Effects of Chlorinated Drinking Water

According to the website, All About Water, “compared to reverse osmosis and distillation, filtration is an inexpensive way to remove chlorine, chlorine byproducts, and VOCs from drinking water.” (All about Water, 2014).

Chlorine kills pathogens such as bacteria and viruses by breaking the chemical bonds in their molecules. When chlorine is added to water, chloric acids forms: Cl2+H2O = HOCl + H+ + Cl-. Depending on the pH value, chloric acid partly expires to hypochlorite ions: HOCl = OCl- + H+. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypochlorite ions (OCl-) will form free chlorine when bound together, and they are primary disinfectants throughout the process. However, the chlorine dosage has to be high enough to reach the breakpoint for a significant amount of chlorine to remain in the water. When passing the breakpoint, the addition of chlorine to the water will only produce free chlorine remains which is essential for disinfection.

The way chlorine kills the bacteria is because chlorine splits into different chemicals like HOCI (Hypochlorous acid) and OCI (Hypochlorite ion). HOCI and OCI both dissolve in water. These two chemicals kills bacteria and they do that by attacking the lipids in the cell. HOCI is able to oxidise (loss of electrons) organisms in seconds and OCI is able to oxidise (loss of electrons) organisms in about 30 minutes. This means that chlorine kills bacteria straight away because of the HOCI but then the OCI kills bacteria later for example people who go into the swimming later. Also chlorine does not harm us humans but maybe you get some dry skin or hair. This is really effective because HOCI and OCI in the chlorine kills bacteria which can make

Despite the significant benefits of pool chlorines in their capacity to kill hazardous bacteria, it is evident that some of the side effects can be disadvantageous. The general smell of chlorine can be overwhelmingly unpleasant, and the agent can irritate the skin and eyes. It is also has the capability to bleach some fabrics, potentially damaging clothing. Most significantly, excessive air pockets of chlorine gas that surround pools can be hazardous for peoples’ health and possibly even be carcinogenic. For these reasons, some industries have started to investigate new alternative methods to chlorine for sterilising pools. According to Smith and Monteath et al. (2006, pp. 1 - 37), ‘some of these are good alternatives, but they do not

Many Americans may suffer from drinking contaminated water and not even know it. For example, In Flint Michigan, they were once getting a nice clean water supply from Lake Huron, but they had to pay the city of Detroit. So the city council decided they could cut costs by using the water from the Flint River. The river was known to the local people as filthy and thought that it was a joke switching to the river water. Once they switched their water supply to the river they had noticed the water was brown and looked dirty. After testing they found out the river water was nineteen times more corrosive compared to the Lake Huron water since it so corrosive it eats at the water. With 50% of the water lines in Flint Michigan being lead this also

Animals actually require chlorine to live as well. When chlorine reacts with sodium, it becomes table salt – a basic everyday ingredient that supports our digestive, muscle, and immune systems.

However, three popular methods of water purification include the SteriPen, chlorine tablets, and activated carbon Brita filter. The SteriPen purifies water quickly and easily to make safe drinking water available for travel, outdoor recreation, and home emergency kits. The SteriPen functions by using UV rays to kill bacteria. UV light purifies water without harmful chemicals and without changing the taste, odor, or color of the water (SteriPen 2015). The Brita filter works through the process of adsorption (particles adhering to a surface) to remove harmful impurities such as zinc which causes nausea and vomiting, cadmium that can cause liver damage, copper that causes intestinal, liver, and kidney damage, mercury that can lead to kidney damage, and chlorine which is an irritant. The Brita filter is used for at home water filtration (Brita 2015). Chlorine tablets work against bacteria, viruses, and cysts. There is no aftertaste and it improves the taste and odor of the water. Tablets are mostly used by campers, hikers, militaries, emergency organizations, and anyone needing to drink water of questionable microbiological quality. Chlorine is currently used in 98% of US drinking water purification processes (Portable Aqua 2015). Purifying water this way, however, has not always produced customer satisfaction due to a potential chlorine aftertaste

If you want to live healthy, you have to make sure that the water you are drinking, cooking with, and washing yourself with is free of contaminants.

