Determining the impacts of storage practice and treatment technology on the formation of disinfection byproducts

• Main Author: McGee, Greta Myerchin
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2002
• Subjects: Arctic; Fairbanks; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6438

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2002 Disinfection byproducts (DBP) are formed during the reaction of chemical disinfectants with natural organic material (NOM). DBPs are potential carcinogens and are regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEP A) under the Disinfectant/DBP (D/DBP) rule. High concentrations of NOM in drinking water sources used by Alaska's communities often result in the formation of DBPs during treatment. Since surface water sources in the Arctic are frozen for 6-9 months of the year, communities are often forced to store raw water for treatment during the winter or treat and store enough drinking water during the summer to last through the winter. The effects of long-term water storage practice and treatment technology on DBP formation was examined in the drinking water systems of 5 rural Alaskan communities. Results from this research suggest NOM escaping treatment is likely to react in the storage tank producing DBP concentrations well above the estimated DBP formation potential. Ch. 1. Introduction -- ch. 2. Background -- ch. 3. Influence of long term storage on DBP formation -- ch. 4. Effectiveness of surrogate parameters for estimating DBP formation -- ch. 5. Role of treatment technologies in DBP formation -- ch. 6. Conclusions.