Effective monitoring of trihalomethanes in water supply systems

To ensure public health safety, water supplied to consumers should meet both microbiological and disinfection by-product (DBP) requirements. Water utilities are ensuring microbiological safety of water, but there is considerable variation in monitoring and reporting trihalomethane (THM) levels across Australia, for the obvious reasons of cost and lack of resources and skills to monitor total THMs (TTHMs). Such practices lead to neglecting the long-term health risks from DBPs, which are often exacerbated by overdosing chlorine.