SBIR Phase I: Evaluating the Feasibility of a fully-automated, on-line, real-time analyzer for simultaneous determination of individual THMs and HAAs

The broader impact/commercial impact of this project will be in potentially improving drinking water quality throughout the United States and the world. The availability of a safe drinking water supply is fundamental to human life and the development of stable civilizations. This importance cannot be minimized. Moreover, the disinfection and treatment of drinking water in the United States alone is big business. Currently, plant operators do not have efficient and affordable systems that allow them to do on-site process control. The result is that many water utilities are simply flying blind and hoping that their water meets federal regulations. Our system places them squarely in control of the situation. Our system will provide utilities and researchers a deeper understanding of the trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) formation process and enable mitigation strategies. They will be able to be proactive as well as reactive in responding to water quality changes. Eventually, once utilities use our device to establish monitoring programs as part of their quality control and quality assurance, the water treatment plants will be able to save operating expenses by optimizing their treatment chemical usage while also improving water quality parameters. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will support the technological development of an innovative device aimed for real-time process control and optimization on-site of THMs and HAAs at municipal water treatment plants. The disinfection drinking water supplies has virtually eliminated waterborne disease in the United States, but produces two classes of disinfection by-products: the THMs and HAAs. The THMs and HAAs are carcinogens and are regulated by the USEPA in drinking water. While the THMs and the HAAs are similar in origin, they have radically different chemical and physical properties. Typically two different analytical instruments or methods are used for their analysis. Our proposed device is innovative; it is a single, device capable of measuring the individual concentrations of each THM and HAA. The research objectives are to determine the feasibility of our proposed device to simultaneously measure the concentrations of the THMs and HAAs in real-time, on-line and on-site at a water treatment plant. The specific technical goals of the study are: adapt the chemistry for automation, determine stability of reagents, and compare to standard United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) methods. Successful completion will demonstrate a prototype capable of analyzing individual THMs and HAAs equivalent to USEPA methods.