Publication of Research on the By-products of Chloramination

The Scottish Government has published the results of research by Cranfield University into the by-products of the chloramination disinfection process. DWQR, who requested the research, was keen to examine whether switching disinfection method from chlorine to chloramine was likely to create issues with the formation of new or different disinfection by-products, and whether these could be formed at concentrations that were of significance for public health.

The study found that in general, chloramination produced fewer by-products, although switching to this method without making other changes to treatment processes may not always be sufficient to control THM formation. The study also identified a number of other issues, and further work will be needed to examine these in detail. A copy of the full report is on the website, here.