Chlorine, element No. 17 on the Periodic Table of Elements, has multiple applications, atomic number 17 , atomic symbol is Cl , atomic weight is 35.453 . It is used to sterilize drinking water and to disinfect swimming pools, and it is used in the manufacturing of a number of commonly used products, such as paper, textiles, medicines, paints and plastic, particularly PVC. Moreover, chlorine is used in the development and manufacturing of materials used in products that make vehicles lighter, from seat cushions and seat covers to tire cords and bumpers. In its natural gas form, it is harmful to human health. Chlorine is a respiratory irritant, and inhaling it may cause pulmonary edema — an excessive buildup of fluid in the lungs that can lead to breathing

Mainly as an disinfectant. It should be used today because it is very useful and cleans many things that get dirty. The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in international armed conflicts. They have this because chlorine gas is so deadly. think that using chlorine gas in war is fine if it is a last resort after all peaceful methods have been tried. Also, if you are defending yourself. Although, it is a very dangerous weapon if you don’t have gas

Bleach or sodium hypochlorite is a common household cleaner in an average Canadian home, but what is the effect of bleach on human health? Some background information about bleach before we begin is that it is a pale yellow liquid that has a chlorine odor (Sodium 2016). The manufacturers generally supply bleach as a dilute aqueous solution because it is extremely reactive and unstable.  Bleach will eventually decompose into a variety of by-products, such as oxygen, chlorine gas, and salt (Schueller 2014). To prevent this decomposition from occurring too rapidly, bleach should be stored away from light or heat. The active ingredient in sodium hypochlorite; consists of a negatively charged hypochlorite ion (CLO-) and positively charged sodium

Human activity greatly impacts the quality of our water and plays a large role in its pollution. After completing the Water Pollution Lab, it became evident that city water was the only type of water polluted by two contaminants: the acidity and coliform bacteria levels in the water were both unsafe to drink. To treat this water, first chorine needed to be added, then sodium hydroxide to raise the pH level, and then chlorine needed to be added again at the end of the process. When I visit my in-laws in Detroit, I always think that their water tastes like chlorine; which makes sense now that I’ve completed the lab and understand the steps needed to make the water safe to drink.

Researchers have been studying the causes and effects of contaminated water on human life. Water is to be considered a major and important resource on the planet, but it can also be a major health risk towards human life especially on young children. Young children are more vulnerable to diseases because their immune systems are experiencing everything for the first time. These health risks can include diarrhea, dental fluorosis, or toxicant. Diarrhea can be life threatening due to fluid loss. In 1998, diarrhea was estimated to have killed 2.2 million people, most of whom were under 5 years of age (WHO, 2000). It is more common when there is a shortage of clean water for drinking. Dental fluorosis is a defect of the teeth marked by the increased porosity of the enamel. The longer one has dental fluorosis the more their teeth begin to rotten and crumble. The water sources that can be contaminated are ponds, lakes, seas, oceans, or reservoirs. All these sources are what we use for drinking and bathing. But having clean water cannot be achieved everywhere. Africa, especially, has a poor water quality. Africa does not have the resources for clean water like the United States does. Humans need to be careful of where they get their source of drinking water because of the health risk that contaminated water possesses on humans, but mostly young children.

Pure water is expensive to produce, is tasteless and lacks in magnesium ions. Magnesium ions reduce the incidence of the hardening of arteries and therefore are used in the protection against heart disease. The gas chlorine, Cl2, is most useful to purify water. Chlorine kills viruses and bacteria because it reacts with water to produce hypochlorous acid.

The next article takes a similar approach about water purification since it targets individual small bodies of water. An ultraviolet lamp eliminates all types of bacteria and dirt, ensuring clean and pure water. The only problem with this is that it leaves only distilled water, which is water that is drained of all its minerals; this makes distilled water not suitable for drinking.