The Occurrence of Disinfection By-Products (DBPs) in Chlorinated Recreational Water, Palestine

Recreational water disinfection is an essential treatment for controlling microbial activity. However, chemical disinfectants are powerful oxidants that react with the natural organic matter, anthropogenic contaminants, and bromide present in water and produce unintended disinfection by-products. Chlorine is the most used water disinfectant in Palestine. In this study, water samples from 9 swimming pools present in 3 Governments in the West Bank in Palestine were analyzed to investigate the occurrence of trihalomethanes which are the main and most reported disinfection by-products formed in chlorinated waters. Results show that these pools are poorly managed and do not comply with recommended guidelines for recreational water quality. The pH of some of the water-monitored swimming pools did not comply with the pH guideline for swimming pools. The free chlorine residual measured in the swimming pools' water was higher than recommended values or much less than required. DBPs in the form of THMs measured in the samples from the pools were in the range 386 to 2856 ppb. These amounts of DBPs exceed what has been reported in the recreational water in other countries and are far away from recommended levels. Brominated THMs that impose higher toxicity compared to chlorinated analogs were detected in all 9 swimming pool samples. The bromine substitution factor for all samples was calculated and showed a correlation with the pH of the water sample.