There is an increased threat of health risk due to the high amounts of microbes in un-disinfected water (Schoeny, 2010). Though there are many forms of cleaning methods currently in use, chemical disinfection is the prevalent method. Two commonly used methods of disinfection are chlorine and chloramine. Chlorine is distributed into drinking water as chlorine dioxide gas whereas chloramine is the product of ammonia added to already chlorinated water (Bougeard et al., 2010). When these chemicals are added to drinking water, disinfection by-products are produced as an undesirable effect. Disinfection by-products results in a negative impact to the environment along with public health due to their toxicity and perseverance (Chary, Nallanthigal, and Fernandez-Alba, …show more content…
(2009), stated in their conclusion that facilities that used chloramination meet European standards while facilities that used chlorine found it more difficult to meet the maximum contaminant limit. Regarding chlorine, chloramine, and THM4 formation, the researchers’ state it is vital to reduce contaminates and decrease the risk of microbes in drinking water. Through the use of disinfection methods in drinking water, there is a likelihood of diminished risk of microbes within the drinking water throughout communities. Exposing consumable water to hazardous chemicals does not come without complications; there is an inherent risk in the formation of disinfection by-products (Serrano et al., 2011). These disinfection by-products are the result of disinfection chemicals coming into contact and reacting with natural organic matter (Bougeard et al., 2010). With the amounts of hazardous chemicals being in such minute quantities, a reliable detection method is required. This can be achieved through the use of chromatography and mass spectrometry. Through these methods of detection chemical compounds can be isolated and identified while giving accurate