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Trihalomethanes in drinking water from three First Nation reserves in Manitoba, Canada

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Abstract

Previous research indicates that the water distribution system used has a significant impact on the microbial quality of tap water sampled in First Nations reserves in Canada. This study tested tap water from homes in three First Nations reserves to compare the concentrations of four trihalomethanes and related water quality parameters between homes receiving piped water from a water treatment plant (WTP) versus homes equipped with cisterns that are filled by a water truck. Of all the samples collected across time from household taps, 75% of piped samples and 70% of cistern samples had TTHM concentrations exceeding Health Canada’s maximum acceptable concentration (MAC) of 100 µg L−1 total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) in treated water. In all communities and across sampling times, trichloromethane (CHCl3) was the dominant trihalomethane (42–96%) followed by bromodichloromethane (CHBrCl2) (3–37%) and dibromochloromethane (CHClBr2) (1–18%). Tribromomethane (CHBr3) always accounted for < 5% of TTHMs. Within each of the three First Nations reserves, the water distribution system had no significant effect on TTHM concentration at the household level. Sampling month had a significant effect on TTHM concentration due to temporal changes in dissolved organic carbon of the source water. Results suggest that families in the studied First Nations reserves receive drinking water with high TTHM concentrations and that improvements to the water treatment plant might be the most effective way to minimize trihalomethane formation.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully thank the Chief and Band Councils of communities A, B and C and other community members for the partnership established. Financial support for this research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through its Collaborative Research and Training Experience (grants# 432009-2013 and 496906-2017) and Discovery Grant (grant# RGPIN-06030-2018, grant# RGPIN-6417-2019) programs. We also gratefully acknowledge the following awards to Amarawansha that provided student stipends: the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship (Doctoral program) and the University of Manitoba Graduate Scholarship (Doctoral program). We highly acknowledge the technical assistants from Thor Halldorson, Department of Chemistry, University of Manitoba.

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through its Collaborative Research and Training Experience (grant# 432009–2013) and Discovery Grant (grant# RGPIN-06030–2018, grant# RGPIN-6417–2019) programs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2, Canada

    Geethani Amarawansha, Francis Zvomuya & Annemieke Farenhorst

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2, Canada

    Gregg Tomy

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  1. Geethani Amarawansha
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  2. Francis Zvomuya
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  4. Annemieke Farenhorst
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Contributions

Conceptualization, Geethani Amarawansha, Francis Zvomuya and Annemieke Farenhorst; data curation, Geethani Amarawansha; formal analysis, Geethani Amarawansha; funding acquisition, Francis Zvomuya and Annemieke Farenhorst; methodology, Geethani Amarawansha and Annemieke Farenhorst; resources, Francis Zvomuya, Annemieke Farenhorst and Gregg Tomy; supervision, Francis Zvomuya and Annemieke Farenhorst; writing—original draft, Geethani Amarawansha; writing—review and editing, Francis Zvomuya, Annemieke Farenhorst and Gregg Tomy.

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Correspondence to Geethani Amarawansha.

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Amarawansha, G., Zvomuya, F., Tomy, G. et al. Trihalomethanes in drinking water from three First Nation reserves in Manitoba, Canada. Environ Monit Assess 195, 341 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10694-5

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