Disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water and predictive models for their occurrence: a review

Abstract

Disinfection for drinking water reduces the risk of pathogenic infection but may pose chemical threat to human health due to disinfection residues and their by-products (DBPs) when the organic and inorganic precursors are present in water. More than 250 DBPs have been identified, but the behavioural profile of only approximately 20 DBPs are adequately known. In the last 2 decades, many modelling attempts have been made to predict the occurrence of DBPs in drinking water. Models have been developed based on data generated in laboratory-scaled and field-scaled investigations. The objective of this paper is to review DBPs predictive models, identify their advantages and limitations, and examine their potential applications as decision-making tools for water treatment analysis, epidemiological studies and regulatory concerns. The paper concludes with a discussion about the future research needs in this area.

Modeling and characterization of natural organic matter and its relationship with the THMs formation

“…The correlation between operational parameters and THMs concentration have been represented in table no.2. The relationships between the measured and predicted values were satisfactory (fig 7 to 11) with R 2 values ranging from 0.927 to 0.937 compared with other THM formation models with R 2 values ranging between 0.34 and 0.99 (Watson, 1993;Abdullah et al, 2003;Sadiq and Rodriguez, 2004). [L/(mg-m)] All MLR models are generated with two surrogates of NOM with multiple selection of NOM variable, which included a combination of TOC-DOC, TOC-SUVA, TOC-UV254, DOC-SUVA and DOC-UV254.…”

“…The modeling approach efforts a predicting DBP formation potential was started in 1974 after the discovery of chloroform in chlorinated drinking waters (Bellar et al, 1974;Rook, 1974;Sadiq and Rodriguez, 2004). The first notable attempt at modeling THM formation was presented by (Trussel and Umphres, 1978), who reviewed the outcome of pre-ozonation, bromide concentration, pH and chlorine dose on the formation of THMs in natural waters.…”

“…The first notable attempt at modeling THM formation was presented by (Trussel and Umphres, 1978), who reviewed the outcome of pre-ozonation, bromide concentration, pH and chlorine dose on the formation of THMs in natural waters. Multiple linear and non-linear regression technique are commonly used tool in developing DBPs predictive models (Sadiq and Rodriguez, 2004). Models for DBPs have been developed for different purposes, in some cases; modeling is aimed at identifying the significance of various operational and water quality parameters controlling the formation of DBPs or at investigating the kinetics for their mechanism.…”

Evaluation of enhanced coagulation coupled with magnetic ion exchange (MIEX) in natural organic matter and sulfamethoxazole removals: The role of Al-based coagulant characteristic

“…NOMs lead to disinfection byproduct (DBPs) by reacting with common disinfectants (e.g., chlorine, ozone, chlorine dioxide, chloramines) [1]. Certain SOCs, encompassing pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), pesticides, household chemicals and endocrine disrupting chemicals, have been shown to impose adverse impacts on human, wildlife and aquatic ecosystems [2,3].…”

Spiral-shaped reactor for water disinfection

“…However, chlorine also reacts with natural organic compounds, such as humic matter to produce carcinogenic species [4,5] which unfortunately cannot be totally removed prior to disinfection even with the latest technologies. These chemical reactions produce more than 250 different disinfection by-products (DBP) [6], while other studies report more than 600 species in drinking water [7], among which are the trihalomethanes (THMs) such as chloroform, haloacetic acids (HAAs) such as chloroacetic acid or haloactonitrile (HANs) such as Cyanogen chloride. THMs and HAAs received much attention due to their relatively high concentration [8], although compounds with smaller concentrations might present a higher risk to human health [7].…”