In: Chemistry
When Chlorine gas is used to disinfect drinking water, it hydrolyzes with the water to form hypochlorous acid (HOCl, pKa = 7.54), which is a powerful disinfectant. However, when the acid dissociates to its conjugate base, it becomes a less effective disinfectant. The disinfection power of the acid is 88 times better than its conjugate base, OCl-, on a per-mole basis.