• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.22 no.4 s.28
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• pp.495-505
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• 1989

This study was conducted as a nationwide survey In Korea to determine the THM (trihalomethane) concentration levels in the drinking water of 14 selected cities. The survey was underdtaken in one city (Kwangju) during September and October of 1988 and 14 cities in January through February of 1989. The results were as follows : 1. The $KMnO_4$ consumption was 10.6mg/l-11.6mg/l in Pusan and Ulsan, exceeding the drinking water standard of 10mg/l. Pusan, Inchon, Kwangju, Ulsan, Mokpo and Junju areas also exceeded the ammonia nitrate standard of 0.5mg/l. Other tap waters surveyed were detected below the drinking water standards. 2. The THM concentrations of tap water measured in January and February of 1989 were detected in the range $1.20{\mu}g/l-150.8{\mu}g/l$. 3. In the comparative study of the THM concentration of tap water measured in the Kwangju area during September and October of 1998, the average THM concentation of $145.63{\pm}70.72{\mu}g/l$ showed a sixfold increase compared to that of $23.8{\pm}8.31{\mu}g/l$ surveyed in January and February 1989. 4. The proportion of the four THM compounds found in tap water was bromoform, 47% ; chloroform, 30% ; chlorodibromomethane, 13% ; and dichlorobromomethane, 10%. 5. Since the results indicate that the concentration of bromoform was 2-10 times higher than that of chloroform measured in the seaside district of Pusan, Ulsan and Cheju Island, it is reasonable to assume that the raw water was somehow Influenced by seawater. 6. The average lifetime cancer rate of the population exposed to chloroform measured in the surveyed areas was 17 cancer incidences per 1 million population. From the above results, the existence of THM in the distribution systems seems to be inevitable, since chlorine disinfection is performed in water treatment plants In our country. There seems to be a trend of increasing. THM cncentrations due to the contamination of raw water. In order to establish my form of regulations, health risk assessment is an imminent subject.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.181-189
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• 2012

Trihalomethanes, produced as a result of chlorination of drinking water, are considered a potential health hazard. The trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP) of a raw water source may indicate the maximum trihalomethanes (THMs) that are likely to be produced when chlorine reacts with natural organic matter (NOM) present in the water. A study was conducted to evaluate the THMFP in seven different drinking water sources in the vicinity of Kalpakkam, a rural township, on the east coast of India. Water from seven stations were analysed for THMFP. THMFP was compared with surrogate parameters such as dissolved organic carbon (DOC), ultraviolet absorbance ($UV_{254}$) and bromide. The data showed that THMFP was high in water from open wells as compared to closed bore wells, possibly due to more photosynthetic activity. Proximity to sea, and consequently the levels of bromide, was an important factor that influenced THM formation. THM surrogate parameters showed good correlation with THMFP.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.472-479
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• 1994

This study was conducted to determine the effective removal method of THMs and humic material in drinking water when the doses of oxidants, coagulants, and activated carbon, and the points of oxidants treatment were changed in the drinking water treatment process. The inhibition of THMs formation and the removal of humic matter were more effectively achieved by $ClO_2$ than by other oxidants, $Cl_2,\;NH_2Cl,\;KMnO_4\;and\;O_3$. By changing the point of oxidant treatment, the formation of THMs was reduced by about 36.7 to 8.2% on treatment after coagulation, but the content of humic matter was not affected. The coagulation efficiency of alum and ferric sulfate to coagulate organic materials in water was affected by the molecular weight of humic matter in drinking water. The treatment of activated carbon after filtration was found to be more effective than that before oxidation in inhibiting THMs formation and removing THMs.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.224-230
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• 2007

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the change of molecular weight (MW) profiles in natural organic matter (NOM) through various treatment processes (coagulation, granular activated carbon (GAC), and ozonation) using high performance size exclusion chromatography based on ultraviolet absorbance and dissolved organic detection (HPSEC-UVA-DOC). In addition, relationships between MW profiles and disinfection by-production (DBP) formation were evaluated. Each treatment process results in significant different effects on NOM profiles. Coagulation is effective to remove high molecular weight NOM, while GAC is effective to remove low molecular weight NOM. Ozonation removes only a small portion of NOM, while it induces a significant reduction of UV absorbance due to breakdown of the aromatic groups. All treated waters are chlorinated, and chlorination DBPs such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) are measured under formation potential conditions. Both THM and HAA formation potentials were significantly reduced through the coagulation process. GAC was more effective to reduce THM formation compared to HAA formation reduction, while ozonation showed significant HAA reduction compared to THM reduction.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2014

Trihalomethanes (THMs) are formed as a results of the reaction of residual chlorine, used as a disinfectant in drinking water, with the organic matter in raw water. Although chlorinated and brominated THMs are the most common disinfection byproducts (DBPs) reported, iodinated THMs (I-THMs) can be formed when iodide is present in raw water. I-THMs have been usually associated with several medicinal or pharmaceutical taste and odor problems and is a potential health concern since they have been reported to be more toxic than their brominated and chlorinated analogs. Currently, there is no published standard analytical method for I-THMs in water. An automated headspace-gas chromatography/electron capture detector (GC/ECD) technique was developed for routine analysis of 10 THMs including 6 I-THMs in water samples. The optimization of the method is discussed. The limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) range from 12 ng/L to 56 ng/L and from 38 ng/L to 178 ng/L for 10 THMs, respectively. Matrix effects in river water, sea water and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) final effluent water were investigated and it was shown that the method is suitable for the analysis of trace levels of I-THMs, in a wide range of waters. The method developed in the present study has the advantage of being rapid, simple and sensitive.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2002

