University of Alexandria

High Institute of Public Health

Environmental Health Department

Assessment of Trihalomethanes in Noubaria Water Purification

Plant and its Distribution System

‫تقدير ثالثاي الهالو ميثان بمحطة النوبارية لتنقية المياه وشبكة التوزيع الخاص بها‬

A protocol

Submitted to the High Institute of Public Health

In partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Public Health Sciences

(Environmental Chemistry and Biology)

BY

Michael Dawood Soliman Gobreal

‫مايكل داود سليمان غبريال‬

B. Sc, Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Alexandria, 2004

DPH( Environmental Chemistry and Biology), High Institute of Public Health, 2006

University of Alexandria
2010
Supervisors ‫المشرفون‬

Prof. Dr. Ahmed Hossam El Deen Hassan ‫ أحمد حسام الدين حسن‬/‫الستاذ الدكتور‬
Professor of Environmental Engineering ‫أستاذ هندسة البيئة‬
Environmental Health Department ‫قسم صحة البيئة‬
High Institute of Public Health ‫المعهد العالى للصحة العامة‬
University of Alexandria ‫جامعة إسكندرية‬

Dr. Sherif Mohamed Abdul Kreem Shawky ‫ شريف محمد عبد الكريم شوفى‬/‫دكتور‬
Assistant professor of Environmental Chemistry and Biology ‫أستاذ مساعد كيمياء وبيولوجيا البيئية‬
Environmental Health Department ‫قسم صحة البيئة‬
High Institute of Public Health ‫المعهد العالى للصحة العامة‬
University of Alexandria ‫جامعة إسكندرية‬
 Introduction

Alexandria is one of the major cities in Egypt. The population is,

according to 2007 statistics, 4.2 million people, and reaches up to 6.0
million in the summer time. Alexandria facing many challenges with
respect to quality of water supply, as it is one of the last water users of the
Nile river water. The daily average production of potable water is about 3.5
million m3/day. (1)

River Nile is the only source of water for drinking Water Company
in Alexandria. It reaches Alexandria through both of Mahmudia and
Noubaria canal. Eight water purification plants in Alexandria; namely:
Maemoura, Sharki, Manshia, Forn ELgraia, Nozha, Siouf, Borg Alarab and
Noubaria. (2)

Noubaria Water purification Plant, (NWPP), is located in North El

Tahrir province at 46km of desert road. Noubaria canal is the source of raw
water supply to the NWTP. The plant was established on total area of
121,405 m2. The daily average of water production is 510 thousand m 3 /
day. (3)

Water Purification Plants are designed to continuously provide water

that meets drinking water guidelines and standards through: source
selection, protection of water quality, purification methods to be used, and
prevention of recontamination. Screening, coagulation/flocculation,

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sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection are the main processes that are
involved in any water purification plant. (4)

Disinfection is the process used to kill the micro-organisms,

(pathogens), and this operation is carried out using chlorination, ionization,
ozonation and / or ultraviolet irradiation. (5)

The commonly used disinfectant is chlorine where free chlorine in

drinking water is not particularly toxic to humans and giving a health based
guidelines value of 5mg/L for sum of hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite
ion. (6)

Egyptian, American public Health Association and United State

Environmental protection Agency limits of free residual chlorine is 5mg/L,
and at levels as low as 0.2mg/litre. (7) (8)

Chlorine is added to drinking water as a gas phase and it flows with

the water as liquid phase at the first step which is called pre-chlorination.
Pre-chlorination kills microorganisms, and aids the process of
sedimentation. The post chlorination is applied upon the outlet of the
treated water as disinfectant for any possible recontamination of water in
the distribution system. (9)

Although chlorine is widely used for disinfection, it has several

major disadvantages. Chlorine reacts with natural organic material found in
water to produce strange tastes, objectionable odor, and other by-product

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such as (THMs). Then there was an apparent association between this by-
product and different types of cancer, e.g. Bladder cancer. (10)

Total (THMs) include four compounds: chloroform,

bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform. THMs are
carcinogenic and have been found to cause adverse pregnancy outcomes.(11)

Egyptian limits of disinfection by–product are 100 µg/L for (THMs),

while WHO and U.S. EPA’s limits are 80 µg/L. (12) (7)

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 Aim of the study

General objective:

Assessment of Trihalomethanes in Noubaria Water Purification

Plant, and its distribution system

Specific objectives:

1) Evaluation of pre-chlorination, post-chlorination and residual chlorine in

NWPP and its distribution system.

