The Use of Chlorine to Purify Water
As municipal water treatment facilities sought
to increase the quality and healthfulness of public water supplies,
more and more cities began to implement chlorine into their
water treatment process. Chlorine was first recognized as a
valuable chemical in treating water when John
Snow used it to purify the cholera-causing water of the
Broad Street Pump. Noting the disinfecting nature of chlorine
and its ability to curb cholera
deaths, government officials in Great Britain began to chlorinate
the public drinking water. This application of chlorine resulted
in a sharp decline in deaths from typhoid,
as well (Christman, 1998).
After the tremendous success of drinking water chlorination
in England, chlorination began in New Jersey and soon spread
through the entire United States. Chlorination of drinking water,
combined with the use of sand water filters resulted in the
virtual elimination of such waterborne diseases as cholera,
typhoid, and dysentery.
In fact, chlorine was so effective at eliminating the outbreak
and spread of waterborne diseases that Life magazine named water
chlorination as “probably the most significant public health
advance of the millennium” (Christman, 1998).
Chlorine has now been a major part of municipal water treatment for nearly 100 years. About 98% of municipal water treatment facilities now use chlorine disinfectant as their disinfectant of choice, and about 200 million U.S. residents receive chlorinated drinking water through their home faucets (Christman, 1998).
Scientists are now beginning to examine the possible byproducts
and side effects of using chlorine in drinking water. Chlorine
is listed as a known poison; it undoubtedly has an adverse effect
on our body systems. Chlorinated water has been linked to the
aggravation and cause of respiratory diseases like asthma. Also,
because chlorine vaporizes at a much faster rate than water,
chlorinated water presents a significant threat to the respiratory
system when used for showering. Recent discoveries of the health
concerns of chlorine have led many people to install shower
filters or whole
house water filter systems into their homes. Such installations
are the next step in the evolution of water filtration technology.
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