DISINFECTION

Process designed to kill harmful

microorganisms
Different from sterilization ( killed under
pressure, capable of killing even spore
Chicks Law : rate of kill proportional to time
of contact and the concentration of
disinfectant

 The disinfection of water and wastewater is the

destruction of water borne pathogens, accomplishes
its purpose by physical and chemical not biological
means.
It refers to selective destruction of disease causing
organisms in water supply or waste water effluent.
Disinfection of water is without doubt the most potent
weapon in the hands of health and water authorities
against water born infection.
In particular, the chlorination of water led to the
substantial eradication of water borne disease at small
cost in equipment, materials and personnel.
However chlorination may result in the formation of
chlorinated hydrocarbons, some of which are known
to carcinogenic (cancer producing).
Therefore alternate method of disinfection are
receiving a great deal of attention.

The primary concern of disinfection is

1. to prevent direct transmission of disease to man
through water and
2. to break the chain of disease and infection by
destroying responsible infective agents before
they reach the water environment.

 A disease which is caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi,

protozoa and helminths after being transmitted from one host
to the other host, is known as infectious diseases.
These may be mild, severe or deadly to the host.
Study of cycle of infectious diseases is very important as far
as disease control is concerned.

Epidemiology
Terminologies

An infectious disease is any change in normal health in which part or the

whole body of an individual does not function properly due to the presence of
an infectious agent or its products.
The phenomenon of growth, multiplication and establishment of an infectious
agent in host tissues or within the cells is known as infection.
When a microorganism or agent lives on expense of the host that derives
nutrients for its growth is called parasite.
If a parasite or its products cause disease, the former is known as the
pathogen.
The ability of a pathogen to cause disease is termed as pathogenicity.
The process of disease development is known as pathogenesis.

Epidemiology (epi means upon, demos means population, logy means study)
is the science that deals with occurrence, determination, distribution and
control of a disease.
When a disease occurs occasionally and at irregular intervals in a human
population is known as sporadic disease. e.g. typhoid.
A disease maintaining a steady, low level frequency at a regular interval is
called endemic disease. e.g. common cold.
A sudden increase in occurrence of a disease beyond a limit is called
epidemic.
If the occurrence of a disease increases within a large population over a wide
region, it is called pandemic (pan means all).

Frequency of a Disease

Frequency of a disease refers to its repeated occurrence as fractions in a given

population.
By measuring frequency one can speculate how severe a disease is?
It is also related to morbidity or mortality.
Number of new cases of a disease during a
specific period in a population
Morbidity rate=

Total number of individuals in the population

Number of deaths due to a given disease

Mortality rate=
Size of total population of sufferers with same
disease

Characteristics of Infectious Diseases

The infectious diseases have characteristic signs and symptoms. Signs are objective
changes in body, for example fever.
Symptoms are the subjective changes for example pain, loss of appetite, etc.
A disease syndrome includes a set of signs and symptoms due to a particular disease;
for example an AIDS patient experiences disease syndrome.
The characteristic symptoms of a disease develop during certain phases. The knowledge
of the phases helps in recognition of a disease.
Incubation period is the time required after Infection to the appearance of
signs/symptoms. Incubation period varies organism to organism.
Second is the prodromal stage is the period during which there is onset of signs and
symptoms of a disease. It cannot be clearly found out.
Third, the period of illness during which the disease gets fully established and becomes
most severe with characteristic signs and symptoms. The immune system is triggered.
The last characteristic phase is the period of decline when signs and symptoms
disappear and the disease is recovered gradually. This stage is known as convalescence.

Herd Immunity

Development of immunity in a large percentage of a population resisting

infection and spread of pathogen is called herd immunity.
There are some pathogens that go on continuous changes and cause new
epidemics. This feature of pathogens is called antigenic shift. for example
AIDS, influenza virus and Legionella bacteria.
Sometimes smaller antigenic changes also occur in pathogens just to escape
from immune system of the host and it is called antigenic drift. These smaller
changes occurring in pathogen from time to time.
When resistance in a given population is so high (herd immunity), the
pathogen cannot infect humans. In such situation these infect animals.

