Chlorination by-products in chlorinated cooling water of some European coastal power stations

Chlorination by-products (CBPs) ape formed as a result of the chlorination of power station cooling water for anti-fouling purposes. Their production was studied at 10 coastal power stations in the UK, France and The Netherlands. Three categories of CBPs were determined. trihalomethanes; haloacetonitriles; and halophenols. Bromoform was the CBP most abundantly present in the effluents of all 10 power stations. At a mean chlorine dosage of 0.5-1.5 mg/litre (as Cl-2) the mean bromoform concentration was 16.32 +/- 2.10 mu g/litre. The CBP found in second highest concentrations was dibromoacetonitrile (DBAN) with mean concentrations of 1.48 +/- 0.56 mu g/litre. Other CBPs detected were dibromochloromethane, bromodichloromethane and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol; concentrations of these three compounds were very low (<1 mu g/litre). At those sites at which bromoform was measured in the dispersing effluent plume it was found to behave as a conservative parameter (significant direct correlation with plume Delta T). Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.