A Simple and Cost-Effective Alternative Analytical Method for Monitoring and Optimizing Chloramine Chemistry in a Distribution System

The five participating water agencies – the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), Helix Water District (HWD), Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD), Burbank Water and Power (BWP), and Portland Water Bureau (PWB) – as well as countless other water agencies across the United States utilize chloramine as a secondary disinfectant in the distribution system driven by the need to minimize the formation of chlorine disinfection by-products (DBPs) and ensure a stable residual disinfectant.

The objectives of this project are to test, refine, and validate the applicability of a simple, easy, safe, and cost-effective analytical method for accurately measuring the total ammonia concentration in a water containing chloramine. When the method is paired with a total chlorine measurement, it can be used to accurately quantify the concentration of free ammonia in a chloraminated water and thus reliably balance the chemistry of chloramination in a water treatment plant effluent and when boosting chloramine in a distribution system.