AWWA-91144 Seasonal Chlorination Practices and Impacts to Chlorinating Utilities
Chloramines are widely used to maintain a disinfectant
residual in water distribution systems. However, chloraminated distribution
systems can promote the growth of nitrifying bacteria, an undesirable condition
known as nitrification. Many chloraminated systems minimize the potential for
nitrification by converting from chloramines to free chlorine on a periodic
basis. The concept behind this switch is that free chlorine will oxidize any
ammonia present in the distribution system, thus removing the food source for
nitrifying bacteria, and will reduce the number of nitrifying bacteria.
However,
research has never determined how effective this practice is and what other
water quality changes occur from the temporary switch to chlorine. Seasonal Chlorination Practices and Impacts to Chlorinating Utilities documents the effectiveness of free chlorine for the control of
nitrifying bacteria, evaluates the effect of pipe materials on nitrifying
bacteria, and determines how DPBs change as a result of the switch to free
chlorine.