Status of disinfection byproducts research in India

India faces high incidents of waterborne disease outbreaks owing to their limited access to safe drinking water. In many ways, the effort to improve the quality of drinking water is performed, and it has been keenly monitored. Among those, the disinfection of drinking water is considered a necessary and important step as it controls the microbial population. Chlorination is the most practiced (greater than 80%) disinfection process in India, and it is known to generate various disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Although the toxicity and trend of DBPs are regularly monitored and investigated in most countries, still in India, the research is at the toddler level. This review summarizes i) the status of drinking water disinfection in India, ii) types of disinfection processes in centralized water treatment plants, iii) concentrations and occurrence patterns of DBPs in a different region of India, iv) a literature survey on the toxicity of DBPs, and v) removal methodologies or alternative technologies to mitigate the DBPs formation. Overall, this review may act as a roadmap to understand the trend of disinfection practices in India and their impacts on securing the goal of safe drinking water for all.

Automated summary

Due to limited access to safe drinking water, India faces a high incidence of waterborne disease outbreaks. Efforts are being made to improve the quality of drinking water, with a focus on disinfection to control microbial populations. However, in India, research on the toxicity and trends of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) is still in its early stages.