University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

CEN 304-01: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

Title: Team Technology Assignment

Topic: CDC Safe Water System - Chlorination

Group: 6

Team Members: Ana Cornejo,

Robert Creighton,

Maroun Harfouch,

Moyosore Oluwaseun

Task Performed by

Introduction Robert Creighton

Technical Robert Creighton

Economic Maroun Harfouch

Environmental

Social Robert Creighton & Maroun Harfouch

Health/Welfare Moyosore Oluwaseun

Sustainability

• Introduction and Background-

 1

What problem does it address?

Describe the benefits and drawbacks of the technology with respect to the following aspects:

1. Technical performance -

How does it work?

How effective is it?

2. Social -

How does it change the users’ lives for the better?

Do people like it?

How might it affect the social dynamics in the community?

3. Economic

What are the upfront costs?

What about maintenance?

How long does it last?

What is the cost per unit benefit?

Will it lead to economic development?

4. Environmental •

What environmental costs and benefits does it have?

How do they compare with alternative technologies?

5. Health/Welfare •

Does it improve the health and/or welfare of the community?

6. Sustainability (longevity) •

Will people actually like it and use it?

How long should it last vs how long will people actually use it?

Links to get info from

https://www.cdc.gov/safewater/disease.html

https://www.cdc.gov/safewater/chlorination.html

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,22&q=CDC+Safe+Water+Chlorination

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2759783/
 2

Introduction:

The CDC safe water system is a simple and inexpensive system which is designed to

protect communities from contaminated water by promoting behavioral changes and providing

affordable sustainable solutions. According to the World Health Organization as of 2017 nearly 1

billion people across the globe do not have access to safe drinking water sources. The goal of the

safe water system is to increase access to safe water by helping individuals treat and safely store

water in homes, facilities, and schools. Nearly 88% of deaths due to diarrheal illness worldwide

are attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene, making diarrheal

diseases the 2nd most common cause of death among children under 5 years old. The safe water

system works to combat these deaths with many different treatments at the point of water

collection rather than a large centralized location which allows it to be used easily in developing

countries. The different treatment options include Chlorination, Flocculant/Disinfectant Powder,

Solar Disinfection, Ceramic Filtration and Slow Sand Filtration.

The chlorination treatment option is widely used in developing countries and is what will

be focused on in this paper. Chlorination was first used for disinfection of public water supplies

in the early 1900’s and “is a major factor that has contributed to the dramatic reductions in

waterborne disease in US cities.” (Lantagne, 2009) The chlorination treatment has been used in

large scale trials for point-of-use settings since the 1990’s. The “chlorine”, which is actually

dilute sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), is locally manufactured in the developing countries as it is

relatively easy to manufacture. It is the same chemical that is found in commercially available

bleach products but manufactured specifically to be added to water to make it safer. In order to

use the chlorination method, families add one bottle cap of the sodium hypochlorite solution to

the water if it is clear/non-turbid, but if the water is turbid then 2 bottle caps of the sodium
 3

hypochlorite solution must be added to a standard size 20 liter container filled with water. Then

just by mixing the water and waiting roughly 30 minutes the water becomes much safer to drink

as the chlorination kills most of the bacteria within the water which is the main cause of the

diarrheal diseases.

The concentration of the sodium hypochlorite in the Safe Water System products are

much lower than the commercially available bleach products, 1.25% compared to the 3% to 6%

found in typical bleach products. Although it is thought to be slightly cheaper to use the

commercial bleach than it is to use the safe water products, which will be touched on later in this

paper, there are many factors why it is not used. Some of the reasons include “consumer

reluctance to use commercial bleach for water treatment because of strong smell and associations

with cleaning, variable hypochlorite concentration in commercial bleach observed in quality

control testing, potential presence of fragrances and additives in commercial bleach that may be

unsafe for human consumption, higher stability of sodium hypochlorite at lower concentrations,

and ease of dosing at lower concentrations (1 cap) compared with higher concentrations (20

drops of commercial bleach for treating 20L)” (Lantagne, 2009). All of these are major factors

when it comes to the Safe Water System as it is important to develop a product that people in

developing countries will want to use.

