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STERILIZATION OF
WATER USING
BLEACHING POWDER
A CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

Yash Joshi
XII A

THIS PROJECT LOOKS AT THE TECHNIQUE

CALLED STERILIZATION OF WATER USING BLEACHING
POWDER WHICH IS USED TO PURIFY WATER AND
MAKES IT FIT FOR DRINKING

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INDEX

1. Introduction

-Need of Water

-Purification of Water

-Need for a stable purification technique

2. Theory

-History of Water purification

-Bleaching powder and its preparation

-Use of Bleaching powder in Sterilization of water

3. Experiment

-Aim

-Pre-Requisite Knowledge

-Requirements

-Procedure

4. Result

5. Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION

Need of water

Water is an important and essential ingredient in our quest for survival on this planet.
It is very essential for carrying out various metabolic processes in our body and also to
carry out Hemoglobin throughout the body.

A daily average of 1 gallon per man is sufficient for drinking and cooking purposes. A
horse, bullock, or mule drinks about 11 gallons at a time. standing up, an average
allowance of 5 gallons should be given for a man, and 10 gallons for a horse or a camel.
An elephant drinks 25 gallons, each mule or ox drinks 6 to 8 gallons, each sheep or pig
6 to 8 pints. These are minimum quantities.

One cubic foot of water = 6 gallons (a gallon = 10 lbs.).

In order to fulfill such a huge demand of water, it needs to be purified and supplied in a
orderly and systematic way.

But with the increasing world population, the demand for drinking water has also
increased dramatically and therefore it is very essential to identify resources of water
from which we can use water for drinking purposes. Many available resources of water
do not have it in drinkable form. Either the water contains excess of Calcium or
Magnesium salts or any other organic impurity or it simply contains foreign particles
which make it unfit and unsafe for Drinking.

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Purification of Water

There are many methods for the purification of water. Some of them are

1. Boiling

2. Filtration

3. Bleaching powder treatment

4. SODIS (Solar Water

Disinfection) And the list goes

o n….

Boiling is perhaps the most commonly used water purification technique in use today.
While in normal households it is an efficient technique; it cannot be used for industrial
and large scale purposes. It is because in normal households, the water to be purified is
very small in quantity and hence the water loss due to evaporation is almost negligible.
But in Industrial or large scale purification of water the water loss due to evaporation
will be quite high and the amount of purified water obtained will be very less.

Filtration is also used for removing foreign particles from water. One major drawback
of this purification process is that it cannot be used for removing foreign chemicals and
impurities that are miscible with water.

SODIS or Solar Water Disinfection is recommended by the United Nations for

disinfection of water using soft drink bottles, sunlight, and a black surface-- at least in
hot nations with regularly intense sunlight.

Water-filled transparent bottles placed in a horizontal position atop a flat surface in

strong sunlight for around five hours will kill microbes in the water. The process is
made even more safe and effective if the bottom half of the bottle or the surface it's
lying on is blackened, and/ or the flat surface is made of plastic or metal. It's the
combination of heat and ultraviolet light which kills the organisms.

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The major drawback of this purification technique is that it cannot be used in countries
with cold weather. Also, the time consumed for Purification process is more and it also
needs a ‘blackened’ surface, much like solar cookers.

Need for a stable purification technique

Therefore we need a purification technique which can be used anytime and anywhere,
does not require the use of any third party content and which is also economically
feasible on both normal scale and large scale.

Hence we look at the method of purification of water using the technique of treatment
by bleaching powder commonly known as “Chlorination”.

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THEORY

History of water purification in different parts of the world.

In 1854 it was discovered that a cholera epidemic spread through water. The outbreak
seemed less severe in areas where sand filters were installed. British scientist John
Snow found that the direct cause of the outbreak was water pump contamination by
sewage water. He applied chlorine to purify the water, and this paved the way for
water disinfection. Since the water in the pump had tasted and smelled normal, the
conclusion was finally drawn that good taste and smell alone do not guarantee safe
drinking water. This discovery led to governments starting to install municipal water
filters (sand filters and chlorination), and hence the first government regulation of
public water.

In the 1890s America started building large sand filters to protect public health. These
turned out to be a success. Instead of slow sand filtration, rapid sand filtration was now
applied. Filter capacity was improved by cleaning it with powerful jet steam.
Subsequently, Dr. Fuller found that rapid sand filtration worked much better when it
was preceded by coagulation and sedimentation techniques. Meanwhile, such
waterborne illnesses as cholera and typhoid became less and less common as water
chlorination won terrain throughout the world.

