Disinfection By-Products: Presence and Elimination in Drinking Water

Abstract

The most frequently utilized technique for demobilizing pathogens remains disinfection. This is a fundamental stage in drinking water treatment as it removes the hazards related to water-borne diseases like typhoid and cholera. Therefore, disinfecting water employing chemical oxidants such as chlorine has been one of the main public health progresses through the previous century. During the time that this preserves the residual concentrations of disinfectant for the control of microbes, it may greatly elevate the generation of disinfection by-products (DBPs). Lately, Chaukura et al. [1] published an excellent review of the presence of organic matter (OM) in water sources and assessed its impact on the generation of DBPs. Especially, they discussed the production of DBPs, examined the contribution of OM on DBPs generation, and estimated and recommended techniques for eliminating DBPs. This work focuses on the main findings obtained by Chaukura et al. [1] and explores the authors’ experience in dealing with disinfection processes and their DBPs generation issues as well as the techniques to remove them from water. Enhanced coagulation and membrane processes are efficacious in eliminating OM. An efficacious and economically usable procedure to dominate the production of DBPs in water treatment plants is to eliminate the precursors before they interact with chemical disinfectants, which should be avoided or at least reduced.