Use of chlorine

Guidance on the stability and best use of sodium hypochlorite produced on WATA devices: A statement by Antenna Technologies, 30 March 2012

In the use of sodium hypochlorite at household level, the efficiency of the product is of prime importance. Despite the publication of a recent study on the subject, more specific data on storage and stability of sodium hypochlorite produced on any of our WATA electro-chlorinator devices was required. Therefore several WATA users conducted a series of tests in the field (in Mali and in Haiti) and Antenna undertook a test in laboratory conditions .

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Chlorination of drinking water

Water chlorination involves the addition of a given dose of active chlorine into potentially contaminated water, in order to kill ‘all’ germs and pathogens – the ‘all’ being measured as being at least 99.99%. The dose added depends on the initial water quality. Water which is possibly contaminated can be made drinkable by adding a small dose of chlorine whose strong oxidising power will destroy all pathogenic germs in about 30 minutes. It is important to treat clear water only. If it is muddy, cloudy or coloured, it must imperatively be filtered before chlorination. It is also possible to wait until all water particles deposit at the bottom of the recipient (sedimentation).

1 litre of chlorine = 4,000 litres of treated water

Assuming that you have produced concentrated chlorine at 6 g/L, and that you want to treat a water of average quality, one litre of active chlorine produced with a WATA will be sufficient for the treatment of 4,000 litres of water.

To make sure that you have proceeded to the adapted dilution, you want to test the free residual chlorine (FRC), by using our WataBlue product. The presence of free chlorine residual in drinking water indicates that: 1) a sufficient amount of chlorine was added to the water to inactivate most of the bacteria and viruses that cause diarrheal disease; and, 2) the water is protected from recontamination during transport to home, and during storage of water in the household. The presence of free residual chlorine in drinking water indicates the likely absence of disease-causing organisms; it is therefore used as one measure of the drinking quality of drinking water.

Disinfection and cleaning

Disinfection with active chlorine is a very efficient and low-cost solution to drastically reduce the occurrence of insufficient hygiene-related diseases.
Its range of efficiency is very wide; the solution can be used for various purposes: depending of its degree of dilution:

Chlorine disinfection is not a sterilisation. The chlorine concentrate cannot be used for sterilising surgical instruments. These have to be sterilised in an autoclave or a hot air oven.

Disinfection of wounds

The active chlorine produced by WATA can be compared with Dakin solution, which has antiseptic properties. Invented during World War I, it was used to disinfect open or infected wounds. Using a clean compress, apply the concentrated chlorine directly on the wound like a disinfectant. For this particular use, the chlorine concentration must be 6 g/L.

Click here to download the chlorination guide