True or false: High turbidity can hinder disinfection.

True or false: High turbidity can hinder disinfection.

• A. False
• B. Not related
• C. Disinfection is unaffected by turbidity
• D. True

Answer: (D)

Turbidity measures how cloudy water is because of suspended particles. When there are a lot of these particles, disinfection becomes harder because the disinfectant has to reach and contact all microbes. Those particles can shield microorganisms by trapping them or lapping onto their surfaces, so the disinfectant can’t get to them as effectively. At the same time, the suspended solids consume some of the disinfectant chemical, a process called chemical demand, which reduces the amount of disinfectant available to inactivate pathogens. This combination—reduced contact with microbes and lower effective disinfectant—means the disinfection process is less efficient when turbidity is high. That’s why high turbidity can hinder disinfection. If turbidity is low, disinfection tends to work more reliably. The other ideas—turbidity being unrelated or not affecting disinfection—don’t fit with how disinfectants interact with particles and microorganisms in water.

Turbidity measures how cloudy water is because of suspended particles. When there are a lot of these particles, disinfection becomes harder because the disinfectant has to reach and contact all microbes. Those particles can shield microorganisms by trapping them or lapping onto their surfaces, so the disinfectant can’t get to them as effectively. At the same time, the suspended solids consume some of the disinfectant chemical, a process called chemical demand, which reduces the amount of disinfectant available to inactivate pathogens. This combination—reduced contact with microbes and lower effective disinfectant—means the disinfection process is less efficient when turbidity is high.

That’s why high turbidity can hinder disinfection. If turbidity is low, disinfection tends to work more reliably. The other ideas—turbidity being unrelated or not affecting disinfection—don’t fit with how disinfectants interact with particles and microorganisms in water.