Water systems are susceptible to microbiological contamination. In the UK, it’s a legal requirement to control this risk and protect people from ingesting harmful drinking water. A popular and well-known method for removing bacteria is via water chlorination.
What is water chlorination?
The anti-bacterial properties of chlorine have been known since the 1980s, and its role in disinfecting water systems has become an established method in achieving water safety.
The procedure for dosing an internal hot and cold domestic system involves a series of steps:
- Inject chlorine at a pre-determined strength into the system using a temporary pump.
- Run the system outlets until strength of 50ppm is detected.
- Isolate the system for a period of 1 hour (the kill time).
- After the kill time, un-isolate the system and flush all outlets until mains water quality is achieved.
Is it possible to do it yourself?
To carry out water chlorination safely, it’s recommended that you adhere to various best practice guidelines. The best known is BS8558 – a British Standards publication that provides technical advice on the “design, installation, testing and maintenance of services supplying water for domestic use”.
These kinds of documents assist people in chlorinating their water systems in the safest way possible. They make note of the levels of chlorine you should use, how to inject it, and other important safety procedures like labelling outlets to warn building users of the disinfection.
The practice of chlorination isn’t overly complex, but without the right knowledge and equipment, you could fail to disinfect your water adequately, or worse, introduce further risks into the system.
Unless you have a wide breadth of knowledge of your water system, its various moving components, a history of risk assessments, the correct equipment and an understanding of all safety protocols, it’s best to appoint someone else such as water treatment company or other professional body to undertake chlorination for you. They’ll ensure that compliance procedures are followed and that you’re left with a clean and safe water system.
To get an assessment and an estimated cost of water chlorination for your building’s water system, get in touch with Brodex for a free quote.