Technical

The chlorination treatment works to disinfect the water by inactivating most pathogens

and viruses that cause diarrheal diseases in humans. Chlorine has the ability to develop a bond

between two substances that do not normally bond with one another which allows it to break

down the chemical bonds in the molecules, and then exchange atoms with other compounds such

as enzymes. Enzymes are essential in cells and bacteria for respiration, digesting food, muscle
 4

and nerve functions, and speeding up biochemical reactions among thousands of other roles. For

example the chlorine will typically take the place of one or more hydrogen atoms in the molecule

making it change shape and no longer function properly with the enzymes no longer functioning

the cell or bacteria will effectively be killed. The table below lists many common viruses and

bacteria that are found in water supplies, their health significance, persistence in the water supply

and their tolerance to chlorine.

Table 1. Common Bacteria and Viruses Found in Water Supplies

Pathogen Health Persistence in Tolerance to Relative

Significance Water Supplies Chlorine Infectivity

Coxsackie A & B High Long Moderate High

Hepatitis A High Long Moderate High

Poliovirus High Long Moderate High

Noroviruses High Long Moderate High

Salmonella typhi High Moderate Low Low

Campylobacter High Moderate Low Moderate

jejuni

Escherichia coli High Moderate Low Low

(Taken from CDC Safe Water System Effectiveness on pathogens, 2020)

As seen in the table, many common bacteria and viruses that are known to be high

significance and sometimes life threatening in still developing countries have either low or

moderate tolerance to chlorine. This is important because just by adding the chlorine to the water

means that a majority of bacteria and viruses do not need to be worried about.
 5

Although there are a few drawbacks of chlorination including if the sodium hypochlorite

is added to an acid, it will react with it and produce a highly toxic gas called chlorine gas. The

fumes can cause numerous health issues and can end up killing humans. Therefore it is important

to make sure to teach people that are adding the sodium hypochlorite to the water that it can not

be added to everything. Another drawback of chlorination is like previously covered an

important step of the safe water system is storage of the safe drinking water. Chlorine is known

to be an extremely reactive chemical so over time the levels of sodium hypochlorite in the water

decline because of many factors. It is factored into the amount of hypochlorite added to the water

for the reactions with the inorganic and organic matter initially but, after those reactions are

complete the chlorine in the water slowly escape into the air as a gas, therefore chlorination of

water is typically not used in circumstances that need water to be stored for long periods of time

but rather places that have a steady supply of unclean water that may be causing people sickness

due to bacteria in the water. Otherwise it is recommended that the water should not be kept more

than six months in a tightly sealed container in a dark, cool location. Although these conditions

cannot be met in most developing countries, water can be stored in open buckets and jerry cans

and it is “not likely to maintain the quality of water when water is stored in the home in a bucket

or jerry can for 24 hours” (CDC, 2020).

Since many people are not as educated in developing countries the Safe Water System

recommends testing free chlorine levels in the drinking water in homes, this can be accomplished

using spot checks in order to make sure that the household is using it correctly. Free chlorine is

different from the amount of chlorine added. When the chlorine is added to the water initially

some of the chlorine reacts with organic and inorganic compounds present in the water prior, this

is called the chlorine demand. The chlorine that is left over once the demand is met is known as
 6

the total chlorine which is broken down into 2 more categories, free chlorine which is the

concentration of chlorine available for disinfection and combined chlorine, which is the

concentration that has been combined with organic and inorganic nitrogen compounds. The

combined chlorine is not very effective for disinfection though which is why the free chlorine is

what is measured. There are 3 main tests in order to test the levels, pool test kits, color wheel test

kits and digital colorimeters. The test kits tend to be very cheap but there is a lack of calibration

and standardization. The digital colorimeter tends to be more expensive but gives very fast and

accurate readings.

