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Pure, clean, safe water for drinking, cleaning and other uses is one of the most overlooked benefits of living in modern civilization. That benefit is largely a result of chlorine.

The water in our lakes and streams is full of dangerous bacteria, viruses, cysts, parasites and pathogens which cause a wide range of diseases and ailments. This is true even in high, apparently clean mountain streams. Much of this is caused by human activity, but these organisms are carried by birds and animals as well. Even the air transports many organisms, both beneficial and harmful, replenishing them in water. The easiest, most cost effective way to purify and disinfect water is by application of chlorine. I hike frequently in remote mountains, and I invariably carry chlorine or iodine, it's close cousin, to purify my drinking water. For that matter, I have a cistern at one of my homes which collects pure rainwater, but is virtually unusable without the addition of chlorine. One of the main reasons for decreasing disease and death rates over the past century or so is purification of water by chlorine. Even the decreases in disease and death rates in the first world versus developing countries are largely the result of availability and use of chlorine for water purification.

In high concentrations, chlorine is a deadly poison, but at low concentrations it kills most of the dangerous microorganisms in water safely and cheaply. It also safely controls less deadly flora and fauna such as clams and algae which otherwise would clog our water pipes and equipment, rendering them ineffective, high maintenance and ugly.

Beyond purification of drinking water, chlorine plays a big part in making water work for our society in many ways. The crystal clear, pure, safe water in your pool is a product of chlorine. Chlorine in water cooling towers allows water to be utilized to increase the efficiency in our power plants and to be recycled to dramatically reduce water usage. Disinfecting of fruits and vegetables by rinsing with chlorinated water is often required to render them edible. Even our waste treatment plants use chlorine as a final step to help assure their discharge is safe.

There are those who worry about chlorine, but for now it is one of the keys to our modern society.

Learn more about this author, David Moreland.
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