About Hypochlorite
Frequently Asked Questions
Sodium Hypochlorite is a member of the chlorine family of disinfectants. Sodium Hypochlorite is a chemical compound made up of the elements: sodium, oxygen, and chlorine and is formed from salt and water.
Sodium Hypochlorite is a disinfectant…in other words, it kills organisms such as bacteria and viruses and also aquatic life forms, i.e. mussels, algae, etc. It does not purify or clean the water by removing debris. On one project, Electrichlor was called upon to commission it’s system prior to project water flow in order to prevent any microbially-induced corrosion (MIC) from attacking the steel piping.
Yes, you probably have been drinking it all of your life as the “Safe Drinking Water Act” (SDWA) requires disinfecting all drinking water. It has been adopted in the United States and also many other countries around the world. It has prevented many diseases and outbreaks of typhoid, dysentery and cholera epidemics. However, there are limits to the amount of chlorine that is safe to drink. The USEPA requires a public water system maintain a residual of 1 mg/l throughout its service lines. If you have felt ill after you drank more than your share of swimming pool water in a day’s time, you probably ingested much more than 10 mg/l of chlorine.
The bubbles that form in the electrolytic cells are hydrogen gas that have collected at the cathode. It is a byproduct of the process but is not produced in sufficient quantity to be commercially attractive.