A robust analysis of bromate formation models

The formation of bromate is the main barrier in the application of ozone during water treatment for waters containing high concentrations of bromide. A number of empirical multiple linear regression models have been developed to model bromate formation. In this work, four of these models were applied to two water treatment works in the UK to determine the widespread application of these models to waters different from where they were developed. The most accurate models were able to predict the general trend in bromate formation but individual estimates could be very inaccurate (by up to 500 %). The most useful application of this type of model was to show a more qualitative demonstration of how changing process parameters could reduce bromate formation.