Removal of halides from drinking water: technological achievements in the past ten years and research needs

Disinfection is an essential process for drinking water supplies resulting in the formation of unintended disinfection by-products (DBPs), many of which are potentially toxic and are known as the possible or probable human carcinogens. As of now, 100⁺ DBPs were characterized while about 600⁺ others can be formed in the supply water. To protect the human health, many regulatory agencies have set the guideline values for several DBPs. Removal of halide ions and natural organic matter prior to disinfection is an important step to reduce DBPs, and the associated exposure and risks. To date, many publications have reported various methods for halide removal from drinking water. The most review about halide removal technologies, associated challenges, and future research needs was published in 2012. Since then, a number of studies have been published on different methods of halide removal techniques. This paper aims to review the state of research on halide removal techniques focusing on the development during the past 10 years (2012-2021). The techniques were clustered into six major groups: adsorption, ion exchange, coagulation, advanced oxidation, membrane separation, and combined techniques. The progress on these groups of technologies, their advantages, and limitations were examined, and the future research directions to produce the safe drinking water were identified.