Disinfection

Objective: To inactivate pathogens.

Common Methods
Free chlorine
Ozone
UV radiation
Disadvantages Advantages Disinfectant
THMs formation Strong, cheap,
residual
Free chlorine
Very weak No THMs Chloramines
Expensive, Chlorate/Chlorite
formation
Very strong Chlorine dioxide
Cost, no residual Very strong Ozone
Expensive, no residual Strong UV radiation
Type of disinfectant
Concentration (C): Higher inactivation is reached with
higher C.
Contact time (t): Longer contact time results in higher
inactivation.
Temperature: For each 10
o
C increase in
temperature, the inactivation rate doubles
pH: Increasing pH generally increases (C.t) required
to achieve the same inactivation.
Turbidity
Factors Affecting Microorganism Inactivation
C.t product
Each disinfectant has distinctive characteristics that results in different
C.t values for the same microorganism and same conditions
Water Temperature pH Disinfectant
20
o
C 15
o
C 10
o
C 5
o
C 0.5
o
C
13
18
27
18
25
36
26
37
54
35
50
72
49
70
101
6
7
8
Free chlorine (based
on residual of 1 mg/l)
370 500 620 740 1300 6-9 Performed chloramine
5.0 6.3 7.7 8.7 21 6-9 Chloride dioxide
0.24 0.32 0.48 0.63 0.97 6-9 Ozone
C.t (mg.min/l) values for 1.0-log in activation of Giardia lamblia cysts.
1-log inactivation= 90% inactivation
2-log inactivation= 99% inactivation
3-log inactivation= 99.9% inactivation
To inactivate 99% of Giardia Lamblia cysts a free chlorine dose of
3.6 mg/l is needed for 10 minutes. What will be the time to reach
the same inactivation rate with a chlorine concentration of 2 mg/l?
Example
Solution
Since the inactivation rate is the same, C.t will be constant
Thus, C.t = 36 mg.min/l
For C= 2mg/l, t will be 18 minutes.
HOCl and OCl
-
are called free available chlorine. OCl
-
is
weaker than HOCl.
Chlorination
Cl
2(g)
+H
2
O HOCl +H
+
+Cl
-
Hypochlorous acid
HOCl H
+
+OCl
-
pH > 8
pH < 7
Chloramines are called combined available chlorine and are
weaker than free available chlorine but more persistent.
Cl
2(g)
+NH
3
NH
2
Cl, NHCl
2
, or NCl
3
(Chloramines)
Increasing the chlorine dose results eventually in the oxidation
of ammonia or chloramines as:
3Cl
2(g)
+ 2NH
3
N
2(g)
+ 6HCl

Applied chlorine dose (mg/L)
Breakpoint chlorination
Chlorine demand (mg/L)
Chlorine
residual
(mg/L)
Free available chlorine Combined available chlorine
Ammonia destruction