POTENTIAL USE OF WATERGUARD AS A DISINFECTANT FOR DOMESTIC WATER USE

Abstract

Water Guard which consists of 0.75% sodium hypochlorite (chlorine-based water disinfectant solution) has
been identified as an alternative method for treatment of domestic drinking water. The aim of this study was
to investigate the effectiveness of Water Guard in disinfecting drinking water from different sources drawn
from Kinondoni district, Dar es Salaam as well as to establish appropriate dosage that can be used during
the treatment. Results showed that, a dose of 4.0mL per 20 litrer of water guard is sufficient for disinfection
of urban water sources. The above prescribed doses provide 100% disinfection efficiency with residue
chlorine of less than 0.3mg/l. Water with turbidity values of 30-35 NTU, chlorine dosage of 8mL/20 litres is
recommended and this gives residue chlorine of 0.3 – 0.5 mg/L. From this study, it can be concluded that,
Water guard is effective against pathogen and that there is an increase of residue chlorine as the dosage
increases irrespective of from which source the water was drawn. Also the safety of water is obtained even
where the residual chlorine is less that 0.1mg/l. However, there are health implications associated with the
use of Water Guard which need further research