An Assessment of Current and Past Concentrations of Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water throughout France

Abstract

In France, 95% of people are supplied with chlorinated tap water. Due to the presence of natural organic matter that reacts with chlorine, the concentrations of chlorination by-products (CBPs) are much higher in chlorinated water produced from surface water than from groundwater. Surface water supplies 33% of the French population. Until the 1980s, almost all surface water utilities pre-chlorinated water at the intake. Pre-chlorination was then gradually banned from 1980 to 2000. Trihalomethanes (THMs) are the only regulated CBP in France. Since 2003, THMs have been monitored at the outlet of all utilities. This study assessed current (2005–2011) and past (1960–2000) exposure of the French population to THMs. We developed an original method to model THM concentrations between 1960 and 2000 according to current concentrations of THMs, concentration of total organic carbon in raw and finished water, and the evolution of water treatments from 1960 onward. Current and past mean exposure of the French population to THMs was estimated at 11.7 µg·L−1 and 17.3 µg·L−1, respectively. In the past, approximately 10% of the French population was exposed to concentrations >50 µg·L−1 vs. 1% currently. Large variations in exposure were observed among France’s 100 administrative districts, mainly depending on the water origin (i.e., surface vs. ground), ranging between 0.2 and 122.1 µg·L−1 versus between 1.8 and 38.6 µg·L−1 currently.

Pool Water Overchlorination in Timis County, Romania: Case-Study

“… Microbiological pollution of recreational waters prompted communities' leaders to develop strategies to optimize monitoring schemes of recreational waters (Gutiérrez-Cacciabue et al, 2014), monitoring of microbiological quality of ambient waters (Poma et al, 2012), to create methods of microbial quality simulation of water resources including infectious risk (Schijven et al, 2015), to test microbial resistance of cutaneous germs from adult and children bathers in marine waters (Plano et al, 2011) or to investigate through specific tests Bacteroides from sewage-polluted waters (Fenga & McLellan, 2019).  Health effects of disinfection by-products exposure were investigated by researchers paying attention to associations: between testicular hormones at adolescence and attendance at chlorinated swimming pools during childhood , health effects and exposure to water disinfection by-products in a swimming pool (van Veldhoven et al, 2018), bladder cancer and water disinfection by-product exposures (Freeman et al, 2017) and between current and past concentration of THMs in water throughout France (Corso et al, 2018). Good practices of pool water chlorination in Timis County indicate the tendency to keep the water as close as possible to the standards of drinking water (WHO, 2003a(WHO, & 2003b, in order to avoid health effects of Trihalomethanes (by-products intensively studied regarding health effects in the Past, in our area).…”

Evaluation of <i>C. perfringens cpe</i>-positive Strain as a Source Tracking Indicator of Human Contamination in Freshwater Environments

“…Disinfection of sewage effluents using chlorine is widely adopted worldwide and will continue to be a priority for disinfection technology because of its broad spectrum of sterilization and outstanding cost-effectiveness. Nevertheless, various problems have been identified in recent years, such as the effects of residual chlorine and by-products, such as trihalomethane, in aquatic organisms [37], and chlorine odor. Our data show that chlorinated effluents are a major source of contamination of C. perfringens cpe(+), pointing to the need to consider alternative disinfectants, such as peracetic acid, that can be expected to affect spores.…”

Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water and Bladder Cancer Burden in the European Union

“…Over the last 20 y, many EU countries managed to decrease the THM levels in their public drinking water by changing treatment methods including disinfection and by improving the quality of the water resources and the distribution network infrastructures (Palacios et al 2000;Premazzi et al 1997;Llopis-González et al 2010;Gómez-Gutiérrez et al 2012). In France, for example, water utilities have made efforts to reduce soluble organic matter in surface water sources, and chlorine dosage has been optimized to keep residual chlorine in the distribution network with minimal DBP formation (Corso et al 2018;Courcier et al 2014). In Italy, chlorine dioxide is widely used, contributing to lower levels of THMs but also to higher levels of chlorite and chlorate (Fantuzzi et al 2007).…”