Evaluation of bromate formation control during drinking water disinfection in Saudi Arabia

Bromate is well known as a carcinogen, thus it is very important to improve the treatment process and reduce or eliminate the bromate formation. This study was performed for synthetic and real samples to achieve the effect of initial Br–concentration, temperature, and contact time on bromate formation during chlorination and ozonation of water samples. Results presented that the formation of bromate was significantly affected by the initial content of bromide in water. It also displayed that the formation of bromate was maximum when the temperature is closed to 50°C. Less bromate is predicted to be formed during disinfection for lower bromide ion concentrations, shorter contact time, and lower temperature. By increasing of initial bromide ion concentrations and temperature, bromate formation has progressively been increased. The values of bromate formation during chlorination and ozonation at initial concentration of bromide ion solutions containing 100 μg/L were 6.52 and 4.9 μg/L, respectively, and were lower than the WHO guideline value for bromate in drinking water. Because of that product water has been mixed with water wells contain amounts of bromide ion, the drinking water has exceeded the international standards of bromate content. The chlorination process of water presented less formation of bromate than ozonation in the presence of bromide ion.