Disease Cycle

The infectious disease cycle is the chain of events that includes epidemiological story of
the infectious agents. Knowledge of disease cycle helps in control of the disease.
The following aspects are linked with disease cycle.
Sources of Disease: A source is the site or location where the pathogens spread to a new
host either through environmental factors such as soil, water, air, food or indirectly
through animals or humans.
Reservoirs: Reservoirs are the natural environment such as soil, water or air or
susceptible animal hosts where pathogens survive.
Carriers: Carriers are the individuals already infected with pathogens. Humans are the
most important carriers of certain pathogens.
Four types of carriers have been recognised: active carriers (who have an overt clinical
case of disease), convalescent carriers (who have recovered from the infectious disease
but contain pathogens in sufficient number), healthy carriers (who harbour pathogens
without being affected), and incubatory carriers (who incubate pathogen into a large
number without falling ill).

Non human reservoirs of infectious agents

Disease

Etiological agent

Nonhuman hosts

Transmission to
humans

Anthrax

Bacillus anthrocis

Cattle, horse,
sheep, goat, cats,
dogs, birds

Direct contact
ingestion /
inhalation of
spores

Encephalitis

Arbovirus

Birds, rats

Mosquito

Giardiasis

Giardia lamblia

Rodents, cats,
dogs, cattle

Contaminated
water

Glanders

Pseudomonas mallei

Horses

Skin contact,
inhalation

Plague

Yersinia pestis

Domestic rats

Flea bite

Rabies

Rabies virus
(Rhabdovirus
group)

Dogs, bats, cats,

cattle

Bite of rabid
animals

Q Fever

Coxiella burnetii

Cattle, sheep, goat

Inhalation of
infected soil or
dust

Tuberculosis

Mycobacterium
bovis

Dogs, cats, cattle

Milk, direct
contact

Transmission of Pathogens

Transmission from one host to other occurs by any of four main routes:
Air borne Transmission,
Contact Transmission,
vehicle Transmission and
vector-borne Transmission.
Air-borne Transmission: The pathogens remain suspended in air and are
transmitted through droplet nuclei of small particles (1 - 4 micro metre
diameter) left from evaporation of large particles (10 micro metre diameter).
The droplet nuclei remain in air for hours or days and carried to individuals
because the pathogens cannot grow in air.
Examples of some air borne diseases are chickenpox, flu, measles, mumps,
viral pneumonia, diphtheria, pneumonia, tuberculosis, meningitis, etc.

Contact Transmission: Some of the pathogens are spread when contact of host is done
with the reservoir of pathogen. Contact refers person-to-person contact through
touching, kissing, or sexual contact.
Examples herpes and boils (through contact of oral secretions or body lesions),
infection of staphylococci (by nursing mothers), and AIDS and syphilis (through
placenta or blood to blood contact).

Vehicle transmission: Vehicle refers to inanimate materials such as utensils, towels,

beddings, surgical materials, needles, food, water, etc:
Examples Bacteria spreading through food and causing food poisoning are
Staphylococcus, Bacillus cereus, E.coli, Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella typhi. Clostridium
difficile, etc.

Vector-borne transmission: A living organism that transmit a pathogen is known as

vector such as vertebrates (e.g. dogs, cats, bats, goats, sheep, etc.) or arthropods (e.g.
fleas. mites, insects, ticks, etc.).
Example flies carry Shigella on their feet from faeces to food materials.
When pathogen does not undergo morphological and physiological changes within the
vector it is called harborage transmission e.g. the plague pathogen, Yersinia pestis.
When the pathogens undergo morphological changes within the vector, it is called
biological transmission e.g. Plasmodium vivex.

Control of Infectious Disease

Breaking the links of disease cycle:

if links between two stages of disease cycle are broken, further spread of the pathogen
does not occur. This includes general sanitation methods such as
(a) pasteurization of milk,
(b) destruction of vectors by spraying insecticides (e.g. thiodon. malathion. etc),
(c) chlorination of water supply,
(d) inspection of food and individuals handling it, etc.

