Bromine chemistry applied to disinfection of swimming pool water: A literature review
This paper presents a bibliographical review on the disinfection of swimming pool water with bromine. The formation mechanisms and the mode of action of the disinfectant, hypobromous acid, are discussed. The review of the main bromination by-products (bromamines, trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, haloacetonitriles, bromate, haloaldehydes, nitrosamines, etc.) shows that some of these by-products are present in pool water at concentrations of a few μg∙L-1 to a few tens of μg∙L-1. The study for acute and chronic toxicity confirms that these compounds should be monitored (especially dibromoacetic acid and bromate) to ensure the safety of swimmers and technical staff. The biocidal effectiveness of bromine versus chlorine, against pathogenic bacteria present in swimming water, is detailed. It has been shown that the bacterial species Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus faecalis are more sensitive to bromine, unlike Pseudomonas aeruginosa that is resistant to bromine. It has also been reported several cases of irritant contact dermatitis when using bromine though some studies have revealed bromamines to be disinfecting, odourless and non-irritating. Nevertheless, bromine exhibits greater bactericidal activity than chlorine in slightly alkaline and warm water and could replace chlorine in the treatment of atypical swimming pools, although chlorine is less costly than bromine.