Disinfection Efficacy, Disinfectant Persistence and Disinfection Byproducts in Bromination of Domestic Wastewater

Abstract

To investigate the applicability of bromine disinfection to domestic wastewater, septic tank water was disinfected via bromination, and the disinfection efficacy, disinfectant persistence, and trihalomethane formation were compared with those under disinfection via chlorination. The effect of bromine disinfection on coliforms was higher than that of chlorine disinfection. The residual disinfectants were similar at the same injection rate under both chlorination and bromination. Although small amounts of trihalomethanes were generated, the concentrations were extremely low compared to the quality standards for drinking water in Japan. The results suggest that bromination is useful for disinfection of domestic wastewater.