This paper was investigated to clarify the possibility of a biodegradation of materials adsorbed on different porous granular-activated carbons (GACs) such as coal-& coconut-based GAC. Total organic carbon, humic substance and ammonia were used to compare their removal efficiencies. The objective of this study is to determine the adsorption capacity of bioregenerated GAC. When raw water reacted with chloride, the yield of THMs increased as a function of the input amount of chloride. The formation of trihalomethanes (THMs) was investigated in water treated with chlorine when humic acid was used as THM precursor. As the input amount of chloride in raw water increased by two or five-fold to remove the $NH_3$, the chloroform of the THMs significantly increased also five or ten-fold. It was found that the chloroform was significantly removed by the treatment of biological activated carbon (BAG) in comparison with the ozone treatment, and the removal efficiency of THMs in coal-typed GAC was $10-30\%$ better than coconut-typed GAC due to the biological degradation on the surface of the activated carbons.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2006

This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of a membrane bioreactor filled with high concentration of powdered activated carbon (HCPAC-MBR) to reduce DBPs at the drinking water treatment. The pilot system was installed after the rapid sand filtration process whose plant was the conventional treatment process. The removal efficiencies of DBPs were measured during pilot operation period of 2 years. HAA and THM removal rates could be maintained around 80~90% without any troubles and then tremendous reduction of HAA and THM reactivity were observed more than 52%. The average removal rate of HAA formation potential (FP) and THM formation potential (FP) were 70.5% and 67.6% respectively. It is clear that the PAC membrane bioreactor is highly applicable for advanced water treatment to control DBPs.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.84-98
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• 2000

Control of Trihalomethanes(THMs) is a major concern of many water treatment plants. A number of researchers have studied the effectiveness of activated carbon adsorption process in removing THMs or organic halogen compounds. Recently, attention has been paid to the biological activated carbon (BAC) treatment of THM precursors as an alternative to the carbon adsorption treatment because of its effectiveness as well as its low running cost. In this study, changes of THM formation potential(THMFP) and removal of substrates in the SBR effluent were investigated in an attempt to clarify the mechanisms of the decrease/increase of THMFP in the BAC treatment. The increase and decrease of THMFP concentrations were observed in effluents during prolonged operation. When PCP or DBS was feeded as substrate contained in SBR effluent, the THMFPs were easyly removed with TOCs removal. But the case of SBR effluent containing SDS or glycine was introduced, and when microbial growth came to its near steady state, the THMFPs of treated effluents were increased more or less in comparison to those in the influents. Such increases of THMFP coincided with the increase in microbial growth within the activated carbon fiber(ACF) column. In the case of only sucrose was feeded as substrate on ACF colume, THMFP concentrations of effluent were higher than those of influent. The THMFP concentration was significantly increased on inlet part of ACF column, which biomass inhabits abundantly, then they were decreased gradually. These increases mean production of the secondary THM precursors by biological activities, which can be removed by adsorption and biological degradation on ACF column.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.542-548
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• 2014

Effects of bromide ($Br^-$) and iodide ($I^-$) concentrations, chlorine ($Cl_2$) doses, pH, temperature, ammonia nitrogen concentrations, reaction times and water characteristics on formation of iodinated trihalomethanes (I-THMs) during oxidation of iodide containing water with chlorine were investigated in this study. Results showed that the yields of I-THMs increased with the high bromide and iodide level during chlorination. The elevated pH significantly increased the yields of I-THMs during chlorination. The formation of I-THMs was higher at $20^{\circ}C$ than $4^{\circ}C$, $10^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$. In chloramination study, addition of ammonium chloride ($NH_4Cl$) markedly increased the formation of I-THMs. Among the water samples collected from seven water sources including wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent water (EfOM water), prepared humic containing water (HA water) and algal organic matter (AOM) containing water (AOM water), EfOM water generated the highest yields of I-THMs ($12.31{\mu}g/mg$ DOC), followed by HA water ($4.96{\mu}g/mg$ DOC), while AOM water produced the lowest yields of I-THMs ($0.99{\mu}g/mg$ DOC). $SUVA_{254}$ values of EfOM water, HA water and AOM water were $1.38L/mg{\cdot}m$, $4.96L/mg{\cdot}m$ and $0.97L/mg{\cdot}m$, respectively. The I-THMs yields had a low correlation with $SUVA_{254}$ values ($r^2$ = 0.002).

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.249-260
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• 2003

The disinfection of drinking water to control microbial contaminants results in the formation of secondary chemical contaminants, DBPs (disinfection by-products). It was studied the formation pattern of DBPs in drinking raw water after hypochlorite, chlorine disinfectant, was added in this study. It was determined TOC (total organic carbon), residual chlorine, turbidity and DBPs in raw water from Han-river during 1~14 days. Total DBPs was $101.3ng/m{\ell}$ (789.6 nM) after 7days and THMs (trihalomethanes) are the dominant portion of 69%. HAAs (haloacetic acids) and chloral hydrate were determined 19% and 10% respectively, and HANs (haloacetonitriles), HKs (haloketones) and chloropicrin were analyzed in trace level. Chloroform occupied about 89% in total THMs in concentration of $61.5ng/m{\ell}$, 95% of HANs was DCAN (dichloroacetonitrile) in $0.72ng/m{\ell}$, 50% of HAAs was TCAA (trichloroacetic acid). On the study of relationship in formation among the DBPs, HANs forms with THMs competitively to the point of the concentration of $40ng/m{\ell}$ of THMs. For HAAs, it did not show the prominent tendency. But it was observed that the compounds of large oxidation state are formed at first, and becomes to the compounds of low oxidation states.