Drinking Water Vulnerability Assessment after Disinfection through Chlorine

The objective of present paper is to propose a criterion for performing a vulnerability analysis in a water distribution system, which involves the estimation of the consumers’ exposure to pathogenic risk and to elevated trihalomethanes concentration, deriving from the reaction of natural organic matter with sodium hypochlorite, widely used for the drinking water disinfection.The analysis is carried out by introducing some index parameters, linked to a trihalomethanes fixed threshold, which has not to be exceeded. The results of the methodology show that the considered factors identify different vulnerable nodes respect to the different kind of exposure they refer to.