Abstract
Oil activities in the Arabian Gulf can potentially affect the quality of the intake water available for coastal desalination plants. This paper addresses such situation by investigating the quality of intake water and desalinated water produced by a desalination plant located near a coastal industrial complex in United Arab Emirates (UAE). Analyses of the organic compounds on the intake seawater reported non-detected levels in most samples for the three tested organic groups; namely Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Phenols, and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). Trihalomethanes (THMs) and Haloacetic Acids (HAAs) were also tracked in the intake sea water, throughout the desalination processes, and in the final produced drinking water, to evaluate the undertaken pre- and post chlorination practices. The levels of considered Chlorination Byproducts (CBPs) were mostly found below the permissible international limits with few exceptions showing tangible levels of bromoform in the intake seawater and in the final produced drinking water as well. Lab-controlled experiments on the final produced distillate showed little contribution of its blending with small percentage of seawater upon the formation of trihalomethane and in particular, bromoform. Such results indicate that the organic precursors originated in the seawater are responsible for bromoform formation in the final distillate.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ali, M. and Riley, P.: 1986, ‘The distribution of halomethanes in the coastal waters of Kwait,’ Marine Pollution Bulletin 17, 409–414.
APHA: 1995, American Public Health Association (APHA), Amer. Water Works Assn., Water Pollution Control Fed. 1971. Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater 19th ed. Amer. Public Health Assn. New York, N.Y.
Azam, M., Elshorbagy, W. and Nakata, K.: 2005, ‘Three Dimensional Modeling of the Ruwais Coastal Area of United Arab Emirates,’ ASCE Journal of Waterways, Ports, Ocean Engineering, in press.
Chin, Y., Eiken, G. and O'Loughlin, E.: 1994, ‘Molecular weight, polydispersity, and spectroscopic properties of aquatic humic substances,’ Environ. Sci. and Tech. 28, 1853–1858.
Evendijk, K.: 1995, ‘New WHO recommendations for Water Quality Standards: International water supply association, London.
Elshorbagy, W., Abu-Qdais, H. and Elsheamy, M.: 2000, ‘Simulation of THM species in water distribution systems,’ Water Research Journal 34(13), 3431–3439.
Elshorbagy, W., Azam, M. and Nakata, K.: 2005, ‘Temperature-salinity field of the shallow shelf of Southern Arabian Gulf,’ Submitted to Elsevier Journal of Continental Shelf Research.
Elshorbagy, W., Azam, M. and Taguchi, K.: 2006, ‘Hydrodynamic characterization and modeling of the Arabian Gulf, ASCE/J,’ Water Way, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering 132(1), 47–56.
Elshorbagy, W.: 2003, ‘Chapter 5: Fate and Transport of Haloforms in Water Distribution Systems,’ The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, Springer Publisher.
Kampioti, A. A. and Stephanou, E. G.: 2002, ‘The impact of bromide on the formation of neutral and acidic disinfection by-products (DBPs) in Mediterranean chlorinated drinking water,’ Water Research 36, 2596–2606.
NTP: 1985, Technical Report Series 282 National Toxicology Program.
USEPA: 1979, ‘Control of trihalomethanes in drinking water,’ Final Rule Fed. Reg. 44(231), 68624
Perrone, T. J.: 1979, ‘Winter Shamal in the Persian Gulf,’ Naval Env. Prediction Res. Facility Tech. Rept. 79–06, Monterey, pp 180.
Reckhow, D. A., Singer, P. A. and Malcolm, R. L.: 1990, ‘Chlorination of humic materials: Byproduct formation and chemical interpretations,’ Environ. Sci. and Tach. 24, 1655–1664.
Saeed, T., Khordagui, H. and Al-Hashash, H.: 1999, ‘Contribution of power/desalination plants to the levels of halogenated volatile liquid hydrocarbons in the coastal areas of Kuwait,’ Desalination 121, 49–63.
Shams El Din, A. M., Rasheed, A. A. and Hammoud A. A.: 1991, ‘A contribution to the problem of Trihalomethane formation from the Arabian Gulf Water,’ Desalination 85, 13–32.
WHO: 1993, ‘Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality 2nd edn.’ Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
Wu, W. W, Benjamin, M. M. and Korshin, G. V.: 2001, ‘Effects of thermal treatment on halogenated disinfection by-products in drinking water,’ Wat. Res. 35(15), 3545–3550.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Elshorbagy, W., Abdulkarim, M. Chlorination Byproducts in Drinking Water Produced from Thermal Desalination in United Arab Emirates. Environ Monit Assess 123, 313–331 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-006-9199-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-006-9199-4