Efficacy of Ozone to Reduce Chlorinated Disinfection By-Products in Quebec (Canada) Drinking Water Facilities

The impact of ozonation on the reduction of chlorinated disinfection by-products formation was investigated in 15 full-scale and lab-scale drinking water facilities of Québec (Canada). Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and the sum of six haloacetic acids (HAA6) were measured after chlorination under uniform formation conditions (UFC). Results showed that before ozonation TTHM and HAA6 average concentrations were 89.4 and 45.3 μg/L, respectively. In full-scale ozonation conditions TTHM-UFC and HAA6-UFC reductions averaged respectively 27 and 32%. After lab-scale ozonation at a O₃/C of 1:1, a decrease of only 9% of TTHM was calculated, while for HAA6, reduction was not significantly impacted (30%). For BDOC, average concentrations of 0.13, 0.46, and 0.69 mg C/L were measured before and after and lab-scale ozonation, respectively. Chlorine demand (Cl₂D) and immediate ozone demand (IOD) were found to be the most appropriate indicators to evaluate NOM reactivity after ozonation.