Elimination of source of Infection:

The source of infection can be eliminated by
(a) adopting quarantine (legal prohibition of entry of goods, animals, etc. from one
country to other or one state to other within a country) and isolating the carriers.
(b) destruction of animal reservoir (e.g. the cattle infected with foot and mouth disease
virus are killed in other countries),
(c) treatment of sewage (to check water borne transmission of pathogens), and
(d) use of chemicals by individuals to eliminate the pathogens.

Immunization of Individuals:
For increasing the level of herd immunity, mass immunization programmes
are launched. At International level several programmes have been launched
by the World Health Organisation (WHO), for example AIDS, etc.

Requirements of Good Disinfectants

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

They must destroy the kinds and numbers of pathogen within a

particular period of time.
They must be neither toxic nor unpalatable or otherwise objectionable
in required concentrations.
They must be dispensable at reasonable cost, safe and easy to store,
transfer, handle and apply.
They should not require high skill and costly requirement for their
application.
They should be of such a nature that their strength or concentration in
the treated water could be quickly determined.
Their dose should be such that it leaves some residual concentration
for protection against contamination in the water during its
conveyance and retention.

Methods of Disinfection

Physical Method
1). Disinfection by heat (It is costly to do Pasteurization)
2). Disinfection by light (UV radiation / Gamma radiation). It is an
excellent disinfectant and does not leave any known chemical residual.
Efficiency of disinfectant depends on
Depth of penetration
Time of contact
Turbidity or suspended solid that may reduce the effective depth
of penetration
Chemical Disinfectants
Oxidising Chemicals These comprises of
i.
The Halogens Chlorine, Bromine and Iodine
ii.
Ozone
iii. Other oxidants like Hydrogen Peroxide and Potassium
Permanganate

Metal ions Silver ions are bactericidal. Copper ions are strongly
algicidal.

Alkali and Acids: Pathogenic bacteria do not last long in highly

alkaline or highly acid waters. Eg. Caustic lime for lime softening.

Alcohols, Phenols and Phenolic compounds

Surfaceactive chemicals: Among surfactants the cationic detergent

are strongly destructive, anionic detergents only weakly so.
In summary it can be said that for routine disinfection of municipal
waste and industrial wastewater only one chemical (Chlorine) is both
efficient and reasonably cheap. A second is ozone but relatively
expensive but no persistent enough for monitoring purposes.

Properties of Disinfectants

Harmless
Unobjectionable taste
Economical
Easily measurable
Should maintain a residual
Should not react with all normal
constituents
Should be easy to handle and operate

Common Methods

Exposure to Sun
Boiling
Halogens (Cl2 , I2 , Br2)
Ozone
Excess lime
Potassium Permanganate
Silver

Boiling

15 20 minutes
Not immediate
No residual
Costly

U V Rays

1000 4000 m
Sunlight
Hg vapour bulbs
5 cm depth of water
Better efficiency
Removal of Turbidity & color essential
No residual
Costly

Iodine & Bromine

Dose . 8 ppm
Contact time 5 min.
Pills available

Ozone
Unstable produces nacsent oxygen
Very powerful oxidizing agent
2-3 ppm produces a residual of 0.1 ppm
after 10 15 min.
Also removes color, odor, and taste
Needs skilled labour

Excess Lime
pH > 9.5 kills most m.o.
Slight excess after softening
Requires reduction in pH before
consumption

KMnO4

For immediate disinfection

Ponds, wells, lakes etc.
1-2 mg/l with 4-6 hours contact
The red colour should be lost within 24
hours.
Unpalatable
99 % efficiency

Silver
Very costly
Ag ions introduced by silver elcetrodes
at 1.5 V DC.
Dose 0.05 0.1 mg/L ; 15 180 min
contact
Necessary to remove organic matter
and H2S.

CHLORINE
Action unclear
By nascent Cl liberated from Hypochlorous
acid and oxidation?
By chemically reacting with the protoplasm?
Inactivation of enzyme system in cells ?
by penetrating the cel walls and attacking the
enzymes?
by reaction of hypochlorous acid with enzymes?

At pH > 5.0, Cl2 + H2O HOCl + HCl

(Hypochlorous acid)
At pH >10.0, HOCl H+ + OCl( Hypochlorite ions)
Between pH 5.0 10, both are present
At pH < 5.0, no reaction
HOCl most destructive 80 times more
effective than OCl-.

