Comparison of commercial disinfectants and an in loco-produced solution: free residual chlorine decay in human supply waters

Abstract

The disinfection process is used in the treatment of water for human supply to promote sanitary safety and provide users with drinking water that meets potability standards. Thus, it is necessary to sustain a minimal concentration of free residual chlorine (FRC) throughout the entire distribution system. The present study investigated the decay process of FRC concentration in water destined for human supply. The decay was evaluated in bench-scale testing, using sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite, sodium dichloroisocyanurate (organic chlorine) as disinfectant agents, and also an alternative disinfectant solution (ADS) produced in loco, with oxidizing and disinfectant properties, which is being used in Brazilian sanitation industry. To evaluate the decay, four models were fitted: first-order, nth-order, limited first-order and parallel first-order, hence determining the corresponding parameters which describe the decay speed of the FRC concentration in water. Achieved results demonstrated that all models were statistically significant and predictive. However, the parallel first-order model produced the best fit. Regarding the evaluated disinfectants, there was preeminence of the ADS solution when compared to the others, since it imparted a higher FRC over time, a behavior indicated by lower values for reaction rate constant in all models and when compared to other disinfectants used in this study. HIGHLIGHTS Alternative disinfectant solution (ADS) tends to maintain a greater residual chlorine over time.; Chlorine decay over time is best described by the first-order parallel model.; The use of disinfectants that contain not only chlorine derivatives guarantees a greater residual-free chlorine over time.;

Keywords

• chlorine decay
• kinetic models
• water disinfection