Volatile Organic Compounds in Water at Thirty Canadian Potable Water Treatment Facilities
Abstract A static headspace technique and previously developed and evaluated dynamic headspace and liquid-liquid extraction techniques were applied in a survey of volatile organic compounds in water at 30 Canadian potable water treatment facilities. Of the 43 compounds investigated, 27 compounds were detected in the water samples. Chloroform and bromodichloromethane occurred most frequently in treated water, and trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, 1,2-dichloroethane, dichloromethane, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and the xylenes occurred frequently in both treated and raw water. Only chloroform occurred frequently at levels above 10 μg/L in treated water. Generally, higher levels of organic compounds were found during August-September than during November-December.