Concentration levels of urea in swimming pool water and reactivity of chlorine with urea
Abstract
This study investigated the reactivity of chlorine with urea which is the main nitrogen contaminant introduced into swimming pool water by bathers. In the first part of this study, analyses showed that the mean concentrations of urea and TOC determined from 50 samples of municipal swimming pool were equal to 18.0 μM (s.d. 11.7) and 3.5 mg C L(-1) (s.d. 1.6), respectively. The mean value for the urea contribution to the TOC content was 6.3% (s.d. 3.3). The rate of decomposition of urea in swimming pool water measured during the closure time of the facility was very slow (decay at the rate of ≈ 1% per hour in the presence of 1.6-1.8 mg L(-1) of free chlorine). In the second part of this work, experiments carried out with phosphate buffered solutions of urea ([Urea](0) = 1 mM; [Cl(2)](0)/[Urea](0): 0.5-15 mol/mol; pH 7.4 ± 0.2; reaction time: 0-200 h) showed that long term chlorine demand of urea was about 5 mol Cl(2)/mol of urea. Chlorination led to a complete mineralization of organic carbon into CO(2) for a chlorine dose of 3.5 mol/mol and to the formation of 0.7-0.8 mol NO(3)(-)/mol of urea for chlorine dose of 8-10 mol/mol. Experiments conducted with dilute solutions of urea ([Urea](0) = 50 μM; pH ≈ 7.3) confirmed that the degradation rate of urea by chlorine is very slow under conditions simulating real swimming pool water.
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The release of urine and sweat into swimming pools has been estimated in a range of 25-77.5 and 200-1000 mL/bather, respectively.
“The release of urine and sweat into swimming pools has been estimated in a range of 25-77.5 and 200-1000 mL/bather, respectively (De Laat et al., 2011;WHO, 2006).”
From Regulation, formation, exposure, and treatment of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in swimming pool waters: A critical review (2018) · cites this paper as De Laat et al., 2011
Urea concentrations in swimming pool waters have been reported in ranges from 0.01 to 4.02 mg/L across studies.
“Urea in SPWs has been reported in many literature studies, e.g., 0.01-0.11mg/L by Afifi and Blatchley III (2015), 0.50-2.12mg/L by Schmalz et al. (2011), 0.12-3.6mg/L by De Laat et al. (2011), 0.01-4.02mg/L by Blatchley III and Cheng (2010).”
From Regulation, formation, exposure, and treatment of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in swimming pool waters: A critical review (2018) · cites this paper as De Laat et al., 2011
Cites
Li, J., & Blatchley, E. R. (2007) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es070871+ · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Volatile disinfection by-product analysis from chlorinated indoor swimming pools
Weaver, W. A., Li, J., Wen, Y., Johnston, J., Blatchley, M. R., & Blatchley III, E. R. (2009) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2009.04.035 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Exposure to chloramines in the atmosphere of indoor swimming pools
HERY, M. (1995) · The Annals of Occupational Hygiene · doi:10.1016/0003-4878(95)00013-5 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
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Disinfection byproducts in swimming pool: occurrences, implications and future needs
Chowdhury, S., Alhooshani, K., & Karanfil, T. (2014) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2014.01.017 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Halobenzoquinones in swimming pool waters and their formation from personal care products
Wang, W., Qian, Y., Boyd, J. M., Wu, M., Hrudey, S. E., & Li, X.-F. (2013) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es304938x · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Yang, L., Chen, X., She, Q., Cao, G., Liu, Y., Chang, V. W.-C., & Tang, C. Y. (2018) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2018.10.024 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Yang, L., Schmalz, C., Zhou, J., Zwiener, C., Chang, V. W.-C., Ge, L., & Wan, M. P. (2016) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2016.05.088 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
- Authors
- De Laat, J., Feng, W., Freyfer, D. A., & Dossier-Berne, F.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Venue
- Water Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-01
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1139-1146
- ISSN
- 0043-1354 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2012138913
- Cited by
- 109
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 2.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Water Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- French Agency for Environmental an Occupational Health Safety (AFSSET) (EST-2008-07)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Water Treatment and Disinfection
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Advanced oxidation water treatment
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Keywords
- urea, swimming pool water, chlorine, urea decomposition, total organic carbon, nitrogen pollution, mineralization, nitrate formation, free chlorine
- MeSH terms
- Carbon, Chloramines, Chlorine, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Nitrogen, Swimming Pools, Urea, Water
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