CHAPTER SIX

DISINFECTION
 OBJECTIVE
• In this lesson we will answer the following
questions:
What disinfection requirements must be met in
treating drinking water?
How does chlorination fit into the water
treatment process?
How does chlorination work chemically?
What factors influence the efficiency of
chlorination?
Other methods can be used to disinfect water?
 INTRODUCTION
• Before water treatment became common,
waterborne diseases could spread quickly through a
population, killing or harming hundreds of people.
• The primary goal of water treatment is to ensure
that the water is safe to drink and does not contain
any disease-causing microorganisms (pathogens).
• Pathogens can be removed from water through
physical or chemical processes.
• Disinfection is one of the process selectively
destroying or inactivating pathogenic organisms in
water, usually by chemical means.
 ……… INTRODUCTION
• Disinfection in the Treatment Process;
Prechlorination
Postchlorination
• The substance used for disinfection is called disinfectant
 Requirements of Good Disinfectant
Destroy bacteria/pathogens within a practicable period of
time, over an expected range of water temperature.
Effective at variable compositions, concentration and
conditions of water treated.
Neither toxic to humans & domestic animals nor unpalatable
Not change water properties
 ……… INTRODUCTION
Have residual in a sufficient concentration to
provide protection against recontamination
Can be determined easily, quickly, and
preferably automatically.
Safe and easy to store, transport, handle and
supply
Not form toxic by-products due to their
reactions with any naturally occurring
materials in water.
 ……… INTRODUCTION
 The kinetics of disinfection depends on the following
 Time of contact
 Concentration of disinfectant
 Concentration of organisms
 Temperature of water
⏏ Time of Contact. When a single unit of microorganisms is exposed to a
single unit of disinfectant, the reduction in microorganisms follows a
first-order reaction. (Chick’s Law)
 States that the number of organisms destroyed in a unit time is
proportional to the number of organism remaining:
 ……… INTRODUCTION
⏏ Concentration of disinfectant. The disinfection efficiency is generally
estimated as,

• Where; C = the concentration of the disinfectant,

t = the time required to effect a constant % kill of the organisms,
n = coefficient of dilution.
⏏ Concentration of organism

• Where; C = concentration of the disinfectant,

NR = conc. of organism that reduced by a given %age in a given time
q = coefficient of disinfectant strength.
 ……… INTRODUCTION
⏏Temperature. The effect of temperature on
disinfection follows the Van Hoff-Arrhenius
relationship
 METHODS OF DISINFECTION
• The disinfection of water can be done by one of the
following methods:
Heat
Mechanical
Ultrasonic vibration,
Membrane filtration
Radiation
Ultra-violet rays
Chemical
Halogens (Chlorine, Bromine & Iodine)
Excess lime
Potassium permanganate [KMnO4]
Ozone (O3)
 DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
• Chlorination is the application of chlorine to
water to accomplish some definite purpose.
• In this lesson, we will be concerned with the
application of chlorine for the purpose of
disinfection
• The various chlorine compounds which are
available in the market and used as disinfectants
are:
Calcium hypochlorite [Ca(OCl)2] – powder form
Sodium hypochlorite [NaOCl] –liquid form
Free chlorine Cl2- Gaseous form
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION

⏏Chlorination Chemistry
• When chlorine enters water, it immediately
begins to react with compounds found in
the water and form trihalomethanes.
• It will also react with reducing agents such
as hydrogen sulfide, ferrous ions,
manganese ions, and nitrite ions.
 DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
• Example

• Each of these rxns uses up the chlorine in the water

• The total amount of chlorine which is used up in
rxns with cpds in the water is known as the chlorine
demand.
• After the chlorine demand is met, there is still some
chlorine left (free chlorine) to kill microorganisms in
the water.
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
• Again at the same time chlorine reacts with the
water itself.
Hypochlorous acid (unstable)
pH>5 ↑
Cl₂ +H₂O ------------------------→ HOCl---------- +---------OCl

Hydrogen ion hypochlorite

ion
←pH < 7 ↑ ↑
HOCl ------------ ↔-----------H⁺------------ +-----------OCl⁻
pH > 8→
•Hypochlorous acid is the most effective form of
free chlorine residual.
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION

