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Modelling chloroform in indoor swimming pool air and water: the influences of internal air circulation and occupants

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Abstract

The release of chloroform from water to air in an indoor swimming pool (ISP) exhibits complex physicochemical interactions among many variables, including environmental conditions, occupant activities, and geometry of the ISP. By combining the relevant variables, a structured mathematical model, the double-layer air compartment (DLAC) model, was developed to predict the level of chloroform in ISP air. A physical parameter, the indoor airflow recycle ratio (R), was incorporated into the DLAC model due to internal airflow circulation resulting in the ISP structural configuration. The theoretical R-value for a specific indoor airflow rate (vy) can be found by fitting the predicted residence time distribution (RTD) to the simulated RTD from computational fluid dynamics (CFD), showing a positive linear relationship with vy. The mechanical energies induced by occupant activities were converted into a lumped overall mass-transfer coefficient to account for the enhanced mass transfer of chloroform from the water into the air and mixing in ISP air. The DLAC model predicted that chloroform air concentrations were statistically less accurate without considering the influence of R compared with the online open-path Fourier transform infrared measurements. A novel index, the magnitude of emission (MOE) from swimmers, was linked to the level of chloroform in ISP water. The capability of the DLAC model associated with the MOE concept may facilitate upgrading the hygiene management of ISPs, including the ability to administer necessary chlorine additives in pool water and monitor the chloroform in ISP air.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

ADRF:

Axially dispersed recycle flow

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

DBPs:

Disinfection by products

DLAC:

Double-layer air compartment

ISPs:

Indoor swimming pools

MASD :

Minimum absolute sum difference

MOE:

Magnitude of emission

OP-FTIR:

Open-path Fourier transform infrared

RTD:

Residence time distribution

\(\overline{{C}_{b}}\) :

Averaged chloroform concentration within the boundary layer (mg/l)

\({\text{r}}_{COD}^{2}\) :

Coefficient of determination

t r :

Turn-over period of water circulation for the swimming pools (h)

C gF :

FTIR measured chloroform concentration in indoor air (µg/m3)

C gM :

DLAC model predicted chloroform concentration in indoor air (µg/m3)

C t :

Trace concentration

C w :

Chloroform concentration in pool water (mg/l)

D eff :

Effective turbulent diffusion due to pool-water wave effects (cm2/s)

D g :

Diffusivity of chloroform in air (cm2/s)

D l :

Diffusivity of chloroform in water (cm2/s)

E :

Exit age distribution function of Eq. 3

H :

Dimensionless Henry’s constant of chloroform

k a :

Air-side mass transfer coefficient (cm/s)

K o :

Overall mass transfer coefficient (cm/s)

k w :

Water-side mass transfer coefficient (cm/s)

L y :

Characteristic length of the ISP along the y-axis (m)

M a :

Mass quantity of chloroform in indoor air (µg)

M w :

Mass quantity of chloroform in pool water (µg)

N Re :

Reynolds number

N s :

Number of swimmers

N w :

Number of non-swimming visitors

Pe :

Péclet number

R :

Indoor airflow recycle ratio

Sc :

Schmidt number

t :

Sampling time (h)

T a :

Temperature of indoor air (°C)

T w :

Temperature of pool water (°C)

V a :

Volume of indoor air (m3)

V w :

Volume of pool water (m3)

v y :

Uniform convective indoor airflow along the y direction (m/s)

Z h :

Mixing layer height (m)

λ :

Ratio of \(\frac{{C}_{gM}}{{C}_{gF}}\)

α :

Rate constant for chloroform formation of Eq. 18

β :

Constant of Eq. 18

ρ :

Spearman's rank correlation coefficient

ε s :

Energy output to pool water from swimmers (\({N}_{s}\))

\({\varepsilon }_{t}\) :

Eddy diffusion due to non-swimming visitor activities (\({N}_{w}\))

θ :

Dimensionless time

ϕ :

Dimensionless variable of Eq. 2

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Funding

This study was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (Project No. MOST-105–2221-E-039–002). The authors would like to extend sincere thanks to Environmental Simulation Co. Ltd, Taipei, Taiwan, for performing CFD simulations in this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, China Medical University, No. 100, Sec. 1, Jingmao Road, Taichung, 406040, Taiwan

    Hui-Tsung Hsu

  2. Department of Occupational Safety and Hygiene, Fooyin University, 151 Chin-Hsueh Rd., Ta-Liao District, Kaohsiung, 83102, Taiwan

    Ming-Jen Chen, Li-Jen Huang & Li-Hsin Cheng

  3. Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, 2 Juoyue Rd., Nanzih District, Kaohsiung, 81164, Taiwan

    Ming-Jen Chen & Kuang-Chung Tsai

  4. Department of Environmental Engineering and Science, Fooyin University, 151 Chin-Hsueh Rd., Ta-Liao District, Kaohsiung, 83102, Taiwan

    Ching-Ho Lin & Chin-Hsing Lai

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Contributions

Hui-Tsung Hsu: conceptualization of the investigation, methodology, project administration, funding acquisition; Ming-Jen Chen: conceptualization of the investigation, methodology, project administration, data curation, statistical analysis, original draft, figures/tables; Kuang-Chung Tsai: supervision; Li-Jen Huang: supervision; Ching-Ho Lin: methodology, data curation, statistical analysis; Chin-Hsing Lai: supervision, data curation; Li-Hsin Cheng: data curation, statistical analysis, original draft, final editing.

We confirm that all authors listed have contributed significantly to the work presented in this paper.

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Correspondence to Li-Hsin Cheng.

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Hsu, HT., Chen, MJ., Tsai, KC. et al. Modelling chloroform in indoor swimming pool air and water: the influences of internal air circulation and occupants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 54857–54870 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25978-7

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