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REACTION PRODUCTS FROM THE CHLORINATION OF SEAWATER
Citation:
Carpenter, J., C. Smith, AND R. Zika. REACTION PRODUCTS FROM THE CHLORINATION OF SEAWATER. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/4-81/010 (NTIS PB81172280), 1981.
Description:
Chemical treatment of natural waters, in particular the use of chlorine as a biocide, modifies the chemistry of these waters in ways that are not fully understood. The research described in this report examined both inorganic and organic reaction products from the chlorination of seawater using a variety of analytical approaches. Some analytical methods in widespread current use underestimate the residual oxidants in chlorinated seawater by as much as 70% depending upon the detail of the procedures. The chlorination of seawater in the presence of light produces substantial quantities of bromate ions which can influence standard analytical procedures and represents an unknown factor in estuarine and coastal waters. The copper complexing capacity of Biscayne Bay, Florida water was found to be substantially reduced with the addition of chlorine. Analysis was made by anodic stripping voltammetry on water samples after successive additions of copper sulfate solution. Laboratory chlorination of water from the intake of the Port Everglades, Florida power plant produces bromoform levels comparable to that found in the plant discharge. These results are in contrast to results reported in the literature for a power plant on the Patuxent estuary in Maryland, so that bromoform production appears to be site-specific. Chloroform extracts of chlorinated Biscayne Bay water are found to contain halogenated compounds which are new and different, and which pose unusual analytical problems. Studies using GC/ECD, GC/MS, HPLC, H NMR, differential pulsed polarography and other techniques on natural extracts and synthesized compounds are reported.