• Free chlorine compounds react with many

organic & inorganic compounds to form
chlorinated compounds.
• If the products of these reactions posses
oxidizing potential, they are considered the
combined chlorine residual.
 DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
⏏VARIOUS FORMS OF APPLICATIONS OF CHLORINE
 HYPOCHLORITES
• Some plants apply chlorine to water as a hypochlorite/bleach.
• Are less pure than chlorine gas, (less dangerous).
• There are three types; - Sodium hypochlorite, Calcium
hypochlorite, and Commercial bleach
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
 CHLORAMINES
• Some plants use chloramines rather than
hypochlorous acid to disinfect the water.
• To produce chloramines,
First chlorine gas or hypochlorite is added to the
water to produce hypochlorous acid.
Then ammonia is added to the water to react with the
hypochlorous acid and produce a chloramine.
• Three types of chloramines can be formed in water –
Monochloramine, Dichloramine, and Trichloramine.
 DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION

• In most cases, both monochloramines and dichloramine

are formed & used as a disinfecting agent, called
combined chlorine residual
• Chloramines are weaker than chlorine, but are more
stable.
Effective at killing bacteria and some protozoans.
They are often used as the disinfectant in the
distribution lines of water treatment systems.
 DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
LIQUID AS CHLORINE GAS FORM
 Chlorine gas → A greenish yellow gas-2.50 times heavier than air

 Liquid form → Amber coloured liquid-1.5 times heavier than water

→ Increase in temperature → require more pressure

 Solubility in water → 1% at 10°C, 0.61 at 40°C

 Availability → 50 kg. Cylinder

 Storage → At a temp. of 38-40°C
Problems
 10mg/lit in air causes irritation

 20mg/lit causes inconvenience

 1000mg/lit causes death in 5 minutes

DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
Advantages
 Can be stored long period without risk of deterioration

 Cheep and quickly available

 Occupies less space for storage

 Easily and cheaply transported

 Dosage can be determined easily and hence no chances of

under/over dosage
 Initial cost of plant is low

 A powerful disinfectant and exist in residual form

 Uniformly applied in water

 Operation requires less skilled supervision

 No formation of sludge
 DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
DOSAGE OF CHLORINE
• The amount needed to disinfect water will
vary from source to source.
• When chlorine is added to water some is used
immediately to oxidize any organic matter
and to kill bacteria in the water.
• A sufficient quantity of chlorine should be
added to leave an adequate chlorine residual
in the water.
 DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION

