The 2017 meeting has two main goals. The first goal is to broaden the scope beyond DBP formation within conventional drinking water plants. Disinfection represents a balance between controlling the acute risk associated with pathogens and the chronic risk linked to DBPs. The first two sessions will address this balance directly. The first session will evaluate disinfectant reactions with pathogens, recognizing that the biomolecular transformations responsible for pathogen kill are DBPs. The second session will cover tradeoffs between microbial growth and DBPs within distribution systems, the least evaluated sector of drinking water systems. The sixth section will focus on DBPs in wastewater recycling, particularly which DBPs contribute most to toxicity and how to control them. The conference will also include new arenas for DBPs, including a talk by Clorox on disinfectant design for consumer applications, and the formation of DBPs during food processing.

The second goal is to move towards a solution to the DBP problem. A major strength of this conference is that it brings together engineers, chemists, toxicologists, epidemiologists and regulators, the key players for addressing this problem. Previous conferences have concluded that there is no feasible way to control pathogens without producing DBPs, so the challenge is to achieve the best balance that minimizes exposure to the DBPs driving risk. Sessions will link chemistry and toxicology to identify these toxicity drivers. Session 8 will feature discussions among chemists, exposure experts and epidemiologists about how the ideal epidemiology study should be designed to provide the evidence to link exposure to human health risks. Session 9 will conclude with presentations and a discussion regarding how to design water treatment systems that minimize toxicity drivers, including a presentation from a Dutch utility on how to avoid the use of disinfectants in drinking water distribution systems.