[pct-l] Water treatment question for the PCT community

[Eric Lee (GAMES)]

Krystina wrote:
>
After finding out that AquaMira is essentially bleach with an
addititive to reduce treatment aftertaste, I switched to bleach.
>

Bleach works too, but it's not at all the same as Aqua Mira, which doesn't contain any free chlorine.  Aqua Mira contains chlorine dioxide, which is a very different chemical with different behavior, kind of like how hydrogen gas is a very different substance than dihydrogen oxide (commonly known as water).  Chlorine dioxide does a better job of disinfecting and produces fewer nasty byproducts as a result of the oxidation process than free chlorine does.  The end result of the oxidation process for chlorine dioxide is chlorite, which again is not the same as free chlorine.

If cost is not a serious factor, any product that uses chlorine dioxide is much more desirable than regular bleach.

For anyone who wants to geek out over the chemistry, see this link:
http://www.lenntech.com/water-disinfection/disinfectants-chlorine-dioxide.htm

Eric