The most important advantage of the process is the elimination of the
aftergrowth problem. At Denver, where the aftergrowth trouble is
possibly more acute than at any other city on the continent, it was
effectively banished by the use of chloramine. At Ottawa, the sanitary
significance of _B. coli_ aftergrowths is no longer of practical
interest because such aftergrowths have ceased to occur. Whatever may be
their opinion as to the sanitary significance of aftergrowths, all water
sanitarians will agree that the better policy is to prevent their
occurrence.
_Operation of Chloramine Process._ For the successful operation of the
chloramine process, the essential factors are low concentrations of the
hypochlorite and ammonia solutions. The author has found that
hypochlorite containing 0.3-0.5 per cent of available chlorine and
ammonia containing 0.3-0.5 per cent of anhydrous ammonia can be mixed in
a 4:1 or 8:1 ratio without appreciable loss in titre. Solutions of these
concentrations mixed in 4:1 ratio lost only 2-3 per cent of available
chlorine in fifteen minutes and less than 10 per cent in five hours. The
effect of mixing solutions containing 4.35 per cent of available
chlorine and 2.2 per cent of ammonia is shown in Table XXX.
The stability of chloramine is a function of the concentration and the
temperature and in practice it will be found advisable to determine in
the laboratory the maximum concentrations that can be used at the
maximum temperature attained by the water to be treated (cf. Muspratt
and Smith[6]).
According to Raschig[1] two competing reactions occur when ammonia is in
excess.
(1) NH_{2}Cl + NH_{3} = N_{2}H_{4}HCl hydrazine hydrochloride
and (2) 3NH_{2}Cl + 2NH_{3} = N_{2} + 3NH_{4}Cl.
When the excess of ammonia is large, as on the addition of ammonia fort,
the second reaction predominates and the yield of nitrogen gas is almost
quantitatively proportional to the quantity of available chlorine
present. As ammonium chloride has no germicidal action, and hydrazine a
carbolic coefficient of only 0.24 (Rideal), the formation of these
compounds should be avoided.
TABLE XXX.--LOSS ON MIXING HYPOCHLORITE AND AMMONIA
Hypochlorite containing 4.35 per cent available chlorine. Ammonia
contained 2.2 per cent NH_{3}
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