How We Use Chlorine

The chemical element chlorine is a halogen that is used to make a wide range of products that many of us use every day. Chlorine is pronounced as KLOR-een or as KLOR-in and it has many uses in the world today. Chlorine is used in the preparation of chlorides, chlorinated solvents, pesticides, polymers, synthetic rubbers and refrigerants. In many cases chlorine is put together with other elements to help create different sorts of products that we all use.  In the majority of cases, it is used either as a compressed gas or as a liquid.

Chlorine does not occur in natural water supplies like the sea, rivers and lakes.  However, one of the main uses of chlorine is using it to disinfect water in pools, sewage and even drinking water.  Chlorine is added to drinking water to kill harmful bacteria. Chlorine is the best way to sanitize water, be it drinking water or swimming water.  Chlorine is the most commonly used drinking water disinfectant and it is also commonly used as an antiseptic.

Governments will often use chlorine to disinfect water for use by the general public as it kills the microorganisms that can cause diseases. It can kill potentially fatal diseases like legionnaire’s disease that is common in water sources. Chlorine is added to drinking water as either a gas or after having been already dissolved in water. Adding a toxic gas to water might sound incredibly dangerous to your health but small doses of chlorine are harmless.

Chlorine is by far and away one of the most popular swimming pool chemicals used by pool and spa owners. Chlorine is used to disinfect swimming pools to prevent algae and bacteria from building up in the water. Most swimming pool chemicals that contain chlorine also include a mix of acids and alkalines.  People who use chlorine-based laundry bleach and swimming pool chemicals are not exposed to chlorine itself.  You may be exposed to chlorine gas though, through the improper use of swimming pool chemicals. It is possible for someone using swimming pool chemicals to become exposed to chlorine gas if too much sodium hypochlorite is added to pool water in a short space of time or if they are mixed with acids.  If enough acid is added to lower the pH of the hypochlorite solution to below 4, chlorine gas will be released.

Algae are adapted to a given environment, just as other organisms are.  Algae often makes natural toxins, that are released when the algae dies and starts breaking down in the water. These natural toxins are dangerous to humans and animals and look horrible as well as producing a smell.  The algae can support the greater biomass of the next trophic level only because they can reproduce as fast as they are eaten.  There are a number of different types of algae, these are called brown, red and blue green algae. They are named after the different colours they are. Some algae can be suspended at different depths in the water as a result of different environmental factors.  They can become very abundant in warm, shallow, undisturbed surface water that receives a lot of sunlight.  One of the worst types of algae is blue-green algae that can become a real annoyance if it has an environment like this.