Chlorine dioxide vs. chlorine bleach: A battle of misconceptions

Chlorine bleach: It’s convenient to purchase. It’s cheap. It’s a well-known household cleaner and disinfectant. But is it best to use as a water sanitizer in the poultry house?

Treating with chlorine is a common method to sanitize poultry drinking water and reduce concentrations of waterborne pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, molds and protozoans.

“The effectiveness of chlorine is dependent on water quality and pH of the water,” said Neogen poultry expert Lindsay Good. “Chlorine tends to bind itself to any organic material in the water, reducing its potency. Chlorine is also less effective if the water pH is higher than 7.0.”

The use of chlorine is not limited to only water line treatments, though. Because of its effectiveness in cleaning and disinfection, chlorine bleach is often used in many household and industry settings. This overuse has led to a rise in chlorine-resistant pathogens (Table 1) that can cause issues in a flock of birds.

Table 1: Chlorine-resistant pathogen list

*This is a list compiled from readily available, peer-reviewed research. It is not a full list and not all strains of all pathogens are resistant to chlorine, but all listed pathogens do have chlorine-resistant strains.

Often mistaken for chlorine, chlorine dioxide is a similarly-named chemical also used for treating drinking water. Chlorine dioxide has several advantages over chlorine:

• Chlorine dioxide is a more effective sanitizer in poor quality water containing high levels of organic matter and other dissolved solids.

• Chlorine dioxide effectively operates in a broader range of pH levels (4 to 10).

• Chlorine dioxide is faster-acting than chloride, especially if water pH rises.

• Chlorine dioxide has 2.6 times the oxidative power of chlorine bleach.

“In its pure form, chlorine dioxide is an unstable gas that is difficult to safely transport,” said Good. “For this reason, it’s sold as a stabilized liquid. The stabilized chlorine dioxide is activated on-site when it is injected, along with an acid, into the water line. This mixing occurs in a closed system — the water line — and safely generates chlorine dioxide gas.”

Installing a dosing system to inject the chlorine dioxide and activator chemical is relatively straightforward. Low-cost electric metering pumps pull the stabilized dioxide and the activation chemical directly from their containers. The products can be injected into a small reaction tee or directly into the water line. This ensures consistency of the treatment, safety of the producer, and extends the life of the applicators.

Understanding the differences between chlorine bleach and chlorine dioxide is important to providing birds properly disinfected water.

This post is part of our series on water lines in the poultry house. See the rest of the articles here.

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