Chlorine dioxide is a wide spectrum oxidizing biocide. The primary use of chlorine dioxide is as a disinfectant to treat municipal drinking water. It is also used for a variety of other antimicrobial uses, including: waste-water disinfection, sanitation of hard surfaces, as a disinfectant in rinses for fruits and vegetables, disinfection of cooling towers, Legionella control, mollusk control, and as a biocidal agent in oil well and fracking water.
One major non-antimicrobial use of chlorine dioxide is as a bleaching agent in pulp and paper production.