AWWA WQTC59018

Drinking water treatment customarily includes chlorination for disinfection. Natural organic matter (NOM) in surface water is a precursor for organohalogen byproducts produced by reaction by chlorine that may produce adverse human health effects. In order to reduce the amount of these chlorination byproducts in finished drinking waters, ozone can be used for primary oxidation but this is always followed by terminal chlorination or chloramination. However, the ozone/chlorine or ozone/chloramine combination in a drinking water treatment plant may produce new disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Discovering their identity is the first step in determining the existence of a public health threat from their formation and persistence. Known ozone byproducts were reacted with chlorine. The chlorine byproducts were derivatized and extracted from the aqueous samples by various approaches that permitted their identity to be identified by gas chromatographic separation and ion trap mass spectrometry detection. Stability tests were performed to establish optimal stabilization of the byproducts in samples prior to analysis. Includes 12 references, table, figures.