Name : kandlakuti
vasanth kumar
Sc id : 1811042
Chlorination
Chlorine and its various forms are powerful oxidants that will kill or inactivate most pathogenic organism that
are harmful to human and animal life. Chlorination is the most commonly used disinfection process for wastewater
treatment.
Chlorination chemicals are relatively :
Typical forms of chlorine used in wastewater treatment are:
o Easy to obtain
o Economical
o Effective
o Easy to apply
Typical forms of chlorine used in wastewater treatment are
Elemental chlorine
Hypochlorite
Chlorine Dioxide
when chlorine is dissolved in water at temperature between 49degree F and 212 degree F,
it reacts to form hypochlorous and hydrochloric acids within few seconds:
Cl2 + H2O -> HOCl + H+ + OCl-
When chlorine gas is dissolved in water, it also reacts with the water to form hypochlorous acid and hydrochloric
acid:
Cl2 + H2O = HOCl + HCl
When a hypochlorite is added to water, it also reacts to form hypochlorite ion and hydroxide:
NaOCl + H2O = OCl¯ + OH¯
These forms can exist together and the relative concentration of each depends on the pH of the solution and
not on whether chlorine gas or bleach was added:
HOCl = OCl¯ + H+
The benefits of chlorination are:
Proven reduction of most bacteria and viruses in water
Residual protection against recontamination
Ease-of-use and acceptability
Proven reduction of diarrheal disease incidence
Scalability and low cost
The drawbacks of chlorination are:
Relatively low protection against protozoa
Lower disinfection effectiveness in turbid waters
Potential taste and odor objections
Must ensure quality control of solution
Potential long-term effects of chlorination by-products
Factors affecting bactericidal efficiency of chlorine
The destruction of pathogens by chlorination is dependent upon the following factors: 1) Turbidity 2)presence of
metallic compounds 3)ammonia compounds
4) pH of water 5) temperature 6) time of contact 7)number and concentration of bacteria
1)Turbidity : The effect of turbidity in water is to make it difficult to obtain free residual chlorine . also the penetration
of chlorine and therefore the destruction of bacteria in particles of suspended matter of a turbid water may be very
uncertain . Due to this reason,the application of chlorine is preferred after filtration when water will be free from
turbidity.
2)presence of metallic compounds : The presence of metallic compound such as iron and manganese in solution in
the water , utilizes larger amounts to chlorine to convert these into their higher stages of oxidation with are insoluble
in water . Hence it is essential to remove iron and manganese, to make chlorination useful and more meaningful.
3)Ammonia compounds : The presence of ammonia with or without organic matter may form combined available
chlorine which is not so effective a bactericide as free available chlorine . Quoting from the work of Butterfied,
Whitlock (1953) estimates that 25 times as much combined available chlorine must be used to achieve the same
degree of kill as free chlorine in the same time. If similar doses of free and combined chlorine are used, then the
combined chlorine will take 100 times as long as the free chlorine to achieve the same degree of kill
4)pH of water : increasing pH reduces effectiveness of chlorine . The effective sterilising compound , hypochlorous
acid , is formed in greater quantities at low pH than at high pH values as is clear frem below
pH value amount of hypochlorous acid
Upto 6.7 95% of total free chlorine
At 7.0 80% of total free chlorine
At 8.0 30% of total free chlorine
At 9.0 5% of total free chlorine
5) Temperature of water : reduction in the temperature of water results in substantial decrease in the killing power of
both free and combined chlorine .In the order to have 100% bactericidal activity ,the requirement of residual chlorine
increases with decrease temperature of water
6) Time of contact : The bactericidal activity of chlorination is not instantaneous . The percentage kill of bacteria and
viruses depends upto the time of contact between the chlorine and the micro-organisms , before the water is supplied
to the consumer .
7) Nature and concentration of bacteria and viruses : At a given pH value and temperature , the greater the
number of bacteria, the longer will be the time required to reduces them below . the spores of bacteria are found to
be more resistant to chlorine than bacteria themselves .However , a majority of bacteria causing water borne die
