An evaluation of drinking water samples treated with alternative disinfectants
- Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH (United States); and others
Due to concern over potential human health risks associated with the use of chlorine (Cl{sub 2}) for disinfection of drinking water, many utilities are considering alternative disinfectants. An evaluation is thus needed of the potential risks associated with the use of alternative disinfectants relative to those posed by Cl{sub 2}. At a pilot-scale drinking water plant in Jefferson Parish, LA., two studies were conducted in which clarified and sand filtered Mississippi River water was treated with either ozone (O{sub 3}), monochloramine (NH{sub 2}Cl), Cl{sub 2} or was not disinfected. Ozonated water was also post-disinfected with either NH{sub 2}Cl or Cl{sub 2}, to provide a disinfectant residual. For each treatment stream total organic carbon (TOC), total organic halide (TOX) and microbiological contaminants were determined. XAD resin concentrates were also prepared for mutagenicity testing in the Ames Salmonella assay. Water samples disinfected with O{sub 3} alone had low levels of mutagenic activity, the same as the non-disinfected water. The level of mutagenicity observed following chlorination was approximately twice that observed following treatment with NH{sub 2}Cl. Disinfection with O{sub 3} prior to treatment with either Cl{sub 2} or NH{sub 2}Cl resulted in a significantly lower level of mutagenicity than when either disinfectant was used alone. The concentrations of TOX present in the water samples showed a pattern similar to that of the mutagenicity data. The levels of TOC, by contrast, were similar for all the treatment streams. No significant baterial contamination was observed in water samples treated with either Cl{sub 2} or NH{sub 2}Cl alone or in combination with O{sub 3}, as determined by heterotrophic plate counts. However, O{sub 3} alone did not insure an acceptable level of disinfection at the end of the treatment stream.
- OSTI ID:
- 111539
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9504110--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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