Clorox is advertising that their bleach whitens clothes even better now. Does anyone know if they changed their formula in such a way that their regular bleach should not be used for water purification?

Thanks

Not sure, maybe they just made the concentration higher.

Excerpt from their website: "The new formula incorporates an ingredient, sodium polyacrylate, that binds to certain minerals that are in the water supply preventing them from depositing on your clothes."

"Sodium polyacrylate" meant nothing to me, so after a little Googling, one website says it's used in crystal form to absorb liquid in disposable diapers, and also used as a "plant gel" to hold water in-lieu-of soil.

This doesn't directly answer your question, but certainly suggests further investigation is warranted before continued use in drinking water.

About two paragraphs down on the same Clorox web site it says:

"Can Clorox® Regular-Bleach be used to disinfect water?
Emergency Disinfection: When boiling water is not practical, water can be made potable by using Clorox® Regular-Bleach [this is the new stuff]. Before the addition of the disinfectant, remove all suspended material by filtration or by allowing it to settle to the bottom. Decant the clarified contaminated water to a clean container and add 8 drops of Clorox® Regular-Bleach to one gallon of water (2 drops to 1 quart). Allow the treated water to stand for 30 minutes. Properly treated water should have a slight chlorine odor. If not, repeat dosage and allow water to stand an additional 15 minutes. The treated water can then be made palatable by pouring it between clean containers for several times. For cloudy water, use 16 drops of Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water (4 drops to 1 quart). If no chlorine odor is apparent after 30 minutes, repeat dosage and wait an additional 15 minutes. Do not use scented or Splash-less Clorox® Bleaches for this purpose."

Here is the link http://www.clorox.com/solutions_reg_bleach_faq.html

To be sure you can ask your question to the customer service at the Clorox website they will answer you within 24 hours. (Click on "contact us")

Frankie

Ken-

Thanks for the follow-on to my post w/info I overlooked; clearly, you function better than I do in the wee hours. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

My usual measure at camp is a capful per every three gallons. I used this water mainly for dishwashing as a disnfectant after the soap and scrub. I also used this solution in spray form to disinfect tabletops and working surfaces. I think that may be a little strong for drinking water. I can't remember what the dept of health requirement was, but I know mine was a little higher than theirs.