Disinfection byproduct (DBP) are commonly detected in disinfected drinking water, and concerns toward their toxic effects have promoted numerous efforts to control it. Given that household water treatment (HWT) process is a promising approach to polish drinking water quality and has been widely used by public already, we herein evaluated the performances of two household heating devices (electric kettle and microwave oven) on the removals of three types of chlorinated DBPs, including trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetonitriles (HANs), and haloacetaldehydes (HALs) under varying operating and water conditions.  Results show that the efficiencies and mechanisms responsible for the removals of DBPs vary greatly among DBPs. The most labile compounds are THMs, which are readily volatilized. HANs underwent both volatilization and hydrolysis, with the removals increasing with rising temperature. The most resistant DBPs are HALs, which had less than 30% removals under a combined volatilization and thermolysis effects. The presence of residual chlorine, however, can facilitate HALs degradations dramatically, which is unlike other types of DBPs. The study hence explains the huge variations reported before and identifies the limits of domestic heating devices in removing Cl-HALs from drinking water.

Removing disinfection byproducts from drinking water by household heating devices: Efficiency, Influencing factors, and mechanisms

ACS Fall 2021

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