Disinfection: A Trade-Off Between Microbial and Chemical Risks

Abstract

While the disinfection of drinking water has largely eliminated the threat of waterborne diseases, it has resulted in an unintended consequence; the byproducts produced as a result of the disinfection process (DBPs). Every aspect of the water treatment process from source water acquisition to treated water distribution has an impact on this trade-off between microbial and chemical risk. Water utilities must consider how these variables interact within a complex system. Optimization of water treatment to balance microbial and chemical risks requires expertise from analytical chemists, toxicologists, engineers, and epidemiologists to characterize the classes of DBPs that are driving the toxicity associated with disinfected water beyond currently regulated DBPs. This chapter discusses how decisions made from source to tap affect water quality and the formation of DBPs using case studies from around the world.