Monitoring and modeling of disinfection by-products (DBPs)

In the United States, the newly promulgated disinfectant/disinfection by-pr oduct (D/DBP) regulations force water treatment utilities to be more concer ned with finished and distributed water qualities. In this study, monitorin g of DBP formation was conducted from three French water treatment plants t rying to assess DBP variations through time and space. Compared to the in-p lant total trihalomethanes (TTHM) levels, TTHM levels in the distribution s ystem increased from less than 150% to more than 300%. Significant variatio ns for TTHM and bromate (BrO3-) levels throughout the seasons were also obs erved; generally higher levels in the summer and lower levels in the winter . Combining chemical DBP models (empirical power functional models) and hyd raulic simulations, DBPs including TTHM and BrO3- were successfully simulat ed from the full-scale monitoring data, indicating that empirical DBP model can be a potential tool to access DBP formation in actual plants. This stu dy also provides the protocols to assess DBP simulations in the water treat ment systems.