When discussing water treatments I'd say, 'No...sodium hypochlorite is not bleach.' Just as fluoride is not toothpaste and lye is not soap.

Household 'bleach' is generally 3-6% sodium hypochlorite and often contains scent additives which, of course, are not tested for, nor approved for, consumption. In contrast, concentration of the sodium hypochorite used by municipal water utilities generally runs 12-15%. It gained popularity with the utilities not only because it was easier to store than chlorine gas but was also much safer.

Utilities are slow to change and update their systems. But as the changes come, the older chlorine treatments are being replaced by chlorine dioxide which has been shown to be much more effective against buggies such as giardia and crypto. Some locations, which had large, multiple outbreaks of giardia traced to their 'treated' water, have not had a recurrence after switching to chlorine dioxide.

But don't let the word usage/definition issue cloud the issue. While bleach is great for surface disinfection and can be effective against baceria in water, the bottom line is...household bleach should not be relied upon as a water treatment if there is a concern for the presence of giardia or crypto (and probably any other virus as noted in one of the posts above).

FB