THE ANALYSIS OF HALOGENATED ACETIC-ACIDS IN DUTCH DRINKING-WATER

Halo-acetic acids are produced during chlorine disinfection of drinking water. Besides the well-known dichloro-, and trichloroacetic acid, brominated and mixed chloro/bromo acetic acids are also produced. A method was developed to determine all halo-acetic acids. This method was applied for the analysis of 20 drinking waters prepared from different source waters. Halo-acetic acids were found in all drinking waters prepared from surface water while they could not be detected in drinking waters prepared from ground water. The acid concentrations were in the range of 0-14.7-mu-g/l and dibromoacetic acid was found to be the most prominent halo-acetic acid in chlorinated waters. Brominated acetic acids accounted for 65% of the total acid concentration showing that brominated compounds form a large part of the chlorination products. The total halo-acetic acid concentration correlated positively with the chlorine-to-carbon ratio and with the adsorbable organic halogen, to which it accounted for 15%.