Disinfection of drinking water is critical to protecting consumers from disease-causing microorganisms, called pathogens, including bacteria or viruses. Disinfectants are very effective at inactivating (or killing) pathogens and have enormously benefited public health. For example, the incidence of typhoid fever was reduced by 1,000-fold in the U.S. in the last century by implementing the disinfection of drinking water.
Even with the advancements in drinking water disinfection practices and decreased incidence of diseases like typhoid fever and cholera in the U.S., disinfection of drinking water remains critical for public health. Failure to adequately disinfect water has led to high-profile illness outbreaks and deaths (for example, the 1991 Peru cholera epidemic and the 2000 Walkerton, Canada bacterial outbreak).