Impact/Purpose:

To develop a more accurate analytical procedure that will better estimate the formation of DBPs from natural organic matter (NOM).

Description:

The EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water must have a total organic carbon (TOC) method that can meet the monitoring requirements as originally proposed in the Stage 1, Disinfection By-Products (D/DBP) Rule, as stated in the Federal Register. Research under this task, through an interagency agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), indicates that TOC and/or specific UV absorbance (SUVA) may be too generalized of a parameter to be used for regulatory purposes. If this research ultimately proves that TOC and/or SUVA do not accurately predict the formation of DBP and the need for enhanced surface water treatment, then the approach for the monitoring and control of DBP may need to be changed by omitting current Stage 2 D/DBP TOC-SUVA requirements.

Record Details:

Record Type:PROJECT

Start Date:09/01/1997

Completion Date:09/01/2001

Record ID: 18446

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Project Information:

Progress :Research under this task has been completed through an interagency agency agreement (IAG) with the USGS, Water Research Division, Branch of Regional Research. This IAG was a joint research project to study total organic carbon (TOC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) measurements and the SUVA parameter as it relates to natural organic material in source water monitoring. The focus of this IAG was to identify an appropriate surrogate for disinfection by-product formation potential and to develop the foundation for a more universally dependable analytical method(s) than the current TOC, DOC methods and the proposed SUVA measurement.

This research resulted in the following outputs:

Bergamaschi, B., Fram, M., Fujii, R., Aiken, G., Kendall, C., and Silva, S., 1999, The carbon isotopic composition of trihalomethanes formed from chemically distinct dissolved organic carbon isolates from the Sacramento-San Joachin River Delta, California, USA. U. S. Geological Survey Toxics Substances Hydrology Program - Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina, March 8-12, 1999, Vol 2. pp 99-107.

Fram, M., Fujii, R., Weishaar, J., Bergamaschi and Aiken, G., 1999, How DOC composition may explain the poor correlation between specific trihalomethane formation potential and specific UV absorbance. U. S. Geological Survey Toxics Substances Hydrology Program - Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina, March 8-12, 1999, Vol 2. pp 423-430.

Bergamaschi, B., Fram, M., Kendall, C., Silva, S., Aiken, G. and Fujii, R., 1999, Carbon isotopic constraints on the contribution of plant material to the natural precursors of trihalomethanes. Organic Geochemistry, Vol. 30, pp 835-842.

Aiken, G., Kaplan, L. and Weishaar, J., 2002, Assessment of relative accuracy in the determination of organic matter in aquatic systems. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, Vol. 4, pp 70-74.

Pending papers:

Weishaar, J., Aiken, G., Bergamaschi, B., Fram, M. and Fujii, R., Evaluation of specific ultra-violet absorption as an indicator of the chemical content of dissolved organic carbon, submitted to E.S.&T.

Fram, M., Bergamaschi, B., Fujii, R., Silva, S., Kendall, C. and Aiken, G., Kinetics of trihalomethane formation during

chlorination of dissolved natural organic carbon, to be submitted to E.S.&T.



Relevance :The EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water must have a TOC method that can meet the monitoring requirements as originally proposed in the Stage 1, Disinfection By Products (D/DBP) Rule, as stated in the Federal Register. The TOC and/or SUVA method is needed by OGWDW for inclusion in the Stage 2, D/DBP Rule. Research by the USGS indicates that TOC and/or SUVA may be to generalized of a parameter to be used for regulatory purposes. If this research ultimately proves that TOC and/or SUVA does not accurately predict the formation of DBP, then the approach for the monitoring and control of DBPs may need to be enhanced. Research under this task by the USGS may lead to an improved way to monitor for disinfection by- product formation potential (DBP-FP) and thus, improve the control and reduction of DBPs in drinking water.

Clients :Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (Pat Fair)

Research Component :M/DBP (DBP)

Risk Paradigm :EXPOSURE

Project IDs:

ID Code :none

Project type :ORD-DW Plan

ID Code :5875

Project type :OMIS