2) Assessment of Trihlomethanes in the purified water in NWPP and its

distribution system.

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 Material and Methods

1) Study setting:

The study will be conducted in NWPP and the central laboratory of

Alexandria Water Company.

2) Study design:

Descriptive cross section

3) Sampling size

132 Samples will be collected for a whole year on monthly basis:

A- In NWPP one sample from the following sites

1- Inlet (Raw water)

2- After pre-chlorination site

3- Outlet of sedimentation tanks

4- Outlet of filtration tanks

5- Outlet of NWPP
B- Distribution system one sample will be collected each studied
sector of the distribution system From each site
1- Elbostan 4- Noubaria
2- Elbozor 5- North Eltahrir
3- Elbanger 6- Mariout

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4) Data collection

Samples will be tested for the following factors:

A- Physically: pH, temperature and turbidity.
B- Biologically: Total bacterial count, Total coliform, fecal
coliform and Algae.
C- Chemically: Chlorine demand, residual chlorine and THMs.

All previous analyses will be conducted according to the Standard

Methods of water and waste water (13) and EPA methods (14) .

5) Statistical analysis

Data will be statistically analyzed using appropriate methods to

elaborate the relation between chlorine concentrations in the whole study
sites and its correlation with the THM formation.

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 References
1) Alexandria water general authority, Water Quality Feasibility Study,
Egypt's Water resources and AWGA. Divisions Water Technology.
(AWGA):2002

2) Alexandria water general authority, Water Quality Feasibility Study,

Water production. Division Water Technology. (AWGA):2002

3) Holding Company for Drinking water and Wastewater- Alexandria

Water Company - Information Center, Water treatment, Available
from http://www.alexwater.com/water_treatment_en.html,2009.

4) Appiah Amirtharaiah, Coagulation and flocculation. In: Water quality

and treatment; 5th Ed, Reymond, McGRAW-HILL, INC American
water workers Association; 1999.

5) David A. Cornwell, Water treatment plant residual management. In:

Water quality and treatment; 5th Ed, Reymond, McGRAW-HILL, INC
American water workers Association; 1999.

6) WHO. Disinfectants and Disinfection By-Products, Session

objectives, 2007 Available from:

www.who.int/entity/water_sanitation_health/dwq/S04.pdf

7) WHO. Guidelines for drinking water quality. 3rded. Geneva:

WHO2006 volume2, 2006.

8) United State Environmental protection Agency (USEPA); Guidelines

for drinking water quality 2004

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9) Rhodes R Trussell. Safeguarding distribution system integrity,
American Water Works Association, AWWA, Vol (91), Issue-1,
1999.pages 46-54

10) Ahmed AM, Improving water Clarification Process to Reduce Levels

of the Hazardous Halo-Compounds in Drinking Water Plant in
Alexandria. Master thesis, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research,
University of Alexandria, 2008

11) Charles N. Benefits of using a disinfectant residual. AWWA. Vol (91),

1999

12) Egyptian Ministry of Health. Decree for drinking water standards.

Guidelines for drinking water quality. No.108/2007

13) Clesceri LS, Greenberg AE, Eaton AD. Standard Methods for the
Examination of Water and Wastewater. 21st Ed. Washington, DC:
American public Health Association; APHA, 2005.

14) Hodgeson JW, Cohen AL. Determination of disinfection by-products

Cininnati: United State Environmental protection Agency (USEPA);
2004