The occurrence of trihalomethanes in the drinking water in Greece

This paper summarizes and completes an investigation into the occurrence of trihalomethanes (THMs) in public water supplies in Greece. The investigation was conducted in three cities of Greece, Athens, Mytilene and Chalkida, from 1993 to 1998. Samples were collected from three treatment plants of Athens (Galatsi Treatment Plant--GTP, Menidi Treatment Plant--MTP, Kiourka Treatment Plant--KTP) and from the distribution systems of Athens, Mytilene and Chalkida. The sources for these systems are lakes, boreholes and wells. The concentrations of THMs ranged from 5 to 106 microg/l, from 4 to 27 microg/l and from 5 to 96 microg/l, in the distribution systems of Athens, Mytilene, Chalkida, respectively. The wide ranges of concentrations in three cities should be attributed to the organics concentration of raw water. In all the cases the THMs concentrations were higher during the summer and fall than in spring and winter. In GTP and in the distribution system receives water by GTP, from April 1993 to January 1995, Mytilene and Chalkida, brominated THMs dominated and existed at the highest concentration levels, whereas chloroform was the least prevalent compound, while in all the other cases the opposite was observed. In all samples the concentrations were lower than the maximum level of 100 microg/l for total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) set by European Community (EC).