Chloramines
(Combined Chlorine)
NH3 + HOCl NH2Cl + H2O ( pH > 7.5)

NHCl2 + H2O ( pH 5- 6.5)

NH2Cl + H2O ( pH < 5)

Mono, di-, and tri Less effective than Cl2

Dosage of Chlorine

Depends on pH
Acidity in water
Temperature
Contact time ( 10 20 minutes)
Interfering chemicals
Normal dosage 0.3 11 mg/L
A residual of 0.1 0.2 mg/L required

Applications
As Liquid Cl2
Liquefies at 7.kg.cm2.
Available in cylinders of 50 100 kg.
Temp. to be maintained > 10 0C, other wise
crystallizes
Safe, Non explosive ( explosive if mixes with
CO2)
Causes irritation to lungs and nose if > 10 mg/L
Easy to store, transport, economical. Non
skilled, very effective, uniform application, no
sludge formation

Applications ( Contd.)
Hypochlorites ( Calcium or Sodium)

Ca(OCl)2 - (Bleaching Powder) or NaOCl

About 25 35 % available in BP
65 75 % in Sodium hypochlorite.
Inefficient, laborious, sludge producing, raises pH.

Chloramines very useful when phenols are present. NH3 to

be added 1-2 hours before chlorine

Chloride Dioxide Gas 2.5 times more effective than Cl2,

but costly, normal dose 0.5 1.5 mg/L, to be used
immediatley, Cl2 added with Sodium Chlorite ( NaClO2)
produces NaCl and ClO2

CHLORINATION PRACTICE
1. PLAIN CHORINATION
Only chlorine added, no other treatment, usually 0.5 mg/L
To treat relatively clean water

2. PRE- Chlorine added before settling, to improve taste,

reduce algae, odor etc., 5 10 mg/L. ALWAYS FOLLOWED
BY POST CHLORINATION

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

POST Normal Standard Procedure

DOUBLE Pre and Post
BREAK POINT
SUPER Excess Chlorine added, during epidemics etc.
DE- Na2(SO4)3, Na(SO3), KMnO4, SO2, AC,.

Factors Influencing the Action of

Disinfectants
In applying the disinfection agents or means that
have been described, the following factors must
be considered:
(1)Contact time,
(2)Concentration of the disinfectant,
(3) Intensity and nature of physical agent or means,
(4) Temperature,
(5) Types of organisms, and
(6) Nature of suspending liquid.

Contact Time:
One of the most important variables in the disinfection
process in contact time.
Working in England in the early 1900s, Harriet Chick
observed that for a given concentration of disinfectant,
the longer the contact time, the greater the kill. This
observation was first reported in the literature in 1908
(Chick, 1908). In differential form, Chicks law is
dNt = - kNt ------------------------(1)
dt
where,
dNt /dt = rate of change in the concentration of
organisms
with time
k= inactivation rate constant, T-1
Nt= number of organisms at time t
T= time

If No is the number of organisms when t equals 0, Eq(1) can

be integrated to,
Nt = e-kt ------------------(2)
No
Or,
ln Nt =-kt -------------------(3)
No
The value of the inactivation rate constant k can be obtained
by plotting -ln (Nt/No) versus the contact time t.

Concentration of Disinfectant
In the early 1900s, Herbert Watson reported that the
inactivation rate constant was related to the concentration as
follows (Watson, 1908):
k = kCn --------------------(4)
where,
k = inactivation rate constant
k= die-off constant
C = concentration of disinfectant
n = coefficient of dilution
Combining the expressions proposed by Chick and Watson in
differential form yields (Hass and Kara, 1984)
dNt = - kCnt ------------------(5)
dt

The integrated form of Eq. (1) is

Nt = e k Cnt -------------------------(6)
No
Or
ln Nt = -kCnt -------------------------(7)
No
The linearized form of Eq (7) is:
ln C = -1 ln t + 1 ln [ 1 ( - ln Nt )]
n
n
k
No
The value of n can be obtained by plotting C versus t on
log-log paper for a given level of inactivation. The
following explanation has been offered for various values of
n:
n = 1 both the concentration and time are equally important
n > 1 concentration is more important than time
n < 1 time is more important than concentration