Recognizes the Importance of the Chlorination Process on Public Health

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) celebrates this week's 100th anniversary of drinking water chlorination, recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as "one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century."

The U.S. enjoys one of the safest drinking water supplies in the world, in large part due to disinfection and treatment provided by water systems across the country. Chlorine disinfectants destroy germs and have helped to virtually eliminate waterborne illnesses - such as cholera and typhoid fever - that once killed thousands of Americans each year.

"Clean water is essential to life and the chlorine disinfection process helps provide everything from a refreshing glass of tap water to healthy swimming pools to clean schools, restaurants and hospitals," said ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley. "Drinking water chlorination is a shining example of how chemistry plays a critical role in safeguarding the public health."

On September 26, 1908, Jersey City, New Jersey began operating the first permanent drinking water chlorination plant in the United States. Within a decade more than a thousand U.S. cities adopted this lifesaving technology, and by the 1940's, 85 percent of American water treatment systems disinfect water with chlorine.

According to Harvard University research, drinking water filtration and chlorination reduced typhoid fever death rates by more than 90 percent and childhood mortality by more than 50 percent in major U.S. cities. According to CDC, the steep decline in infectious diseases made possible by water chlorination and other public health advances contributed to the nearly 60 percent increase in U.S. life expectancy over the last century.

One hundred years after its debut in Jersey City, New Jersey, the vast majority of water systems continue to rely on chlorine disinfection to help provide safe water to families across America.