[Determination of trace bromate in drinking water by ion chromatography with suppressed conductivity detection]

Bromate is a common disinfection by-product produced from the ozonation of source water containing bromide. An ion exchange chromatographic method with suppressed conductivity detection for the determination of trace bromate in drinking water was developed. The separation of the bromate in drinking water was achieved on a Metrosep A Supp 5 anion exchange column and a Metrosep A Supp 4/5 Guard column with a carbonate eluent. A new dual suppressed system, an MSM II chemical suppressor combined with a CO2 suppressor, was used to suppress the background conductivity, and to improve the detection limit of bromate. Ion chromatographic experiments were carried out by using a Metrosep A Supp 5 anion exchange column with a suppressed conductivity detector and an eluent of 3.2 mmoL/L Na2CO3-1.0 mmol/L NaHCO3 at a flow rate of 0.65 mL/min. This method had good linearity (r = 0.9999) in the range of 5-100 microg/L and high precision (relative standard deviation (RSD) < 4% ) for three concentration levels of bromate. The average recoveries of the spiked samples including tap water, pure water and mineral water were 96.1%-107%, and the detection limit for bromate was 0.50 microg/L. This method has a simple operation procedure, good separation results, high sensitivity and good repeatability. It can be used as a standard method for the determination of bromate in drinking water.