Hello All,
My facility recently switched to Chlorine Dioxide from Sodium Hypochlorite and there was some confusion in regards to the appropriate concentrations for sanitizing. Our chemical distributor and I set our automated mixing unit up for potable water, which is regulated at 2-5 PPM, which did not fly with our QA Supervisor. Some miscommunication occurred in regards to the concentrations for our pasteurizers compared to our sanitize water drop hoses but the real issue was that this wasn't noticed until after we had installed the pump and began using chlorine dioxide!
From my understanding, potable water and 'sanitizing' water are regulated at different PPM's (2-5 PPM for potable/50-200 PPM for sanitizing).
Now, chlorine dioxide is supposedly much more efficient and powerful in terms of killing microbial organisms and requires a much lower PPM, but our QA Supervisor still has the sodium hypochlorite levels in mind of 150-200PPM. My fear is, with one day running our sanitize water at 2-5 PPM, are we running a risk of contamination within our product?
We've conducted some microbial swabs and sent them to labs for testing, but if someone has experience with chlorine dioxide, can you please help inform me? I'd really appreciate the peace of mind knowing what to expect.
Thank you!
-Gus