Occurrence and Formation of Disinfection By-Products in Indoor US Swimming Pools
Date
2015
Authors
Kanan, Amer
Selbes, Meric
Karanfil, Tanju
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.
Abstract
Chlorination is commonly used to prevent the spreading of
waterborne infectious diseases in swimming pools. This
required disinfection practice also results in the formation of
undesirable disinfection by-products (DBPs) from the reactions
of chlorine with the organic matter (released by swimmers
or present in the pool filling water) and inorganics (i.e.,
bromide). The main objective of this research was to improve
our understanding of the occurrence and formation of different
classes of DBPs (trihalomethanes [THMs], haloacetic acids
[HAAs], halonitromethanes [HNMs], haloacetonitriles [HANs],
and nitrosamines) in indoor swimming pools operational
conditions in the U.S.. The results showed that the DBPs
in the investigated 23 swimming pools were far higher than
the drinking water regulation values in the U.S. Average
THMs, HAAs, HANs, HNMs, and N-nitrosodimethylamine
concentrations were 80 μg/L, 1541 μg/L, 19 μg/L, 5.4 μg/L,
and 27 ng/L, respectively. An increase in organic matter
released by the swimmers and bromide (from the filling water
or electrochemical generation of chlorine) levels in the water
increased the overall formation of DBPs. Increases in free
available chlorine, pH, and water temperature were shown to enhance the formation of THMs and HAAs. These favorable
conditions lead to rapid formation (i.e. 3-6 hours) of THMs and
HAAs under swimming pool conditions.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Kanan A, Selbes M, Karanfil T (2015) Occurrence and formation of disinfection by-products in indoor U.S. swimming pools. In: ACS Symposium Series. American Chemical Society, pp 405–430