Unit V

B) Disinfection
WATER TREATMENT PROCESS
 DISINFECTION OF WATER
• Disinfection is the process of removing harmful
bacteria.
• The substances or materials which are to be used
for disinfection are called the disinfectants.
• When water leaves the filter plant, it is till found to
contain some of the impurities. These impurities
can be grouped as:
-Bacteria,
-dissolved inorganic salts,
-colour, odour and taste,
-iron and manganese.
 METHODS OF DISINFECTION:
BOILING METHOD
• This is the most effective method of killing bacteria but
impracticable in large scale.
• Most of bacteria are destroyed when the water
has attained of about 80˚C temperature.
• Prolonged boiling is unnecessary and wasteful.
EXCESS LIME TREATMENT
• Treatment of lime is given to the water for the removal of
dissolved salts.
• Excess lime added to water works as disinfecting material.
• When pH value is about 9.50, bacteria can be removed to
the extent of 99.93 per cent.
• Lime is to be removed by recarbonation after
disinfection.
IODINE AND BROMINE TREATMENT
• Use of iodine or bromine is limited to small water
supplies such as swimming pools, troops of army, private
plants, etc.
• Dosage of iodine or bromine is about 8 p.p.m.
• Contact period with water is 5 minutes.
• Available in the form of pellets or small pills.
SILVER TREATMENT
• Colloidal silver is used to preserve the quality of water
stored in jars.
• Metallic silver is placed as filter media. Water get
purified while passing through theses filters.
• Dosage of silver varies from 0.05 to 1 p.p.m.
• Contact period is about 15 minutes to 3 hours.
• It is costly and limited to private individual houses only.
OZONE TREATMENT(3O2 =2O3)
• Nascent oxygen is very powerful in killing
bacteria.
• Ozone is unstable and does not remain in water
when reaches the consumer.
• Ozoniser:
• Dosage of ozone is about 2 to 3 p.p.m. to
obtain residual ozone of 0.10 p.p.m
• Contact period is about 10 minutes
POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE TREATMENT(KMnO4)
• It is a powerful oxidising agent, effective in killing cholera
bacteria
• Restricted to disinfection of water of village wells and ponds
• Dosage is about 2.1 p.p.m
• Contact period of 3 to 4 hours
• The treated water produces a dark brown coating
on porcelain vessels and this is difficult to remove
except with scratching or rubbing.
ULTRA-VIOLET RAY TREATMENT
• For generating these rays, the mercury is enclosed in one or
more quartz bulbs and electric
current is then passed through it.
• The water should be passed
round the bulbs several times .
• Depth of water over the bulbs
should not exceed 10 cms.
 CHLORINATION
Used as a disinfecting material as,
• It is easy to apply due to relatively high
solubility of about 7000 mg per litre.
• Readily available as gas, liquid or powder.
• Very toxic to most of the micro-organisms.
• Cheap and reliable.
• Chlorine can be applied in water in one
of the following ways:
– as bleaching powder,
– as chloramines, or
– as free chlorine gas.
• Hypochlorous acid is 80 times more effective
disinfectant than hypochlorite ions.
• Chlorine will appear in water in three forms
i. Elemental chlorine (Cl-)
ii. HOCl
iii. OCl
 Factors Affecting Disinfection Process
• Contact Time (t)
• Conc. Of Disinfectant
• Type of conc. And nature of organisms
• Characteristics of water- temp, pH, turbidity
• Type of initial contact
 Chlorine demand
• When chlorine is added in water it reacts with
organic and inorganic impurities.
• The amount of chlorine utilized for this is known
as chlorine demand.
• The remaining chlorine will appear as available
residual chlorine.
• Which serves as disinfectant to kill the
pathogens
 Dosages, Demand and Residuals
– Short Summary
• Dosage: the amount of chlorine added
• Demand: the amount of chlorine needed to
oxidize materials (reaction)
• Residual: the amount of chlorine remaining
after oxidation.
• Residual Chlorine = Dosage – Demand
Chlorine can be applied in water
by following forms
1. As Bleaching powder or Hypochlorite
2. As Chloramines
3. As free Chlorine gas
4. As Chlorine dioxide
 1. Bleaching powder
• Chemical formula is Ca (OCl)2.
• Available chlorine is 20 to 40 %.
• When it is added in water following reaction takes
place
• Ca(OCl)2 + H2O 2HOCl + Ca(OH)2
• Hypochlorous acid acts as disinfectant.
• As it contains 20 -40% chlorine it requires higher
transportation cost and space for storing.
• Therefore used in small scales i.e. rural water
supply schemes
 2. Chloramines
• The free chlorine can react with compounds
such as ammonia, proteins, amino acids and
phenols that may be present in water to form
chloramines and chloro-derrivatives which
constitute as combined chlorine.
• Combined chlorine possesses disinfection
properties.
Reaction with Ammonia
 Advantages
• 1. More effective than chlorine alone
• 2. Prevents tastes and odour
• 3. Water treated with chloramines causes less
irritation of eyes and odours.
• 4. No danger of overdose
• 5. Less chlorine is required
 3. Free chlorine
• • Generally applied in gaseous form or liquid
form.
• 2.48 times heavier than air and 1.44 times
heavier than water.
• Strong oxidant
• Forms residual
• Works under specific pH.
 4. Chlorine Dioxide (ClO2)
• Chlorine dioxide is created by mixing solutions
of sodium chlorite and chlorine.
• Chlorine dioxide is generated on site
• 2NaClO2 + Cl2 2ClO2 + 2NaCl
• The advantages of chlorine dioxide are:
– 1. it is a strong bactericide and viricide over a wide
pH range.
– 2. It forms a slight residual in the distribution
system.
 Forms of chlorination

• 1. Plain Chlorination
• 2. Pre-Chlorination
• 3. Post Chlorination
• 4. Double of multiple Chlorination
• 5. Break point Chlorination
• 6. Super Chlorination
• 7. De-Chlorination
 6.Super chlorination
• Chlorine is applied beyond break point.
• It is done after filtration with contact time of
30 to 60 mins.
 7. De Chlorination
• Process of removing excess chlorine from
water is known as De-Chlorination.
• Can be achieved by aeration or using
chemicals such as sodium thiosulphate ,
sodium bi sulphate, sodium sulphite,
Activated carbon, potassium permanganate.