DISINFECTION

Water Treatment Course

INTRODUCTION
 Disinfection is the process of killing all pathogens.
 Safe water means water
 (a) free from pathogenic bacteria,
 (b) aesthetically acceptable, and
 (c) free from excessive minerals, and poisonous matter.
 The substance used for disinfection is called disinfectant.
 Disinfectants must effectively reduce/destroy all types of
pathogens without being toxic to humans or domestic
animals.
 Additionally, it must not drastically change the taste or
color of water and it must be persistent.
FACTORS AFFECTING THE EFFICIENCY OF
DISINFECTION

 Nature and concentration of organisms

 Nature and concentration of disinfectant

 Nature of water to be disinfected (interfering

substances like NH3, iron, Mn, organic matter)
 Temperature of water

 Time of contact
DISINFECTION METHODS
 Heat
 Mechanical (ultrasonic vibration,
membrane filtration)
 Radiation (Gamma, Ultraviolet radiation)

 Chemical

 Halogens (chlorine, bromine, iodine)

 Chlorine dioxide (ClO2)
 Chloramines (ClNH2, Cl2NH, Cl3N)
 Ozone
DISINFECTION KINETICS
 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.
 This equation is known as Chick’s Law, which
states that the number of organisms destroyed in
a unit time is proportional to the number of
organism remaining:

Where, N = number of microorganism (NO is initial number)

k = disinfection constant
t = time
CONCENTRATION OF DISINFECTANT
 The disinfection efficiency is generally
estimated as,

 where C is the concentration of the

disinfectant, t is the time required to effect
a constant % kill of the organisms, and n is
a coefficient of dilution.
CHLORINATION
 Chlorine is the most commonly used disinfectant
because it
 is readily available as gas, liquid, or powder
 is cheap
 is easy to apply due to relatively high solubility
(7000mg/l)
 leaves a residual in solution which, while not
harmful to humans, provides protection in the
distribution system
 is very toxic to most microorganisms, stopping
metabolic activities.
CHLORINATION
 The chlorine dosage required is a function of the water's
organic content (including the microorganisms) and the
water's reduced inorganic content.
 Reduced inorganic include species such as Fe2+, Mn2+, NH3,
etc. which will be oxidized by chlorine.
 Chlorine is added to the water supply in two ways.
 as a gas, Cl2(g), from the vaporization of liquid chlorine.
 As a salt, such as sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) or bleach.
CHLORINATION
 Chlorine gas dissolves in water following Henry's
Law.
KH moles
Cl 2(g)  Cl 2(aq) K H  6.2  10  2 (at 25 C)
l  atm

 When chlorine is added to water, a mixture of

hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hydrochloric acid
(HCl) is formed:
 Cl2(g) + H2O HOCl + H+ + Cl-
 Hypochlorous acid is a weak acid that dissociates to
form hypochlorite ion (OCl-).
 HOCl   OCl -  H 
CHLORINATION
 Hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion compose
what is called free chlorine residual.
 These free chlorine compounds can react with many
organic and inorganic compounds to form
chlorinated compounds.
 If the products of these reactions posses oxidizing
potential, they are considered as combined chlorine
residual.
 In the presence of ammonia, chlorine form
chloramines, which is mainly monochloramine
(NH2Cl), some dichloramine (NHCl2) and
trichloramine (NCl3).
BREAKPOINT REACTION
 Monochloramine Formation Reaction. This
reaction occurs rapidly when ammonia nitrogen
is combined with free chlorine up to a molar
ratio of 1:1.
HOCl + NH 3  NH 2 Cl  H 2 O

 Breakpoint Reaction. When excess free chlorine

is added beyond the 1:1 initial molar ratio,
monochloramine is removed as follows:
2NH 2 Cl + HOCl  N 2(g)  3H + + 3Cl - + H 2 O
BREAKPOINT REACTION

 Chlorine demand: The difference between the amount of

chlorine added to water and the amount of residual
chlorine after a specified contact period.
CHLORINATION PRACTICE
 Required application rate is site specific.
 Need to establish a combined residual after a reasonable
contact time in the plant and with no detectable indicator
organism concentration.
 Common dosage range for breakpoint is 4 to 10 mg/L as
Cl2.
 Common contact times 10 to 20 minutes.
 Total combined residual leaving the plant 0.5 to 2.0 mg/L.
 Maintain residual sufficient to ensure 0.2 mg/L free
residual available at the farthest points in the distribution
system.
 Chlorine to ammonia weight ratios for chloramine
formation 3:1 to 4:1.
Any Questions?