CHEMICAL COMPOSITION FOR THE TREATMENT OF WATER
THIS INVENTION relates to the treatment of water. The invention relates particularly to a chemical composition for the treatment of water to enhance the purity thereof, for example, to a level suitable for human consumption. The invention also relates to a method of treating water to enhance the purity thereof.
In order to be suitable for human consumption water should be bacteria-free, odour-free, tasteless and clear and should optimally have a pH of between 7.6 and 8.3.
The treatment of water for human consumption purposes with chlorine- releasing agents, is known. The chlorination of water for human consumption has been found to have a number of disadvantages including that chlorinated water has an unpleasant taste and smell. Further, when phenols are present in raw water which is chlorinated, the phenols can react with the chlorine, producing a compound known as trichlorophenol which produces a very unpleasant taste. A further disadvantage of chlorine-releasing agents for the treatment of water is that the chlorine-releasing agents merely kill off bacteria but do not clean the water ^ precipitating dissolved suspended matter in the water.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a non-toxic and odourless chemical composition for use in treating water to enhance the purity thereof, for example for human consumption, which obviates the need for the use of chlorine-releasing agents.
According to the invention there is provided a chemical composition for the treatment of water to enhance the purity thereof, for example, to a level suitable for human consumption, the chemical composition comprising a mixture including: 35 - 60% by mass of a persulphate selected from the group consisting of the alkali metal persulphates, ammonium persulphate and mixtures thereof; 15 - 30% by mass of a bisulphate selected from the group consisting of the alkali metal bisulphates, ammonium bisulphate and mixtures thereof; 5 - 20% by mass of a metal chloride selected from the group consisting of the alkaline earth metal chlorides and mixtures thereof; 2 - 5% by mass of aluminium sulphate; and 1 - 3% by mass of copper sulphate.
The Applicant envisages that a dosage of between 25mg and 100mg per litre of water will be required to purify water to a level suitable for human consumption, depending on the level of contamination of the water. For example, 50mg of the chemical composition per litre of water would typically be sufficient to purify contaminated reservoir water; however, river water may typically require 50mg to 100mg of the chemical composition per litre of water to purify the water to a level suitable for human consumption.
The persulphate may be selected from the group consisting of potassium persulphate, sodium persulphate, ammonium persulphate and mixtures thereof.
The bisulphate in turn may be selected from the group consisting of potassium bisulphate, sodium bisulphate, ammonium bisulphate and mixtures thereof. Preferably the Applicant envisages that the alkali metal bisulphate may be sodium bisulphate.
The chemical composition may include 0.5 - 10% by mass of sodium tetraborate pentahydrate, preferably 1 - 4%. The alkaline earth metal chloride may be calcium chloride.
The chemical composition may include 0.5 - 6% by mass of a metal bicarbonate selected from the group consisting of the alkali metal bicarbonates and mixtures thereof. Conveniently the alkali metal bicarbonate is sodium bicarbonate.
In one embodiment of the chemical composition, the chemical composition may include 5 - 10% by mass of ammonium chloride. In another embodiment of the chemical composition, the ammonium chloride may be replaced with 5 - 10% by mass of ammonium persulphate, provided that the ammonium persulphate and any alkali metal persulphates in the composition together form at most 60% by mass of the composition.
The chemical composition may include 0.5 - 3% by mass ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) which complexes heavy metals in water to be treated.
In various preferred compositions according to the present invention, independently of one another, the persulphate content may be 40 - 60% by mass; the bisulphate content may be 20 - 30% by mass; the alkaline earth metal chloride content may be 8 - 15% by mass; the aluminium sulphate content may be 2 - 4% by mass; the sodium tetraborate pentrahydrate content may be 1 - 4% by mass; the alkali metal
bicarbonate content may be 3 - 6% by mass; and/or the ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid content may be 1 - 3% by mass.
