ABSTRACT
Chemicals occur in the desalination process from numerous origins. These include the source water and chemicals that are used in the treatment process to aid its efž- cient functioning, to ensure microbiological safety, to stabilize the water before it enters the distribution system, and to control corrosion from contact surfaces during storage and distribution to consumers. Many of these are the same chemicals that would be encountered in conventional drinking water sources and supplies, but there are a number that are of particular relevance for desalination. As the process is based on removal of inorganic salts and also organic chemicals, most of them, including many disinfection by-product (DBP) precursors, will not reach the žnal water in more than trace quantities and so will not pose a risk to consumers; others will be signižcantly reduced in concentration. Some low-molecular-weight organic materials will not be entirely removed, and some will be added posttreatment and will therefore reach consumers. Conversely, some of the inorganic ions that are removed may be of nutritional signižcance and therefore potentially benežcial if they had remained in the žnished water.
