This article describes the main methods of disinfection of drinking water and the choice of the most optimal method for disinfection on an industrial scale. The main criteria for the quality of drinking water, formulated in the middle of the twentieth century, are as follows: drinking water should be safe in the epidemic respect, harmless in chemical composition and have favorable organoleptic properties. These criteria are currently accepted worldwide. Disinfection of water using chlorine is most common among other chemical disinfection methods. The use of chlorination requires special safety measures, since chlorine is a potent toxic substance. Ozone is one of the strongest oxidizing agents, capable of oxidizing all metals except gold and platinoids, as well as most non-metals. It has a bactericidal effect on pathogenic microflora and is capable of destroying many chemicals of technogenic origin present in the water of the water supply source. In oligodynamics, heavy metals are used to disinfect water. They are able to have a bactericidal effect in low concentrations. Among the physical methods of disinfecting drinking water, the most widely known method is boiling. When boiling, most bacteria, viruses, bacteriophages, antibiotics are destroyed. Ultraviolet disinfection does not lead to changes in the organoleptic properties and composition of water, the formation of toxic reaction by-products. When disinfecting water using a pulsed electric discharge, the water acquires bactericidal properties that last up to 4 months. When ultrasound acts on a liquid, specific physical, chemical, and biological effects arise, such as cavitation, capillary effect, dispersion, emulsification, degassing, disinfection, and local heating.

1. Zhuravlevich N.E. Obezzarazhivanie pit'evoi vody: metodicheskie rekomendatsii [Disinfection of drinking water]. Minsk, Belarusian State Medical University Publ., 2017. 26 p.

2. Golyamina I.P., ed. Ul'trazvuk. Malen'kaya entsiklopediya [Ultrasound. Little encyclopedia]. Moscow, Sovetskaya entsiklopediya Publ., 1979. 400 p.

3. Mazaev V.T., Il'nitskii A.P., Shlepnina T.G. Rukovodstvo po gigiene pit'evoi vody i pit'evogo vodosnabzheniya [Guidelines for the hygiene of drinking water and drinking water supply]. Moscow, Meditsinskoe informatsionnoe agentstvo Publ., 2008. 320 p.

4. SanPin 10-124 RB 99. Pit'evaya voda. Gigienicheskie trebovaniya k kachestvu vody tsentralizovannykh sistem pit'evogo vodosnabzheniya. Kontrol' kachestva [Sanitary Rules and Norms 10-124 RB 99. Drinking water. Hygiene requirements for water quality of centralised water supply systems. Quality control].

5. Alekseev S.E. Primenenie ozonirovaniya dlya intensifikatsii protsessov ochistki prirodnykh i stochnykh vod [The use of ozonation to intensify the processes of purification of natural and waste waters]. Vodoochistka – Water Purification, 2007, no. 2, pp. 23–27.

6. Potapchenko N.G., Savchuk O.S. Ispol'zovanie ul'trafioletovogo izlucheniya v praktike obezzarazhivaniya vody [Application of ultra-violet radiation in practice of water disinfection]. Khimiya i tekhnologiya vody – Journal of Water Chemistry and Technology, 1991, vol. 13, no. 12, pp. 1117–1129. (In Russian).

7. Shevchenko M.A., Taran P.N. Vozmozhnosti ispol'zovaniya khlora dlya ochistki prirodnykh i stochnykh vod [The possibilities of using chlorine for the purification of natural and waste waters]. Khimiya i tekhnologiya vody – Soviet Journal of Water Chemistry and Technology, 1984, vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 537–546. (In Russian).