Transformation Products and Disinfection By-Products in Wastewater Impacted Drinking Water

Academic Research Topics in Environmental Measurement and Monitoring
Oral Presentation

Prepared by D. Westerman1, H. Liberatore1, K. Cochran1, S. Richardson1, C. Montagner2, D. Dionysiou3, L. Cizmas4
1 - University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter St., Columbia, SC, 29208, United States
2 - University of Campinas, 631 Sumter St., Columbia, SC, 29208, United States
3 - University of Cincinnati, 601 Engineering Research Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45221, United States
4 - Texas A&M, 212 Adriance Lab Rd., College Station, TX, 77843, United States


Contact Information: westermd@email.sc.edu; 650-515-1904


ABSTRACT

Wastewater, either from municipal or industrial sources (i.e. hydraulic fracturing), can infiltrate drinking water sources, resulting in adverse effects on both aquatic ecosystems and human health. Municipal wastewater is treated before it is discharged into nearby surface/ground water, but conventional wastewater treatment does not fully remove halides or contaminants of emerging concern (ECs), including pharmaceuticals, pesticides, hormones, industrial chemicals, and disinfection by-products (DBPs). In some states, including Pennsylvania, wastewaters from hydraulic fracturing, which contain high levels of bromide and iodide from shale, are also discharged into surface waters, increasing the potential to form highly toxic Br- and I-DBPs during drinking water disinfection. This project investigates transformation products in drinking water impacted by municipal and hydraulic fracturing wastewaters, which includes the transformation of priority ECs in waters resulting from UV-C/H2O2 and subsequent disinfection. To simulate disinfection of wastewater-impacted drinking water, controlled laboratory chlorination and chloramination reactions have been performed, resulting in the identification of transformation products and DBPs, including chlorine-, and bromine-containing by-products. High resolution MS by ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF) allowed for the identification of molecular formulas, which was followed by MS/MS to confirm compound structures.