• Applied chlorine dosage rates are usually in

the range of 0.5 to 2.0mg/l.
• Contact times are b/n 10 and 30min.
• Chlorine residual of 0.2 to 0.5mg/l.
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
A. PLAIN CHLORINATION
– Is the process of addition of chlorine only.
– Applicable for lakes and springs
– A rate of 0.8mg/lit/hour at 15N/cm2 pressure is the
normal dosage.
– Residual chlorine of 0.2 mg/lit.
B. SUPER CHLORINATION
– Administration of a dose considerably in excess of that
necessary for the adequate bacterial purification of
water.
– About 10 to 15 mg/lit is applied with a contact time of
10 to 30 min.
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
C. BRAKE POINT CHLORINATION
• The graph below shows what happens when chlorine
(either chlorine gas or a hypochlorite) is added to water.
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
 B/n pts 1 & 2, the water reacts with reducing
compounds in the water, such as hydrogen sulfide.
 These cpds use up the chlorine, producing no chlorine
residual
 B/n pts 2 & 3, the chlorine reacts with organics and
ammonia which is naturally found in the water.
 Some combined chlorine residual is formed - chloramines.
 Note that if chloramines were to be used as the disinfecting
agent, more ammonia would be added to the water to react
with the chlorine. The process would be stopped at point 3.
 In contrast, if hypochlorous acid is to be used as the chlorine
residual, then chlorine will be added past point 3.
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
 B/n pts 3 & 4, the chlorine will break down most of the
chloramines in the water, actually lowering the chlorine
residual.
 Finally, the water reaches the breakpoint, shown at point 4.
• The breakpoint is the point at which the chlorine demand
has been totally satisfied
 The chlorine has reacted with all reducing agents, organics, and
ammonia in the water.
• When more chlorine is added past the breakpoint;
 Breakpoint chlorination.
Is the most common form of chlorination, in
which enough chlorine is added to the water to
bring it past the breakpoint and to create some
free chlorine residual.
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
D. DE-CHLORINATION
• Removal of excess chlorine resulting from
super chlorination in part or completely.
• Excess chlorine in water gives pungent smell
and corrodes the pipe lines.
• Physical methods like aeration, heating and
absorption on charcoal may be adopted.
• Chemical methods like sulphur dioxide (SO2),
Sodium Bi-sulphate (NaHSO3), Sodium
Thiosulphate (Na2S2O8) are used.
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
 POINTS OF CHLORINATION
• Chlorine applied at various stages of treatment and
distribution accordingly they are known as pre, post and
re-chlorination.
a) Pre-Chlorination
• Chlorine applied prior to the sedimentation and filtration.
• This is practiced when the water is heavily polluted
• It removes taste, odor, color & growth of algae on TUs.
• It improves coagulation
• Post chlorination dosage may be reduced.
DISINFECTION BY CHLORINATION
b) Post Chlorination
• Is the application of chlorine after water has been
treated but before the water reaches the distribution
system.
• At this stage, chlorination is meant to kill pathogens and
to provide a chlorine residual in the distribution system.
• Is nearly always part of the treatment process.
c) Re-chlorination
• In long distribution systems, chlorine residual may fall
tendering the water unsafe.
• Is applied at intermediate points generally at service
reservoirs and booster pumping stations.
 OTHER MEANS OF DISINFECTION
Treatment with excess lime
•Lime is used for water softening
 4-43mg/lit of excess lime may remove99.3-100% bacteria [pH →9.5]

 Requires removal of excess lime by methods like re-carbonation

Treatment with ozone → Ozone is an unstable allotropic form of

oxygen, containing three atoms
3O₂ → under high electric voltage →2O₃
↓ ↓
Oxygen molecule Ozone

Then readily breakdown →

O₃→------------→ O₂ ---------------+------------ O
↓ ↓ ↓
Ozone Oxygen Nascent Oxygen
 OTHER MEANS OF DISINFECTION

Nascent oxygen
•Is a powerful oxidizing agent and removes organic
matter and bacteria from water
 Ozone is bubbled through the water in a separate

chamber having inlet and outlet arrangement

 2―3mg/lit Ozone → make 0.1mg/lit residual Ozone

for a contact period of 10mints.

 OTHER MEANS OF DISINFECTION
Advantages of Ozone treatment
 Being unstable, nothing will be there in distribution

 Remove colour, taste, and odour

 Pleasing and tasty water

Disadvantages
 Costlier than chlorination

 Possible where electricity is easily and cheaply available

 No assurance against future contamination

 Ozonizer should be installed in the plant itself [as it cannot

be supplied in cylinder]
 Less efficient in killing bacteria than chlorine
 OTHER MEANS OF DISINFECTION
Bromine and Iodine treatment
 8mg/lit for 5mint. Contact period
 Available in the form of pills.

 Normally used in small supply, private plant, Army troop etc.

Treatment with Ultraviolet

 Ultra violet rays → Wave length of about, 1000-4000mµ
 Produced by passing electric current through mercury enclosed in quarts bulb

 The bulb is then immersed in water 10cm or below

Advantages
 Pure odour free, colourless water with turbidity of below 15mg/lit

 Kills all type of bacteria

 Normally used for sterilizations at hospitals

Disadvantages
 Very costly

 Possible interruption by electricity

 OTHER MEANS OF DISINFECTION

Treatment with potassium permanganate →

Dosage -------------1-2mg/lit with a contact period of4-6hrs.
 0.05-0.1mg/lit ---------used even in chlorinated water

 The treated water is used after 48hrs.

 Kills only 98% bacteria

 Acts as oxidizing agent to oxidize organic matters