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But the victory obtained by the invention of chlorination did not last long. After some
time the negative effects of this element were discovered. Chlorine vaporizes much
faster than water, and it was linked to the aggravation and cause of respiratory disease.
Water experts started looking for alternative water disinfectants. In 1902 calcium hypo
chlorite and ferric chloride were mixed in a drinking water supply in Belgium, resulting
in both coagulation and disinfection.

The treatment and distribution of water for safe use is one of the greatest achievements
of the twentieth century. Before cities began routinely treating drinking water with
chlorine (starting with Chicago and Jersey City in US in 1908), cholera, typhoid fever,
dysentery and hepatitis A killed thousands of U.S. residents annually. Drinking water
chlorination and filtration have helped to virtually eliminate these diseases in the U.S.
and other developed countries. Meeting the goal of clean, safe drinking water requires a
multi-barrier approach that includes: protecting source water from contamination,
appropriately treating raw water, and ensuring safe distribution of treated water to
consumers’ taps. During the treatment process, chlorine is added to drinking water as
elemental chlorine (chlorine gas),
sodium hypochlorite solution or dry calcium hypochlorite. When applied to water, each
of these forms “free chlorine,” which destroys pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms.
Almost all systems that disinfect their water use some type of chlorine-based process,
either alone or in combination with other disinfectants. In addition to
controlling disease-causing organisms, chlorination offers a number of benefits
including:
• Reduces many disagreeable tastes and odors;
• Eliminates slime bacteria, molds and algae that commonly grow in water supply
reservoirs, on the walls of water mains and in storage tanks;
• Removes chemical compounds that have unpleasant tastes and hinder disinfection;
and
• Helps remove iron and manganese from raw water.
As importantly, only chlorine-based chemicals provide “residual disinfectant” levels that
prevent microbial re-growth and help protect treated water throughout
the distribution system.

For more than a century, the safety of drinking water supplies has been greatly
improved by the addition of bleaching powder. Disinfecting our drinking water ensures
it is free of the microorganisms that can cause serious and life-threatening diseases,
such as cholera and typhoid fever. To this day, bleaching powder remains the most
commonly used drinking water disinfectant, and the disinfectant for which we have the

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most scientific information. Bleaching powder is added as part of the drinking water
treatment process. However, bleaching powder also reacts with the organic matter,
naturally present in water, such as decaying leaves. This chemical reaction forms a
group of chemicals known as disinfection by-products. Current scientific data shows that
the benefits of bleaching our drinking water (less disease) are much greater than any
health risks from THMs and other by-products. Although other disinfectants are
available, bleaching powder remains the choice of water treatment experts. When used
with modern water filtration methods, chlorine is effective against virtually all
microorganisms. Bleaching powder is easy to apply and small amounts of the chemical
remain in the water as it travels in the distribution system from the treatment plant to
the consumer’s tap, this level of effectiveness ensures that microorganisms cannot
recontaminate the water after it leaves the treatment.

But what is bleaching powder and how is it prepared?

Bleaching powder or Calcium hypochlorite is a chemical compound with formula

Ca(ClO) 2. It is widely used for water treatment and as a bleaching agent bleaching
powder). This chemical is considered to be relatively stable and has greater
available chlorine than sodium hypochlorite (liquid bleach).

It is prepared by either calcium process or sodium process.

Calcium Process

2 Ca(OH)2 + 2 Cl2 → Ca(ClO)2 + CaCl2 + 2 H2O

Sodium Process

2 Ca(OH)2 + 3 Cl2 + 2 NaOH → Ca(ClO)2 + CaCl2 + 2 H2O + 2 NaCl

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But how can this chemical be used to sterilize water?

This chemical can be used for sterilizing water by Using 5 drops of bleach per each half
gallon of water to be purified, and allowing it to sit undisturbed for half an hour to make
it safe for drinking. Letting it sit several hours more will help reduce the chlorine taste,
as the chlorine will slowly evaporate out. Adifferent reference advises when using
household bleach for purification; add a single drop of bleach per quart of water which
is visibly clear, or three drops per quart of water where the water is NOT visibly clear.
Then allow the water to sit undisturbed for half an hour.

What are the actual processes involved in disinfecting and purifying water?

The combination of following processes is used for municipal drinking water treatment
worldwide:

1. Pre-chlorination - for algae control and arresting any biological growth

2. Aeration - along with pre-chlorination for removal of dissolved iron and manganese

3. Coagulation - for flocculation

4. Coagulant aids also known as polyelectrolyte’s - to improve coagulation and for

thicker floc formation

5. Sedimentation - for solids separation, that is, removal of suspended solids trapped in
the floc

6. Filtration - for removal of carried over floc

7. Disinfection - for killing bacteria

Out of these processes, the role of Bleaching powder is only in the last step i.e. for
Disinfection of water.

