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Water chlorination is the process of adding chlorine or chlorine compounds such as sodium hypochlorite to water. This method is used to kill bacteria, viruses and other microbes in water. In particular, chlorination is used to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and typhoid. [1] [2] [3]
The largest reservoir of chlorine resides in the lithosphere, where 2.2 × 10 22 kg of global chlorine is found in Earth's mantle. [2] Volcanic eruptions will sporadically release high levels of chlorine as HCl into the troposphere, but the majority of the terrestrial chlorine flux comes from seawater sources mixing with the mantle. [2]
As a common disinfectant, elemental chlorine and chlorine-generating compounds are used more directly in swimming pools to keep them sanitary. Elemental chlorine at high concentration is extremely dangerous, and poisonous to most living organisms. As a chemical warfare agent, chlorine was first used in World War I as a poison gas weapon.
The chloralkali process has been in use since the 19th century and is a primary industry in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. [4] [5] It has become the principal source of chlorine during the 20th century. [6]
Chlorine can be manufactured by the electrolysis of a sodium chloride solution , which is known as the Chloralkali process. The production of chlorine results in the co-products caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, NaOH) and hydrogen gas (H 2). These two products, as well as chlorine itself, are highly reactive.
Chlorine is a strong oxidant that rapidly kills many harmful micro-organisms. Because chlorine is a toxic gas, there is a danger of a release associated with its use. This problem is avoided by the use of sodium hypochlorite, which is a relatively inexpensive solution used in household bleach that releases free chlorine when dissolved in water ...
Chlorine-releasing compounds, also known as chlorine base compounds, is jargon to describe certain chlorine-containing substances that are used as disinfectants and bleaches. They include the following chemicals: sodium hypochlorite (active agent in bleach ), chloramine , halazone , and sodium dichloroisocyanurate . [ 2 ]
Fluoridation became an official policy of the U.S. Public Health Service by 1951, and by 1960 water fluoridation had become widely used in the U.S., reaching about 50 million people. [2] By 2006, 69.2% of the U.S. population on public water systems were receiving fluoridated water, amounting to 61.5% of the total U.S. population. [3]