Analysis of rainwater storage and use recommendations: From the perspective of DBPs generation and their risks

Zhiwen Chen; Xiaobin Liao; Ye Yang; Liu Han; Zixiang He; Yingying Dong; Kanfolo Franck Herve Yeo; Xubo Sun; Tongxuan Xue; Yuefeng Xie; Wendong Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.130833

Analysis of rainwater storage and use recommendations: From the perspective of DBPs generation and their risks

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Apr 15:448:130833. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.130833. Epub 2023 Jan 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, China.
² Institute of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, Fujian 361021, China.
³ Shanxi Provincial Land Engineering Construction Group, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710075, China.
⁴ State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Environmental Engineering Programs, The Pennsylvania State University, Middletown, PA 17057, USA.
⁵ School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, China. Electronic address: wdwang@xjtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36716556
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.130833

Abstract

As a vital freshwater resource, rainwater is usually stored in water cellars in arid regions to solve the daily drinking water problems of the population. However, the status of disinfection by-products (DBPs) generation in cellar water under intermittent disinfection conditions is unclear. Therefore, we investigated the formation and distribution characteristics of DBPs in cellar water under intermittent disinfection conditions for the first time. The results demonstrated that six categories of DBPs were selected for detection after chlorination, including trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), haloketones (HKs), haloacetonitriles (HANs), halonitromethanes (HNMs), and nitrosamines (NAs), among which HAAs, HKs, and HANs were the major DBPs. Only bromoacetic acid (MBAA), dichloroacetic acid (DCAA), and trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) showed an increasing trend of accumulation as the number of disinfections increased. Meanwhile, the precursor composition was gradually transformed from humic substances to amino acids, and both organic substances were the main precursors of HAAs. The health risk assessment showed that the main carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of cellar water were contributed by NAs and HAAs, respectively, and children are more susceptible to the risks than adults. The best time to drink cellar water is after approximately 12 days of storage, when the total carcinogenic risk is the minimum.

Keywords: Accumulation; Disinfection by-products; Intermittent chlorination; Water cellar.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Disinfectants* / analysis
Disinfection / methods
Drinking Water* / analysis
Halogenation
Humans
Trihalomethanes / analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis
Water Purification* / methods
Water Supply

Substances

Disinfectants
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Drinking Water
Trihalomethanes