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EXPERIMENT
Aim: To Determine the dosage of bleaching powder required for sterilization or
disinfection of different samples of water.

Requirements: Burette, titration flask, 100ml graduated cylinder, 250ml measuring

flask, weight box, glazed tile, glass wool.

Bleaching Powder, Glass wool, 0.1 N Na2S2O3 solution, 10% KI solution, different samples
of water, starch solution.

Pre-Requisite Knowledge:

1. Aknown mass of the given sample of bleaching powder is dissolved in water to

prepare a solution of known concentration. This solution contains dissolved chlorine,
liberated by the action of bleaching powder with water.

CaOCl2+H20 Ca(OH)2+Cl2

2. The amount of Chlorine present in the above solution is determined by treating a

known volume of the above solution with excess of 10% potassium iodide solution,
when equivalent amount of Iodine is liberated. The Iodine, thus liberated is then
estimated by titrating it against a standard solution of Sodium thiosulphate, using
starch solution as indicator.

Cl2+2KI 2KCl+I2

I2+2Na2S2O3 Na2S4O6+2NaI

3. Aknown Volume of one of the given samples of water is treated with a known
volume of bleaching powder solution. The amount of residual chlorine is determined
by adding excess potassium iodide solution and then titrating against standard
sodium thiosulphate solution.
4. From the readings in 2 and 3, the amount of chlorine and hence bleaching powder
required for the disinfection of a given volume of the given sample of water can be
calculated.

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Procedure:

1. Preparation of bleaching powder solution. Weigh accurately 2.5g of the given sample
of bleaching powder and transfer it to a 250ml conical flask. Add about 100-150ml of
distilled water. Stopper the flask and shake it vigorously. The suspension thus
obtained is filtered through glass wool and the filtrate is diluted with water (in a
measuring flask) to make the volume 250ml. The solution obtained is 1% bleaching
powder solution.
2. Take 20ml of bleaching powder solution in a stoppered conical flask and add it to
20ml of 10% KI solution. Stopper the flask and shake it vigorously. Titrate this
solution against 0.1N Na2S2O3 solution taken in the burette. When the solution in the
conical flask becomes light yellow in color, add about 2ml starch solution. The
solution now becomes blue in color. Continue titrating till the blue color just
disappears. Repeat the titration to get a set of three concordant readings.
3. Take 100ml of the water sample in a 250ml stoppered conical flask and add it to
10ml of bleching powder solution. Then add 20ml of KI solution and stopper the
flask. Shake vigorously and titrate against 0.1N Na2S2O3 solution using starch solution
as indicator as described in step 2.
4. Repeat the step 3 with other samples of water and record the observations.

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RESULT

Amount of the given sample of bleaching powder required to disinfect one litre of
water

Sample I = ………

g Sample II=

………g Sample

III= ………g

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. The Medical front-"Water Supply"

http:// www.vlib.us/ medical/ sancamp/ water.htm

2. “Chemistry Projects”

http:// www.cbseportal.com

3. How to live on Very,Very Little-"Clean drinking water: How to develop low cost
sources of drinking water just about anywhere"

http:// www.jmooneyham.com/ watp.html

4. Calcium Hypochloride

http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Bleaching_powder

5. Water Treatment

http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Water_treatment

6. Bleach

http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Bleach

7. Drinking Water Treatment:Continuous Chlorination

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http:// www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/ epublic/ pages/ publicationD.jsp?publicationId=358

8. Chlorination of Drinking Water

http:// www.water-research.net/ watertreatment/ chlorination.htm

9. Chlorination Of Drinking Water (2)

www.edstrom.com/ doclib/ mi4174.pdf

10. Wagenet, L, K. Mancl, and M. Sailus, 1995. "Home Water Treatment,"

Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service, Cooperative Extension,

Ithaca, N.Y.

11. "Treatment Systems for Household Water Supplies: Chlorination,"

North Dakota State University Extension Service

12. "Water Treatment Notes: Chlorination of Drinking Water,"

Cornell Cooperative Extension, New York State College of Human Ecology,USA

13. "Drinking Water Standards,"

www.epa.gov/ safewater/ mcl.html

14. "Understanding the New Consumer Confidence Report,"

www.awwa.org/ Advocacy/ bluethumb98/ consumer.cfm

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15. "Testing for Drinking Water Quality," NebGuide G89-907 Cooperative

Extension,

Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-

Lincoln,USA

16.DISINFECTING YOUR WELLWATER: SHOCKCHLORINATION

http:/ / www.fcs.uga.edu/ pubs/ PDF/ HACE-858-4.pdf

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