how long will 4 drops of chlorine dioxide in a gallon of water...?

hello, i'm interested in learning more about how long chlorine dioxide remains active once it is diluted.

specifically, for now, i'm using 4 drops of chlorine dioxide to purify 1 gallon of rainwater.

after i'm sure the chlorine dioxide has dissipated i am going to subsequently use the rainwater to ferment effective microbes which i will be using in a gardening application.

if i need to use more than 4 drops of chlorine dioxide to make sure everything/all pathogens in 1 gallon of stagnant rainwater are dead, i can certainly do that, but i need to get a better grasp on how long the chlorine dioxide will remain active - how long does it take for X amount of chlorine dioxide to completely dissipate/oxidize in X amount water..

the reason is, i can't have remaining chlorine dioxide killing off the beneficial anaerobic bactirea/effective microbes that compose this awesome probiotic soil amendment/foiliage fertilizer:

here's some information on what i'm doing, in case anyone isn't sure what i'm talking about:
www.teraganix.com/Activated-EM-1-s/261.htm
www.gardenerspantry.ca/great-tips-and-videos/activatedem.html

thanks anyone/everyone for help in answering my questions,

jonathan

Jonathan, there are probably many variables involved in how long the chlorine dioxide remains active. The best thing is probably focusing on a way to nuetralize it after it has done the work. You could put the water in the sunlight and probably a few hours would do the job. You can also put vitamin C into the water and that neutralizes the chlorine dioxide. It would only take a few minutes if you put the right amount of vit. C in, and I don't know how to guess what would be the right amount. But if you get rid of the yellow color and any smell of the chlorine dioxide then it is probably gone.

Michael