MIEX® Treatment of an Effluent-Impacted Stream

A case study was conducted to examine the magnetic ion exchange (MIEX®) process for treating water impacted by wastewater treatment plant effluent and removing disinfection by-product precursors. The plant effluent increased dissolved organic carbon, ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (UV254), anions, and disinfection by-product precursors at the discharge and downstream locations. The MIEX process reduced dissolved organic carbon by 42-47%, UV254 absorbance by 61-68%, and trihalomethane and haloacetic acid formation potential (FP) by 50-70% at different downstream locations. On the other hand, halonitromethane FP was reduced by only 10-15% and N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) FP increased as a result of chloramination after MIEX treatment. Uniform formation condition experiments showed that NDMA concentrations remained below 10 ng/L when chlorine alone or 40 min of chlorine contact time before ammonia addition were used for postdisinfection. However, use of preformed chloramine resulted in 36 ng/L of NDMA formation. Because MIEX substantially removes trihalomethane and haloacetic acid precursors, it may allow the use of more chlorine for longer contact time, which can lead to less NDMA formation

Occurrence of N-nitrosamines in Alberta public drinking-water distribution systems

Since the 1974 discovery of trihalomethanes as disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water, the regulatory and public health focus has been primarily directed at halogenated compounds, even though it is well established that chlorination and chloramination also produce non-halogenated DBPs. Specific halogenated DBPs that could reasonably explain the correlation of some adverse health outcomes with consumption of disinfected drinking water in a number of epidemiologic studies have yet to be identified. We therefore explored an emerging class of non-halogenated DBPs, N-nitrosamines, which warrant consideration given public health concerns regarding possible correlations of bladder cancer with exposure to chlorinated drinking water. We developed a dual media (Ambersorb® 572 and LiChrolut® EN), off-line, solid-phase extraction method that utilized a modified commercially-available extraction manifold combined with our previous GC–MS ammonia positive chemical ionization (PCI) quantitative method for analyzing N-nitrosamines in drinking water. We surveyed 20 Alberta municipal drinking-water distribution systems for the presence of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and seven other N-nitrosamine species. Analytical results revealed the occurrence of NDMA (up to 100 ng/L) as well as two other N-nitrosamines (N-nitrosopyrrolidine and N-nitrosomorpholine) within select Alberta drinking water supplies.Key words: Alberta, chloramination, disinfection by-products, distribution system, drinking water, N-nitrosamines, NDMA, public health, survey