Assessing Adsorbable Organic Halogen Formation and Precursor Removal during Drinking Water Production

Abstract

Adsorbable organic halogens (AOX) were measured at the outlet (AOXo) and after 24 h contact time with residual disinfectant (AOX24 h) for 10 samples obtained from 7 drinking water treatment plants (WTPs) that employ chlorine-based disinfectants. AOXo ranged from 0.75 to 7.60 μM (26.2–266.0 μg Cl/L) and increased by up to 170% after 24 h contact time. The results were also compared with AOX formation potential (AOXFP) measured in the laboratory for the samples collected prior to disinfection at the same WTPs. In general, AOX24 h and AOXFP values varied by less than ±20%. A suite of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) were individually measured to elucidate the AOX composition. Trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids explained the largest fraction of AOX; however, the percentage of AOX not accounted for by measured DBPs varied greatly between samples (14.5–62.0%). Additionally, the fate of AOXFP was assessed across the seven WTPs. On average, coagulation removed 67±7% of AOXFP across the WTPs, while dual media filtration did not substantially remove AOXFP. The effect of ozone on AOXFP varied between WTPs, while biological activated carbon filtration removed 33±13% AOXFP. The ratio of known versus unknown AOXFP did not change across the WTPs.