as hypochlorous acid or hypochlorite and is not bound to nitrogen. Since the prompt asks for the term describing chlorine bound to ammonia or organics, the appropriate term is combined residual chlorine, which covers all those bound chlorine species.