Formation of haloacetic acids from different organic precursors in swimming pool water during chlorination

Abstract

Haloacetic acids (HAAs) were reported to be the most abundant category of DBPs in swimming pool water. In this study, the formation of HAAs from different organic precursors in swimming pool water, including UV filters, human body fluids, and natural organic matter (NOM), during chlorination was examined, and the effects of chlorine dose and halide concentrations on the formation of HAAs were evaluated. The results show that the total HAA yields from benzophenone-3 (BP-3) and Suwannee River humic acid (SRHA) were the highest among the nine organic precursors, and the yields of dichloroacetic acid and bromochloroacetic acid were higher than that of the other HAA species. In all the chlorinated samples of different organic precursors, longer chlorination time enhanced HAA formation. Both chlorine dose and bromide concentration significantly affected the formation of HAAs from BP-3 and SRHA during chlorination. With the increasing chlorine dose, the total HAA yields from SRHA and BP-3 significantly increased. Besides, the proportion of trihaloacetic acids (THAAs) rose while that of dihaloacetic acids (DHAAs) and monohaloacetic acids (MHAAs) declined with the increasing chlorine dose. With the increasing bromide concentration, HAA formation from SRHA increased while that of BP-3 decreased. The bromine incorporation factor (BIF) of the formed MHAAs, DHAAs and THAAs from SRHA and BP-3 both increased with the increasing bromide concentration in the following order: BIF_DHAAs > BIF_THAAs > BIF_MHAAs, indicating that bromine was easier to be incorporated into DHAAs rather than MHAAs or THAAs. Moreover, bromide promoted the formation of Br-HAAs.

Keywords: Chlorination; DBPs; Disinfection byproducts; Haloacetic acids; Organic precursors; Swimming pool water.