Disinfection of drinking water is the most successful measure to reduce water-borne diseases and protect health. However, disinfection byproducts (DBPs) formed from the reaction of disinfectants such as chlorine and monochloramine with organic matter may cause bladder cancer and other adverse health effects. In this study the formation of DBPs through a full-scale water treatment plant serving a metropolitan area in Australia was assessed using in vitro bioanalytical tools, as well as through quantification of halogen-specific adsorbable organic halogens (AOXs), characterization of organic matter, and analytical quantification of selected regulated and emerging DBPs. The water treatment train consisted of coagulation, sand filtration, chlorination, addition of lime and fluoride, storage, and chloramination. Nonspecific toxicity peaked midway through the treatment train after the chlorination and storage steps. The dissolved organic matter concentration decreased after the coagulation step and then essentially remained constant during the treatment train. Concentrations of AOXs increased upon initial chlorination and continued to increase through the plant, probably due to increased chlorine contact time. Most of the quantified DBPs followed a trend similar to that of AOXs, with maximum concentrations observed in the final treated water after chloramination. The mostly chlorinated and brominated DBPs formed during treatment also caused reactive toxicity to increase after chlorination. Both genotoxicity with and without metabolic activation and the induction of the oxidative stress response pathway showed the same pattern as the nonspecific toxicity, with a maximum activity midway through the treatment train. Although measured effects cannot be directly translated to adverse health outcomes, this study demonstrates the applicability of bioanalytical tools to investigate DBP formation in a drinking water treatment plant, despite bioassays and sample preparation not yet being optimized for volatile DBPs. As such, the bioassays are useful as monitoring tools as they provide sensitive responses even at low DBP levels.

Enrichment methods used in sample preparation for the bioanalytical assessment of disinfected drinking water result in the loss of volatile and hydrophilic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and hence likely tend to underestimate biological effects. We developed and evaluated methods that are compatible with bioassays, for extracting nonvolatile and volatile DBPs from chlorinated and chloraminated drinking water to minimize the loss of analytes. For nonvolatile DBPs, solid-phase extraction (SPE) with TELOS ENV as solid phase performed superior compared to ten other sorbents. SPE yielded >70% recovery of nonpurgeable adsorbable organic halogens (AOX). For volatile DBPs, cryogenic vacuum distillation performed unsatisfactorily. Purge and cold-trap with crushed ice serving as condensation nuclei achieved recoveries of 50-100% for trihalomethanes and haloacetonitriles and approximately 60-90% for purged AOX from tap water. We compared the purgeable versus the nonpurgeable fraction by combining purge-and-trap extraction with SPE. The purgeable DBP fraction enriched with the purge-and-trap method exerted a lower oxidative stress response in mammalian cells than the nonpurgeable DBPs enriched with SPE after purging, while contributions of both fractions to bacterial cytotoxicity was more variable. 37 quantified DBPs explained almost the entire AOX in the purge-and-trap extracts, but <16% in the SPE extracts demonstrating that the nonpurgeable fraction is dominated by unknown DBPs.

Pool water disinfection is vital to prevent microbial pathogens. However, potentially hazardous disinfection by-products (DBP) are formed from the reaction between disinfectants and organic/inorganic precursors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of DBPs in various swimming pool types in Brisbane, Australia, including outdoor, indoor and baby pools, and the dynamics after a complete water renewal. Chemical analysis of 36 regulated and commonly found DBPs and total adsorbable organic halogens as well as in vitro bioassays targeting cytotoxicity, oxidative stress and genotoxicity were used to evaluate swimming pool water quality. Dichloroacetic acid and trichloroacetic acid dominated in the pool water samples with higher levels (up to 2600 μg/L) than the health guideline values set by the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (100 μg/L). Chlorinated DBPs occurred at higher concentrations compared to tap water, while brominated DBPs decreased gradually with increasing pool water age. Biological effects were expressed as chloroacetic acid equivalent concentrations and compared to predicted effects from chemical analysis and biological characterisation of haloacetic acids. The quantified haloacetic acids explained 35-118% of the absorbable organic halogens but less than 4% of the observed non-specific toxicity (cytotoxicity), and less than 1% of the observed oxidative stress response and genotoxicity. While the DBP concentrations in Australian pools found in this study are not likely to cause any adverse health effect, they are higher than in other countries and could be reduced by better hygiene of pool users, such as thorough showering prior to entering the pool and avoiding urination during swimming.

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The presence of bromide (Br(-)) and iodide (I(-)) in source waters leads to the formation of brominated and iodinated disinfection by-products (DBPs), which are often more toxic than their chlorinated analogues. The increasing scarcity of water resources in Australia is leading to use of impaired and alternative water supplies with high bromide and iodide levels, which may result in the production of more brominated and iodinated DBPs. This review aims to provide a summary of research into bromide and iodide removal from drinking water sources. Bromide and iodide removal techniques have been broadly classified into three categories, namely; membrane, electrochemical and adsorptive techniques. Reverse osmosis, nanofiltration and electrodialysis membrane techniques are reviewed. The electrochemical techniques discussed are electrolysis, capacitive deionization and membrane capacitive deionization. Studies on bromide and iodide removal using adsorptive techniques including; layered double hydroxides, impregnated activated carbons, carbon aerogels, ion exchange resins, aluminium coagulation and soils are also assessed. Halide removal techniques have been compared, and areas for future research have been identified.