Treatment FAQ

what is chlorine demand in water treatment

by Prof. Haley Hammes V Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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The chlorine demand is the amount of chlorine used in reacting with various components of the water such as harmful organisms and other organic and inorganic substances. When the chlorine demand has been satisfied, these reactions stop. In some cases, such as perhaps during the initial phase of treatment, chlorinating just to meet the chlorine demand is sufficient. In other cases, however, such as at the end of the treatment process, it is desirable to have an additional amound of chlorine ...

Full Answer

What is chlorine demand?

Sep 24, 2019 · Chlorine demand is the difference between total chlorine added in the water and residual chlorine. It is the amount which reacts with the substances in water, leaving behind an inactive form of chlorine. Chlorine demand can be caused in a water body due to rain containing ammonia or the addition of fertilizers which can be oxidized by chlorine.

Why is chlorine added to water supply?

Chlorine Demand - amount of chlorine used by iron, manganese, turbidity, algae, and microorganisms in the water. Since chlorine doesn't kill the microbes instantly, demand is relative to time. For instance, the demand 10 minutes after applying chlorine will be less than the demand after 30 minutes. Demand, like dosage, is expressed in mg/L and can be determined by: …

What is chlorination of water?

Feb 02, 2017 · The total amount of chlorine that must be added to water to fully disinfect it is known as that water’s chlorine demand. For good sources of water the chlorine demand is low and the water treatment facility only has to add a small amount of chlorine to disinfect the water and make it safe to drink.

What are the chlorine requirements for wastewater treatment plants?

Feb 01, 2017 · It is the difference between the amounts of chlorine applied to amount of free, combine or total available chlorine remaining at the end of contact period (specified) which should be at least 30min. Chlorine Demand is a pool water chemistry topic that is getting more attention due to changing climates, consumer's water chemistry and understanding of the …

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During the treatment process, chlorine is added to drinking water as elemental chlorine (chlorine gas), sodium hypochlorite solution or dry calcium hypochlorite. When applied to water, each of these forms “free chlorine,” which destroys pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms.

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Why is chlorine added to water?

The total amount of chlorine that must be added to water to fully disinfect it is known as that water’s chlorine demand.

What is the minimum chlorine level in water?

The current guideline for total chlorine from the Guidelines for Canadian Drink Water Quality is a minimum concentration of 0.5mg/L.

How to make a chlorine solution?

1. Use the 5mL vial to collect 5mL of the chlorine solution that your teacher has prepared. 2. Pour this sample into a cup then fill that cup about 3/4 of the way up with tap water to dilute the solution. Swirl the water around a little bit to make sure it is well mixed.

How to find the mass of chlorine in a water sample?

To find the mass of the chlorine in the tap water sample you multiply the chlorine concentration of your tap water by the volume of the water in the cup. The mass of the chlorine in the mixed sample before the tea bag was added can be found by multiplying the chlorine concentration of that sample by its volume.

Definition

It is the difference between the amounts of chlorine applied to amount of free, combine or total available chlorine remaining at the end of contact period (specified) which should be at least 30min.

Sampling and testing for chlorine demand of water

Let us know in the comments what you think about the concepts in this article!

What is chlorine added to?

During the treatment process, chlorine is added to drinking water as elemental chlorine (chlorine gas), sodium hypochlorite solution or dry calcium hypochlorite. When applied to water, each of these forms “free chlorine,” which destroys pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms.

What are the benefits of chlorination?

In addition to controlling disease-causing organisms, chlorination offers a number of benefits including: Reduces many disagreeable tastes and odors; Eliminates slime bacteria, molds and algae that commonly grow in water supply reservoirs, on the walls of water mains and in storage tanks;

How to produce free chlorine?

When chlorine is added to natural waters, the chlorine begins combining with and oxidizing the chemicals in the water before it begins disinfecting. Although residual chlorine will be detectable in the water, the chlorine will be in the combined form with a weak disinfecting power. Adding more chlorine to the water at this point actually decreases the combined chlorine compounds. At this stage, water may have a strong swimming pool or medicinal taste and odor. To avoid this taste and odor, add still more chlorine to produce a free residual chlorine. Free chlorine has the highest disinfecting power. The point at which most of the combined chlorine compounds have been destroyed and the free chlorine starts to form is the breakpoint. The chlorine breakpoint of water can only be determined by experimentation.

How does water treatment affect health?

Worldwide, about 1.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and twice that many lack adequate sanitation. As a result, the World Health Organization estimates that 3.4 million people, mostly children, die every year from water-related diseases. Even where water treatment is widely practiced, constant vigilance is required to guard against waterborne disease outbreaks. Well-known pathogens such as E. coli are easily controlled with chlorination, but can cause deadly outbreaks given conditions of inadequate or no disinfection. A striking example occurred in May 2000 in the Canadian town of Walkerton, Ontario. Seven people died and more than 2,300 became ill after E. coli and other bacteria infected the town’s water supply. A report published by the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General concludes that, even after the well was contaminated, the Walkerton disaster could have been prevented if the required chlorine residuals had been maintained.

Why is clean water important?