Without being bound by theory, the Applicant believes that, in use, the copper sulphate has a bacteriocidal action; that the aluminium sulphate serves as a flocculant to precipitate suspended solids in water to be treated and thus cleans the water; that water which is purified with the chemical composition in accordance with the invention will initially become acidic due to the presence of the sodium bisulphate; that the initially acidic pH of the water accelerates the reaction time of the persulphate with the calcium chloride and with any ammonium chloride present to produce a sanitizer; that the composition also creates an acidic environment which allows the persulphate to work at optimum efficacy; that any sodium tetraborate pentahydrate present promotes a pH of approximately 9 while any bicarbonate present promotes a pH of approximately 8.3, and the persulphate promotes a pH of approximately 5; that any sodium tetraborate compound pentahydrate present acts as a mild disinfectant which can combine with persulphate compound and chloride ions present to generate a stable sanitizer; that the EDTA when present can complex any heavy metals present in the water to be purified, to protect the persulphate compound, thereby allowing the persulphate compound to remain active for longer, thus prolonging the generation of the sanitizer. In the case of chlorine-releasing agents, the active life of hypochlorous acid is approximately three hours in sunlight, whereas, also without being bound by theory, the sanitizer of the present invention is believed to be generated in an ongoing reaction between the persulphate compound and the chloride ions present which can last much longer , with the benefit that, should bacteria be re-introduced to the water, the sanitizer can still be active and kill off the newly
introduced bacteria; and the further benefit that, with the prolonged generation of the sanitizer, a better kill rate of bacteria is achieved when compared to chlorine-releasing agents which can only be introduced at certain specific concentrations, namely by 3 - 5mg/l!, owing to the potential toxicity of chlorine and of the by-products generated by chlorine. In the case of chlorine this may not be enough to kill excessive amounts of bacteria within the three-hour active period of hypochlorous acid.
The invention extends to a method of treating water to enhance the purity thereof, the method comprising the step of admixing, with raw water to be treated, a composition as described and defined above.
The admixing of the composition which the water may be at a dosage rate of 25 - 100mg composition/^ water, preferably at a dosage rate of 50-1 OOmg composition/!! water.
The invention is further described hereinafter by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the following examples 1 - 3:
Example 1
A chemical composition for the treatment of water to enhance the purity thereof to a level suitable for hum consumption, in accordance with the invention, comprises a mixture of the following compounds in the following proportions, by mass:
Potassium persulphate 48%
Sodium bisulphate 26%
Ammonium chloride 6%
Calcium chloride 8%
Aluminium sulphate 4%
Sodium tetraborate pentahydrate 1%
Copper sulphate 2%
EDTA 1%
Example 2
A further chemical composition for the treatment of water to enhance the purity thereof to a level suitable for human consumption, in accordance with the invention, comprises a mixture of the following compounds in the following proportions, by mass:
Potassium persulphate 40%
Sodium bisulphate 25%
Ammonium persulphate 8%
Calcium chloride 15%
Aluminium sulphate 4%
Sodium tetraborate pentahydrate 1 %
Copper sulphate 2%
Sodium bicarbonate 4%
EDTA 1%
In Example 2, ammonium persulphate is included in the chemical composition and replaces the ammonium chloride in the mixture of Example 1. As a result, the
amount of calcium chloride is increased to maintain the level of chloride ions which are introduced into water to be treated, in use.
Example 3
A still further chemical composition for the treatment of water to enhance the purity thereof in accordance with the present invention comprises a mixture of the following compounds in the following proportions, by mass:
Potassium persulphate 48%
Sodium bisulphate 24%
Calcium chloride 15%
Aluminium sulphate 4%
Sodium bicarbonate 5%
Copper sulphate 2%
EDTA 2%
The constituent ingredients of the chemical composition and the relative amounts thereof, have been selected to treat water while promoting pH levels for desirable efficacy of the ingredients so that water treated with the chemical composition is as far as possible suitable for human consumption.