Social

The CDC Safe Water System changes the lives of people in underdeveloped countries for

the better. Having easier access to safe drinking water allows growth within these

underdeveloped communities that are already struggling and is crucial in order to develop and

allow the community to focus on other important tasks. Since water is interconnected with

almost every aspect of developmental activities such as agriculture, energy and industry, not

having access to clean water can lock communities into poverty for generations, and the CDC

Safe Water System gives these communities access to safe water inexpensively. Each year it is

estimated that there are 4-8 billion episodes of diarrheal disease and roughly 80% of those

episodes are caused by not having a safe drinking water supply. Another estimate states that

“The burden of disease from water, sanitation, and hygiene account for 4% of worldwide deaths

and 5.7% of worldwide disability-adjusted life years.” (Prüss et al., 2002). If these

underdeveloped countries are given access to a consistent safe water supply the amount of deaths

in these communities will decrease dramatically which means a greater life expectancy. If a

community has a higher life expectancy then it means that they are more likely to develop and It
 7

can be difficult to get communities to invest and value water as an important resource all while

making sure that they use the resources for their designed purpose. There have been many

examples of people using chlorinated water in order to water their gardens and plants, this is not

a good use of the water though as chlorinated water can kill plants if the water is too

concentrated with the chlorine. This factor can also scare people away from using chlorinated

water since they just see the chlorine killing plants and are not educated enough to understand

the benefits to drinking this water that is slightly chlorinated.

A source of clean water can not only stop diarrheal diseases but it can also help in

medical facilities which may need the clean water to help a patient. Like it was mentioned

earlier, clean water will improve life style and decrease amount of deaths yearly, and will cause

any community to excel. Let’s take the continent Africa as an example, it is reported that 115

people die hourly due to poor sanitation of water, once those countries have decent sanitated

water they will evolve like any other continent in this world, specilay that Africa is known to be

the richest continent on earth, but the people that live there are being suppressed by this issue

that is and has been going on for so many years.

The good news is that there is a global goal that aims to ensure availability and

sustainability of water by the year 2030. Several organizations are working to meet this goal and

accomplish it, by promoting change in behavior and education of how to use this clean water.

This change of water sanitation will change africa dramatically, maybe not immediately but over

the years they will be more educated on how to use and maximize the use of this clean water just

like any other continent that already has access to it now, like N.America and Europe. Less

deaths means more people able to work and hospitals will not be overflowing with patients and
 8

will have more time to focus on other type of issues that are going on in the world right now like

COVID-19 for example.

Economic

Talking about residential areas, Chlorination is one of the best and most efficient ways to

disinfect drinking water supplies, eliminate odors, and oxidize iron and other metals. It is usually

combined with a water filtration system.

The upfront cost for chlorination can be different for multiple reasons, one of those reasons is

how you want to chlorinate your water.

 9

For example if you have a private well, some companies can be hired to chlorinate the well for

you and the upfront cost is usually $80 USD to $200.00.

The other option is to do it yourself, which is pretty simple all you have to do is to measure how

deep and big is your well, and then you can determine the amount of chlorine needed, see chart

Below:

The upfront cost for a bottle of hypochlorite solution that treats 1,000 liters of water costs about

10 US cents using refillable bottles and 11-50 cents using disposable bottles.

However some Residential wells do require a chlorine bleach injector, also known as a

chlorinator. Before buying and installing one, the pH must be identified because a higher pH

means more chlorine is needed. The Upfront price of a chlorinator depends on multiple things,

like how many gallons per minute the well water is flowing and the amount of chlorine needed.

The prices start at $500.00 USD and the price increases depending on the gallons per second that

is needed, how big of a tank is needed, if a static mixer is required, and if a pH test kit is wanted.
 10

The chlorinated water usually stays clean unless a flood happens and the dirty water falls down

to the well or by excess water draining into the well aquifer without being properly filtered

through the ground.

The maintenance on a chlorinator pump is pretty simple and affordable, since all that is needed is

the NSF certified chlorine powder, which costs around $20.00 for 8 oz. and of course it depends

on the amount that is purchased it can go up to $70.00 for 54 oz.

For repairs or if the chlorinator doesn’t work, they come with a standard one year warranty

which covers repair or replacement. If a longer than one year warranty is needed, then it will add

to the upfront cost of the chlorinator.

