Evaluation of methods for determination free available chlorine in public water supply

Abstract

To assurance the drinking water quality, the disinfecting has to be guaranteed. In this sense, chlorination is the most widely used method, which promotes the inactivation and/or destruction of pathogenic microorganisms. The analytic methods more common for free available chlorine in drinking water are based on the DPD colorimetric method. In this way, the main core of this research is to compare the results obtained between two devices that can use two types reagents: visual and digital equipments; and powder and tablet reagents. Moreover, was analyzed whatever correlation between the others measured parameters: pH, turbidity, electric conductivity, fluoride, total coliforms and Escherichia coli. Were collected 40 samples in particular homes, which were distributed in six districts of three different areas of the city of Goiânia (Goiás, Brazil). The results were that the powder reagent had higher values than tablet ones, and that the measures of the digital equipment were lower than the visual disk. By other hand, was found one linear correlation between turbidity and the free available chlorine, and one soft inverse relationship between the fluorine and the electric conductivity.

Keywords

• cloro residual livre
• DPD
• Disco colorimétrico
• clorímetro digital.