An experimental study for chlorine residual and trihalomethane formation with rechlorination.

Maintenance of adequate chlorine residuals and control of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) throughout water distribution systems is currently an important issue. In particular, rechlorination can be a powerful tool in controlling adequate chlorine residual in a large distribution system. The patterns of chlorine decay and formation of DBPs due to rechlorination are different from those of chlorination; chlorine decay is slower and trihalomethane (THM) formation is lower with rechlorination. The present study evaluates whether existing predictive models for chlorine residual and THM formation are applicable in the case of rechlorination. A parallel first-order decay model represents the best simulation results for chlorine decay, and an empirical power function model (modified Amy model) with an introduced correction coefficient (phi1, phi2) is more suitable to THM formation.