Drinking Water Disinfection By-Products Relevant to the 1996 NHMRC/ARMCANZ Guidelines

This report was produced for the Urban Water Research Association of Australia, a now discontinued research program.

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Report No UWRAA 115

September 1996

SYNOPSIS

By-products produced as a result of disinfection with chlorine constitute the majority of organic contaminants in Australian drinking water supplies. Currently, there is little information available on the nature, distribution and typical concentrations of many disinfection by-products (DBPs) present in Australian drinking waters. The recent release of the draft NHMRC/ARMCANZ Australian Drinking Water Guidelines lists some 23 by-products and has focussed considerable attention in this country on DBPs and the importance and potentially adverse health effects arising from them.

A suite of analytical methods for these compounds was compiled and evaluated, to provide laboratories with the capability to determine concentrations in drinking water distribution systems.

Drinking waters from around Australia were analysed to determine the occurrence of DBPs. Water samples from 16 locations, covering 7 different water authorities across5 States were analysed, providing valuable information previously not available on DBP concentrations in Australian drinking waters. This information will provide the opportunity for water authorities to assess their compliance with the revised guidelines and provide data to allow appropriate water treatment measures to be invoked to ensure continuing compliance.

Go to the Urban Water Research Association of Australia catalogue