RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRIHALOMETHANES AND HALOACETIC ACIDS WITH TOTAL ORGANIC HALOGEN DURING CHLORINATION

The effects of bromide ion, pH and reaction time on the formation of f our trihalomethanes, nine haloacetic acids and total organic halogens in chlorinated drinking water have been investigated. In this extensiv e study, the relationships of total trihalomethanes and total haloacet ic acids with total organic halogen have been evaluated. The study det ermined the concentration range of nine haloacetic acids and four trih alomethanes as percentage of total organic halogen. The results showed that the percentage of total organic halogen made up of total trihalo methanes plus total haloacetic acids significantly increases with incr easing bromide ion concentrations and pH. These observations suggest t hat both a higher bromide concentration and pH cause the formation of mainly brominated trihalomethanes with the reduction of haloacetic aci ds which could be identified and quantified by current U.S. Environmen tal Protection Agency methods.