15-16: An Alternative Approach to Disinfection Using Chlorine Dioxide

The use of oxidizing biocides is among the most cost effective means of disinfecting water. Chlorine dioxide has various benefits compared to other oxidizing biocides, but its stability, properties, and characteristics necessitate that in situ generation, typically using precursor solutions in a chlorine dioxide generator is a common practice. Apart from chlorine dioxide gas or vapor, the precursor solutions can pose a potential health and safety hazard and require appropriate safety precautions to be incorporated in the design and operation of generation and dosing equipment. The use of solid precursors can simplify the generation of chlorine dioxide, eliminate some of the potential hazards encountered with other generation methods, and produce stable chlorine dioxide solutions which can be used in many types of disinfection applications. Attributes of chlorine dioxide, its generation, and application are discussed in this paper.