Can an ozone water treatment system remove naturally occurring bromine in source water to prevent the formation of bromate?
Bromine (Br) is found naturally in seawater and a wide range of biology including our own blood. It is the element that gives shrimp its pink colour. Bromine is a “halogen” element which means salt-producing. It is related to iodine and the other halogen elements fluorine, chlorine, and astatine. Halogen elements form compounds with other elements such as sodium, which result in bromate compounds. Bromates are often manmade and can be harmful to health.
Bromine is often used in swimming pools and cooling towers for disinfection. Bromine is also used extensively in the pharmaceutical industry in sedatives and tranquillizers to decrease the sensitivity of the central nervous system.
Fortunately, few by-products are formed by ozonation, however ozone does react with bromine ions in water to produce bromate. Bromate has been identified as a possible human carcinogen and bromate drinking water levels are strictly controlled at 10 μg/L in most developed countries.
Bromate can be formed when ozone used to disinfect drinking water reacts with bromine found in the source water. The formation of bromate can be easily and effectively prevented with the addition of activated carbon filters in the ozone treatment train. Carbon filters are used in the treatment train prior to ozonation to remove bromine and then post ozonation to ensure there is absolutely no trace of bromates.
Ozone is the most widely used disinfection technology by bottled water companies globally. Ozone is a powerful oxidizing and disinfecting agent that improves finished water quality by reducing turbidity while retaining naturally occurring minerals. Ozone improves the taste, colour and odour of water .
The Aclarus team of water professionals commences every system design with a comprehensive water analysis to determine the specialized treatment plan. Where necessary, such as the case with bromine, the source water is pretreated prior to ozonation to eliminate any risk of by-products, such as bromate.
