Drinking Water Chlorination and Adverse Public Health Outcomes in Algeria

Abstract

Drinking water supplies continue to be a major source of human disease because many of them remain unsafe and vulnerable. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of trihalomethanes formation and chemical and microbiological quality through four raw surface waters as well as finished tap waters. The seasonal changes on trihalomethane formation and concentration of organic precursors were examined. Results show that disinfection for Algerian drinking water reduces the risk of pathogenic infection but may pose chemical threat to human health due to high levels of by-products such as trihalomethanes, when the organic and inorganic precursors are present in water. The level of THM precursors vary between different catchment areas and between different water treatment plants, and seasonally. Such work may be interesting to help management strategies and to assist drinking water treatment plants in DBP control processes for increasingly impaired water sources.

Defluoridation of Algerian Drinking Water by Precipitation and Adsorption Methods

“…This is probably largely due to the high levels of chloride and sulphate ions. This is in line with the results of various other studies [6,13,14] indicating the sulphate-chloride type of the waters of the northern Sahara. A cross comparison was also investigated with the local and international drinking water standards for fluoride levels.…”

“…The studied water samples were found to have a fluoride concentration above the permissible limit for drinking water [7,15]. Many studies showed that fluoride is the result of water-rock interaction and leaching from minerals such as fluorine in various aquifers with different lithologies [1,6,13,14]. In fact, in the studied semi-arid area, groundwater quality is influenced by many different environmental factors such as the lithological nature of the formations, high annual temperature, low precipitations and intense potential evapotranspiration.…”

“…This area is also subject to a high water demand, particularly from agriculture. Groundwater resources are provided by the deep Terminal Complex (TC) and Intercalary Continental (IC) aquifers [6]. The population of southern Algeria almost exclusively depend on the local groundwater for their drinking water and the available data indicate that fluoride levels often far exceed recommended limits, namely 0.6 to 0.8mg/l depending on the maximum day time temperature [7].…”