Chemical Disinfection Essay

It is vital to reduce contaminates and decrease the risk of microbes in drinking water. This process is accomplished through water disinfection. This procedure can be done though several methods; however, chlorine and chloramine are the most frequently used forms of chemical disinfection (Serrano, Silva, & Gallego, 2011). When this process is utilized, there is an increased risk in the release of unwanted by-products can cause severe health risk. The use of chemical disinfection methods, results in the creation of disinfection by-products through the interaction of the disinfectants with natural organic matter (NOM) (Bougeard, Goslan, Jefferson, Bruce, and Parsons, 2010). Due to the minute amounts of the disinfectant by-products, a reliable detection method is necessary. This can be achieved through the use of chromatography. In a study conducted in Scotland (2009), the use of chromatography resulted in the comparison of chemical disinfection methods and their by-products. …show more content…
There is an increased threat of health risk due to the high amounts of microbes in un-disinfected water (Schoeny, 2010). Though there are many forms of cleaning methods currently in use, chemical disinfection is the prevalent method. Two commonly used methods of disinfection are chlorine and chloramine. Chlorine is distributed into drinking water as chlorine dioxide gas whereas chloramine is the product of ammonia added to already chlorinated water (Bougeard et al., 2010). When these chemicals are added to drinking water, disinfection by-products are produced as an undesirable effect. Disinfection by-products results in a negative impact to the environment along with public health due to their toxicity and perseverance (Chary, Nallanthigal, and Fernandez-Alba,