Future Perspectives

This chapter attempts to take the information conveyed throughout this book and predict future activities concerning disinfection byproduct (DBP) research, regulation, and management. A lot has happened in the past 50 years since Johannes Rook’s influential 1974 paper, and the DBP realm will continue to evolve. Hopefully, it is evident from this book that it is difficult to be specific about what will be the research and practical DBP perspectives in the future, except to say that there will be more. It is also important to remain mindful that water is disinfected so that it is safe for human consumption, and that the practice of disinfection has saved countless lives by limiting the incidence and spread of waterborne disease. As long as disinfection will be required into the future, we will have to manage the unintended consequence of the formation of DBPs. To this end, it will not be surprising to see more research into essentially all of the aspects that surround DBPs that are described in this book, as well as others that might have been missed. As such, this chapter attempts to summarize many of the efforts that likely will be continued.