Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

1200

Date

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Chemistry

Concentration

Analytical Chemistry

Committee Chair

Gary L Emmert

Committee Member

Simone S Paul

Committee Member

Daniel L Baker

Committee Member

Xiaohua Huang

Abstract

Trihalomethanes (THMs) are a major class of disinfection by-products found in chlorinated drinking water. They are an unfortunate side effect of the chlorination process. Due to possible adverse health effects, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has set a maximum contaminant level of 0.080 milligrams per liter for Total Trihalomethanes in drinking water. Recently, the way in which utilities report their trihalomethane levels has changed. This has renewed interest in on-line, near real time monitoring of trihalomethane concentrations. The focus of this research was the development of a fully automated instrument capable of on-line near real time measurement of THMs concentrations in drinking water distribution systems and its application to real world problems. A commercial instrument that was shown to be both rugged and robust was developed. This instrument was used to collect unprecedented on-line THMs data in multiple distribution systems. This data was then used for treatment process optimization in a functioning water treatment plant. Comparison to empirical models showed that it is possible to use on-line monitoring data to calibrate the models for a particular system. This is a possible alternative to the expensive process of developing an entirely new empirical model. Additional studies used the rate of formation of THMs to detemrine the time to the first tap for a particular treatment system. This determined amount of time was used with the rate of ormation for haloacetic acids to distinguish between concentrations resulting from formation and thos resulting from the use of bulk hypochlorite solution.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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