Chlorination and Public Health. Of all the advancements made possible through science and technology, the treatment and distribution of water for safe use is truly one of the greatest. Abundant, clean water is essential for good public health. Humans cannot survive without water; in fact, our bodies are 67% water!

Why is watershed management important?

Because source water quality affects the kind of treatment needed, watershed management planning is a sustainable, cost-effective step in providing safe drinking water.

How many water outbreaks are related to deficiencies in water treatment systems?

Historically, about 46% of the outbreaks in the public water systems are found to be related to deficiencies in source water and treatment systems, with 92% of the causes of illness being due to these two particular problems. All natural waters support biological communities.

How do plants use chloramines?

Some plants use chloramines rather than hypochlorous acid to disinfect the water. To produce chloramines, first chlorine gas or hypochlorite is added to the water to produce hypochlorous acid. Then ammonia is added to the water to react with the hypochlorous acid and produce a chloramine.

Why is pH important in water?

A higher pH facilitates the formation of more hypochlorite ions and results in less hypochlorous acid in the water. This is an important reaction to understand because hypochlorous acid is the most effective form offree chlorine residual, meaning that it is chlorine available to kill microorganisms in the water.

Does chlorine react with water?

At the same time that chlorine is being used up by compounds in the water, some of the chlorine reacts with the water itself. The reaction depends on what type of chlorine is added to the water as well as on the the pH of the water itself.

What does it mean when you don't get a chlorine test?

So if you’re not getting readings on your chlorine test strips or liquid test kit, it probably means you have chlorine demand. All this means in a nutshell, is that your pool needs to slake its everlasting thirst for blood— I mean, chlorine.

What is the smell of chlorine in a pool?

As chlorine sanitizes your pool, it works to decompose all of these nitrogen-based waste products in your pool and the resulting byproducts are chloramines. Chloramines are those unpleasant compounds that cause eye and skin irritation for swimmers. They are also responsible for the chlorine-like smells near pools.

Why does my pool have chlorine lock?

Chlorine lock is supposedly a condition that affects your pool when there is too much cyanuric acid present in the water. The idea is that the excess cyanuric acid, which is a chlorine stabilizer, causes the chlorine to be unusable, even if your chlorine levels are where they need to be.

Is chlorine lock a misnomer?

Well, sort of. “Chlorine lock” is a controversial subject in the pool industry and has been found to actually be a misnomer — a term that some pool companies will use interchangeably with the term “chlorine demand”. These are actually two different things.

What is the demand for chlorine?

The demand by inorganic and organic materials is referred to as the chlorine demand. It is the difference between the amount of chlorine applied to the wastewater and the amount of residual chlorine after a given contact time.

Why is it important to remove chlorine from water?

It is important to remove chlorine because wastewater effluent is discharged into streams, rivers, and lakes, which provide habitat for wildlife and plant life. Without dechlorination, excess chlorine may kill the wildlife and plant life. Dechlorination of plant effluent flow may be accomplished by various processes.

What is the most commonly used disinfection process for wastewater treatment?

Chlorine and its various forms are powerful oxidants that will kill or inactivate most pathogenic organism that are harmful to human and animal life. Chlorination is the most commonly used disinfection process for wastewater treatment.

Why do you need to dechlorinate after disinfection?

The effluent from a wastewater treatment plant may need to be dechlorinated after disinfection because of harmful affects the chlorine residual may have on fish, wildlife , and even human health.

What is chlorine residual?

It is the component of the applied chlorine that is available for disinfection. The residual is available in three forms:

How is chlorine dioxide generated?

Due to its instability, chlorine dioxide is generated on site and used within a short period of time after generation. Two systems are used to generate the chemical. In each, the process blends chlorinated water or hydrochloric acid with sodium chlorite in a mixing chamber to produce chlorine dioxide. The reactions are as follows:

How much chlorine is in a cylinder?

Elemental chlorine is provided in liquid form and delivered in 150-pound cylinders and 1-ton containers.

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Definitions

  • When chlorine is added to drinking water, it proceeds through a series of reactions described below. When chlorine is added to water, some of the chlorine reacts first with inorganic and organic materials and metals in the water and is not available for disinfection (this is called the chlorine demand of the water). After the chlorine demand is met...
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Why Do We Test Free Chlorine in Drinking Water?

  • The SWS Program recommends testing free chlorine in two circumstances: 1. To conduct dosage testing in project areas prior to the start of a program. 2. To monitor and evaluate projects for chlorination compliance by testing stored water in households. The goal of dosage testing is to determine how much chlorine (sodium hypochlorite solution) to add to water that will be used fo…
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Methods to Test Free Chlorine in The Field in Developing Countries

  • There are three main methods to test free chlorine residual in drinking water in the field in developing countries: 1) Pool test kits, 2) Color-wheel test kits, and 3) Digital colorimeters. All three methods depend on a color change to identify the presence of chlorine, and a measurement of the intensity of that color to determine how much chlorine is present.
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Summary

  • Selecting how to measure free and total chlorine can be complicated and is dependent on a number of factors in a program, including the need for accuracy, cost, and number of samples to be tested. The choice is also highly dependent on how the data will be used. Some recommendations for choosing a method based on the sampling goals are detailed below: 1. Do…
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