Chlorine is a strong oxidizing agent that destroys organic pollutants and bacteria. Chlorine combines with compounds containing nitrogen to form chloramines, during which only part of the chlorine will be used while the rest remains active, continuing its disinfecting action.
Chlorine is the most commonly used water disinfectant in applications such as drinking water and wastewater treatment, pool and spa sanitization, and food processing and sterilization. Chlorine present in water binds with bacteria, leaving only a part of the original quantity (free chlorine) to continue its disinfecting action. If the free chlorine level is improper with respect to pH, water will have an unpleasant taste and odor and the disinfecting potential of the chlorine will be diminished.
As one of the oldest and most common forms of disinfection, chlorine improves water quality by destroying disease-producing microorganisms, and by reacting with other organic and inorganic substances. Chlorine levels must be actively monitored to ensure sufficient chlorine is present for disinfection, as well as to control adverse effects such as taste, odor, and potential reactions with organic matter to form harmful disinfection byproducts.
Disinfection is a process of killing disease-causing organisms (or pathogens).Chlorine (Cl₂) is a very desirable disinfectant because, when mixed with pure water, it reacts to form hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hydrochloric acid (HCl).HOCl (free active chlorine) is the most effective form of chlorine for disinfection of pools, spas, and drinking water.
Combined chlorine is the quantity of chlorine that has already combined with nitrogen containing compounds. It is much less effective as a disinfectant than free chlorine. The addition of combined chlorine, and free chlorine gives total chlorine. In swimming pool water treatment, a pool manager needs to aim for the perfect balance where free and total chlorine are proportionally equal, and thus to keep the combined chlorine levels near zero. The presence of chloramines is undesirable because of the distinctive ‘swimming pool smell’ as well as irritation to the eyes and mucous membranes caused by combined chlorines like dichloramines.
Free chlorine reacts with ammonium ions and organic compounds to form chlorine compounds; this results in diminished disinfecting capabilities compared with free chlorine. Chlorine compounds together with chloramines form combined chlorine. Combined chlorine and free chlorine together result in total chlorine. While free chlorine has a much higher disinfectant potential, combined chlorine has a much higher stability and lower volatility.
Commercial chlorine for disinfection may be available as a gas (Cl2), a liquid like sodium hypochlorite or bleach (NaOCl) or in a solid state like calcium hypochlorite, chlorohydantoins or chlorocyanuric acid compounds. These compounds, once dissolved in water, establish equilibrium between the hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and the hypochlorite ions (OCl¯). Although both forms are considered free chlorine, it is the hypochlorous acid that provides the strongest disinfecting and oxidizing characteristic of chlorine solutions. The amount of hypochlorous acid in chlorinated water depends upon the pH value of the solution. Changes in pH value will effect the HOCl equilibrium in relation to the hydrogen and hypochlorite ions.
As depicted by the graph, HOCl decreases and OCl¯ increases as pH increases. At a low pH, almost all the free chlorine is in the molecular form HOCl, and at a pH of around 7.5, the ratio between HOCl and OCl¯ is 50:50. Since the ionic form OCl¯ is a slow acting sanitizer while the molecular HOCl is a fast acting, it is important to measure pH regularly. As a general rule a pH of about 7.2 is recommended to maintain fast acting disinfection conditions.
Chlorine is used as a disinfectant in drinking water and in various industrial processes, chlorine dioxide is a highly effective, environmentally friendly microbicide. Chlorine dioxide is safe, potent, and does not produce trihalomethanes, the disinfection byproduct characteristic of chlorine use.
Drinking water municipalities add elemental chlorine to the water supply as chlorine gas, liquid sodium hypochlorite, or dry calcium hypochlorite. In water these form free chlorine ions, which destroy disease-causing pathogens, reduce odor, eliminate bacteria and help to remove unwanted elements. The USEPA requires that residual disinfectant is present in finished drinking water to ensure there is disinfectant available throughout the distribution system, with chlorine acting as one of the disinfectants that provides said residual. However, the EPA has also set a maximum contaminant level of 4.0 mg/L for free chlorine due to potential health effects above this level.
The chlorination of water supplies and polluted waters is used mainly to destroy or deactivate disease-producing microorganisms. Chlorine also serves to improve the quality of drinking waters, as it reacts with ammonia, iron, manganese, sulfide, and some organic substances. Nevertheless, high amounts of chlorine will produce adverse effects like the formation of compounds which are potentially carcinogenic (e.g. chloroform) or harmful to aquatic life (e.g. chloramines). It remains essential to control the amount of added chlorine in order to fulfill the primary purpose of disinfecting while also minimizing any adverse effects.,
Hypochlorites are common bleaching agents used to whiten textiles and paper and to disinfect solutions.Sodium hypochlorite solution has been traditionally used for the treatment of pool water since it is an inexpensive and readily available form of chlorine.The solution usually contains 10 to 15% available chlorine (equivalent to 100 to 150 g/L), but it rapidly loses its strength during storage.In addition, since it is greatly affected by heat, light, pH, and heavy metals, it needs to be monitored regularly.
An iodometric titration method is used in the HI3843 test kit.The hypochlorite solution is treated with potassium iodide and strongly acidified with acid (Step 1).The amount of iodine generated is equivalent to the chlorine in the sample.The concentration of iodine is then calculated by titration of thiosulfate ions that reduce the iodine back to iodide ions (Step 2).
Step 1
OCl¯ + 2H+ + 2I¯ → Cl¯ + I₂ + H₂O
Step 2
I₂ + 2(S₂O₃)²- → 2I¯ + (S₄O₆)²-
