Survey of the occurrence of residues of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in Dutch drinking water sources and drinking water

Abstract

An indicative survey has been carried out in The Netherlands investigating the presence of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in drinking water and the corresponding sources. In total, 71 different sites used for the preparation of drinking water in The Netherlands were sampled in two successive seasons in 2001 involving the analysis of 156 samples. (ground water (n = 88), surface water (n = 17), bank filtrate water (n = 6) and drinking water (n = 45)). To combine high sample throughput with high selectivity and sensitivity, off-line purge and trap for sampling and gas chromatography mass spectrometry equipped with an automated thermal desorption sampler (TDS-GC-MS) was selected as the preferred analytical methodology. The developed procedure enabled the analysis of at least 40 samples per day and provided a limit of quantification of 2 ng l⁻¹. In the first period 63 samples of raw water were analyzed. Concentrations ranged between <10 ng l⁻¹ and 420 ng l⁻¹ with a median concentration below 10 ng l⁻¹. The second period was focused at the re-sampling of positive locations (MTBE > 10 ng l⁻¹) and a few additional drinking water utilities of which both the raw and drinking water of the utilities were analyzed. The median concentration of MTBE in the selected set of drinking water samples was 20 ng l⁻¹ (n = 45). At one location MTBE was found at a level of 2 900 ng l⁻¹ caused by point source contamination of the ground water (11 900 ng l⁻¹). Special attention has been paid to the quality of the results by analyzing all samples in duplicate and the analysis of control samples during each series of analyses.