Have Utilities Switched to Chloramines?

The article focuses on a survey done by the American Water Works Association's (AWWA) Secondary Disinfection Practices Survey to determine the percentage of water utilities currently using chloramines and those intending to convert to the use of chloramines in the future in the United States. Chloramines have been utilized as a disinfectant for many years. Their long-term stability in distribution systems and tendency to form only low levels of regulated disinfection by-products make them attractive as a secondary disinfectant. There are however, some known drawbacks to using chloramines, such as nitrification and gasket material failures. The national use of chloramines is at the center of several current drinking water policy discussions. The AWWA Secondary Disinfection Practices Survey provides a large survey response to compare estimates regarding the use of chloramines with the economic analysis predictions. This survey does not represent a random sampling of all drinking water utilities, but rather a sampling of those utilities willing to complete the survey.