Disinfection by-product formation of UV treated swimming pool water

Water samples from 3 indoor swimming pool facilities were tested to evaluate UV-induced effects on swimming pool water chemistry. Concentration change of several DBPs was investigated in experiments including medium pressure UV treatment with and without chlorine and post-UV chlorination. Post-UV chlorine consumption increased, dose-dependently, with UV treatment dose. A clear absence of trihalomethane formation by UV and UV with chlorine was observed. The post-UV chlorination clearly induced formation of DBPs; however, for the total trihalomethanes (TTHM), the inductions were not more than what could be replicated by performing the DBP formation assay with higher chlorine concentrations to simulate extended chlorination. Post-UV chlorination of water from a swimming pool that continuously uses UV treatment to control combined chlorine could not induce secondary formation of DBPs. The trihalomethane induction might result from a kinetic increase in formation by UV. However, this does not imply that higher trihalomethane concentrations would occur in pools that apply continuous UV treatment. The bromine fraction of the halogens in the formed trihalomethanes increased with UV dose, which indicates that UV breaks bromine atoms from larger molecules participating in trihalomethane production during the post-UV chlorination. No significant effect on DBP formation was observed by the photo-inducible radical forming molecules NO₃- and H₂O₂, which may either occur occasionally in high concentrations in pool water or be added in a DBP reducing treatment process, respectively.