**Quality and Tasty Water for Kyivites: What We Use Instead of Chlorine and Its Benefits** (Preserving the original HTML tags, Markdown, URLs, placeholders, shortcodes, numbers, and whitespace meaning)

**We often hear from our customers that the tap water in Kyiv seems insufficiently quality and safe to drink and cook with. They say we use outdated technologies. However, our water treatment technologies, including disinfection with liquid chlorine, are not outdated or ineffective - they are actively used in many countries around the world.** **However, we have been actively implementing the "Stop Chlorine" program for a long time, gradually phasing out the use of liquid chlorine. Already, 40% of Kyiv residents drink water cleaned with new, effective reagents. 10% of them are disinfected with sodium hypochlorite. This is the water supplied from artesian pumping stations. Additionally, 30% of drinking water is prepared at the Dnieper Water Treatment Station, where chlorine dioxide is now used for disinfection.** **Chlorine dioxide is an inorganic chemical compound of chlorine and oxygen. At first glance, it may seem that it's chlorine again, as the names are similar. However, they are different in chemical structure and react differently in chemical reactions, thus having different properties. Although both substances have a pronounced disinfecting effect, chlorine dioxide has a greater oxidizing and disinfecting capacity than chlorine.** **Advantages of chlorine dioxide:** 1. **Effective disinfection.** Unlike chlorine, chlorine dioxide disinfects not only microbiological contamination but also destroys viruses. A positive conclusion on the state sanitary and epidemiological expertise of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine was obtained for the new technology of disinfecting drinking water with chlorine dioxide. 2. **Longer disinfecting effect.** It remains active in water for a long time and provides a longer period of action than chlorine or sodium hypochlorite. This ensures the high quality and safety of water as it travels through the network from the water treatment station to your homes, and minimizes the risk of secondary bacterial contamination. 3. **After treatment with chlorine dioxide, water does not have an unpleasant chlorine smell, which many consumers complain about, and no foreign tastes. It's more pleasant to drink and cook with.** 4. **Chlorine dioxide does not form harmful chlorinated organic compounds during water treatment. Therefore, it is approved by European countries, included in the "WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality", and allowed for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.** 5. **Chlorine dioxide is safer in production, transportation, and storage. Therefore, there are no risks for the staff and residents of the city associated with possible chlorine leaks at the water treatment station.** 6. **The use of chlorine dioxide also has economic advantages. Energy-efficient equipment installed on the station for its operation allows for savings on electricity costs. Additionally, the reagent is produced on-site, reducing logistics costs.** **Historical note:** * Chlorine dioxide was first used in water treatment in 1944 in the United States in the city of Niagara Falls (New York State). * In 1956, Brussels (Belgium) switched from chlorination to chlorine dioxide. * Today, chlorine dioxide is used to treat drinking water in many cities in Western Europe, North America, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. * In Ukraine, chlorine dioxide has been used in water treatment since 1995. It was first used in the water canal of the city of Chornomorsk (formerly Illichivsk) and in some other small cities. * In Kyivvodokanal, we have also been looking for a more effective and modern disinfection technology than chlorination for a long time. We have studied other options: sodium hypochlorite, ozonation, biocidal polymers, and ultraviolet radiation. However, chlorine dioxide is the most effective compared to other reagents. Laboratory and industrial tests of the chlorine dioxide disinfection technology conducted at the Dnieper Water Treatment Station in 2016-2018 confirmed that it is the most acceptable technology in terms of water quality, environmental safety, and economic efficiency. * In 2018, we started modernizing the station to use the new reagent, and in two years, we managed to build a chlorine dioxide production plant and launch the technology in test mode. **Further implementation of new disinfection technologies** * The other 60% of water supplied to Kyiv residents comes from the Desnyansky Water Treatment Station, where the classic chlorination technology is currently used. However, our immediate plans include modernizing this station as well. The final decision on the optimal disinfection technology for the Desnyansky station will be made after completing the technological tests currently underway. After that, it will take about two years to modernize the Desnyansky station and permanently switch to chlorine-free disinfection of drinking water in Kyiv. You can see which water treatment station you are supplied from on the map: [Link to the map]