Chlorine Experiment

Many water disinfection methods create further hazardous conditions in the long-term. Avoid methods that require hazardous handling, storage, or continuous monitoring. Protect yourself from carcinogens and other health related harmful side-effects that are caused by some conventional disinfection methods. Choose a solution that is non-corrosive, does not damage the distribution system, and is effective throughout an entire water system.

The basis of this experiment was to test how different contaminates effect ground water when absorbed. The results were surprising as that I felt any additives would immediately change the entire break up and color of the water. What was most surprising to me was that filtering vinegar through ground water it came out relatively clean. I also believed that when filtered all of the water would have large traces of dirt, but that was not the case with the vinegar. This means that there are still viable ways to filter and purify water.

The objective of this experiment is to see how safe bottled and tap water is to drink based on what is in the water; specifically the contaminants and the pH balance of the water. As well as if the temperature of the environment that the water is placed in affects the pH balance of the water along with if bacteria is grown due to the condition it is in. Water is one of the most important things in life, being as it is known as the universal solvent, and humans and many other animals need it to survive. Along with water, the balance of pH is also extremely important in the maintenance of any organism 's life, including the lives of humans. Temperature is known to affect the speed of movements of ions within a solution. There are specific

The human body is contained mostly of water. Plants and animals will stop to exist without water. Water is used in transportation, cleaning, and other walks of life. It is not hard to figure out that water is one of the planet’s most valuable useful things (Bottcher 2012). However, the previously-mentioned walks of life create many of the concerns connected with the consumption of water. Water contamination is a hot topic in America. Americans are concerned with the contaminants that may be waiting in a creepy way their tap

“The Milwaukee Water Works (MWW) is recognized as a national leader for providing safe, high-quality drinking water, and for our water quality monitoring program. We treat Lake Michigan water with ozone disinfection, biologically active filtration, and chloramine disinfection. Since 1993, the Milwaukee Water Works has invested $508 million in its infrastructure, to ensure a reliable supply of pure, safe drinking water” (MWW,

In the United States, the government spends more on clean water initiative than on cleaning the water. According to the government, it is easier and less expensive to advocate the prevention of water pollution than to actually clean the water (“Water Purification”). The bacteria and other microorganisms that get in the

The city of Stockton’s water cleaning company uses “chloramines which are not as chemically active as chlorine” to filter their tap water system (recordnet.com). However, due to the drought and lack of water many of the chloramines compounded together and became toxic. Moving on, Chloramine is a compound made up of very low concentration of chlorine and ammonia. However, large quantity of chloramine can be harmful since the chlorine can compound onto each other, which develops trichloramine (recordnet.com). Trichloramine can cause redness in the eye, irritation of the skin, and if ingested in large quantity, the respiratory system can be damaged. Moving on, the water contamination in Stockton effects all the residents in North Stockton only. Despite that the water contamination is only in North Stockton, the residents are taking precaution to using their tap water due to the unsure effects of ingesting the contaminated

Treatment standards are set based upon the estimated numbers of pathogens in the water to be treated. To achieve the USEPA goal of a risk of 1:10,000 per year of infection the levels of some pathogens have to be less than one in 10,000 to 1,000,000 liters of drinking water (Craun, 1993). Of course, with these risk estimates there is always a level of uncertainty because they are often derived from studies based on animals- primarily mice and rats- and the need to extrapolate probability of negative health outcomes to very low levels of exposure via drinking water to humans. To compensate for this uncertainty, safety factors are used extensively. Reducing risk by addressing occasional higher levels that may occur due to treatment deficiencies or excursions to higher levels from averages is possible with treatment at the tap.

Chlorine is the single largest contributor to safe drinking water, in the history of public health. In 1902 the first chlorine disinfection system was installed in Belgium. By the 1920’s nearly the whole world started using the process. Due to this disinfection process many disease-causing microorganisms were abolished. According to Life Magazine (1997)

A compromise of human comfort and perfect disinfection is established and this is why most chlorine based pool disinfectants are labelled that they should be used at (reference) pH 7.2 to 7.6. This is to avoid a too low pH for humans while achieving optimum

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strictly regulates the levels of health-risking contaminants that are allowed in drinking water, to try and ensure that tap water, used for drinking, meets certain standards. Chlorine is used by most water treatment facilities in the United States, to clean the water drinking supplies. The EPA has determined that chlorine levels of four parts per million, or less, are safe for human consumption. While, the chlorination of drinking water has been credited with increasing life expectancy, and being one of our nation’s major public health achievements, there have been studies, that link chlorination to higher occurrences of some types of cancer, and other health problems, including eczema, heart disease, asthma, and higher miscarriage rates. When chlorine interacts with various organic compounds in the fresh water, trihalomethanes (THMs) are produced, which are environmental pollutants, and carcinogenic. When THMS are ingested, they foster the growth of free radicals, which are known to harm or destroy vital body

In recent years many water treatment facilities have switched to the use of chloramine in the disinfectant process due to the main reason that it is more stable then chlorine and therefor has a longer retention time which means it is more economical to

Unfortunately, many pollutants don’t taint drinking water with foul odors or colors, leaving many people unaware of the contaminants their families are likely consuming on a daily basis. Fortunately, Anderson Water Systems in Rochester, New York, has helped homeowners in their region filter and purify drinking water for more than 60 years.

As you all know, tap water contains chlorine. However, what you don’t know is, how chlorine affects your health.

The water that comes out of our taps is unfortunately filled with different kind of contaminants that are a great danger for our health.