The longevity of a chlorinator depends on how well it is marinated, for example if the chlorinator

cells have been cleaned once a season, and the machine has to be turned off during a storm to

reduce power surges that could damage it.

If a chlorinator that is well-maintained can last around three to seven years and when it is time to

replace a part or the machine itself, the price the purchaser is looking at will be between $500

USD and $1,100 USD.

The chlorination of water will definitely need to be improved to help third world countries which

will lead to an even bigger economic development than it is now, and that is by providing more

job opportunities, whether it is for engineers to mass make the chlorinators or for plumbers to

install them and it is even a greater economic development simply because it makes life a lot

easier for people that don’t have access to clean water at all.
 11

Because having clean water can benefit people in multiple ways, one is obviously a better

lifestyle which leads a country or a community to excel.

Like it was mentioned earlier, a lot of third world countries don’t have access to clean water now

which is causing a lot of deaths and unhealthy people, once these countries get the access they

need to clean water the illness rates will be a lot lower than they are now, which also leads to

better economy because more people will be able to work instead of being stuck in hospitals, and

even hospitals will be a lot more efficient with clean water at their disposal. Water is intimately

linked to health, agriculture and energy and biodiversity. Without progress on water, reaching

Millennium Development goals is nearly impossible if not impossible at all. Over the years a

huge progress has been made due to chlorination, whether it is on a small scale or a big scale and

it is shown in the chart below:

Just from looking at that chart we can see that obviously freshwater is increasing over the years

and from the table below we can see that the continents with better water quality are the more

developed continents in our world as of today.

 12

Environmental:

Health/Welfare:

There are a vast majority of people who have been able to gain access to better and increased

quality of supply of drinking water and well as improved sanitation system. However there are

still millions of people approximately 884 million that haven't been able to access an improved

water system or sufficient sanitation which leads to illnesses that can lead to death. According to

reports from the CDC website, Approximately 88% of deaths due to diarrheal diseases such as

cholera, dysentery have been linked to unsafe water which is also the second leading cause of

young children under the age of five and responsible for an average of 800,000 deaths in children

every year. The microorganisms that are responsible for diarrhea are frequently spread through

contaminated food or water. The contaminated food or water comes as a result of insanitation or

inadequate treatment of drinking water.

 13

In order to help solve this problem, CDC in coordination with the Pan American Health

Organization originated the Safe Water System which helps to shield affected populace from

water contamination by encouraging changes in behaviour as well as To address this global

issue, CDC and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) developed the Safe Water

System (SWS), which protects communities from contaminated water by promoting behavior

change and creating solutions that are long lasting and economically affordable to them. They

created a system that would help the communities treat their drinking water as well as a safe

storage system for homes that will protect them from waterborne illnesses. The CDC safe water

system has been a great impact to helping prevent and reduce some of these diseases as well as

deaths. The CDC has enacted these Safe Water Systems in over 35 countries throughout the

world with a volume of materials to treat about 137 billion liters of water sold as at 2013 to help

improve affected communities and vulnerable populations with programs such as PEPFAR for

HIV/AIDS persons, schools and other community based programs. LoLocal community

health workers teach community members how to use the solution, make and

distribute the solution, and follow-up with families to educate them on healthy

water and sanitation practices.

14
 15

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2759783/

Small section on bottom of https://www.cdc.gov/safewater/chlorination.html

Environmental:

Sustainability:
16
 17

References:

● Institute of Medicine (US) Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and

Medicine. Global Environmental Health: Research Gaps and Barriers for Providing

Sustainable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services: Workshop Summary. Washington

(DC): National Academies Press (US); 2009. 7, The Social Pillar of Sustainable Water:

Health Research Gaps. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK50774/

 18

● Lantagne D. S. (2009). Viability of commercially available bleach for water treatment in

developing countries. American journal of public health, 99(11), 1975–1978.

https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.160077

● Hughes, J. M., & Koplan, J. P. (2005). Saving Lives through Global Safe Water.

Emerging Infectious Diseases, 11(10), 1636-1637.

https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1110.051099.