scholarly journals Biodegradation Behavior of Ozonated Natural Organic Matter in Sand Filters

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Z. Wang ◽  
R. S. Summers

Natural organic matter (NOM) in drinking water is a complex mixture of organic compounds. Some of the compounds are not biodegradable, while others are quickly biodegradable and a third group is more resistant to biodegradation. To have a better understanding of the biofiltration process in drinking water treatment, it is important to identify the elements of the quickly and slowly biodegradable NOM and to characterize the biodegradation rate of each element. In this study, an ozonated NOM solution was used as the substrate. The NOM was isolated from a groundwater in Germany using ion-exchange resins. The ozone dose was 0.35 mg O3/mg DOC (dissolved organic carbon). Previously bioacclimated sand was used as filter media and biomass source and was homogeneously distributed in the filter prior to each run. The substrate removal was evaluated by DOC, biodegradable DOC (BDOC), assimilable organic carbon (AOC), aldehyde and ketoacid analyses. When expressed in terms of the empty bed contact time (EBCT), the results showed that filter velocity in the range of 1.5 to 15 m/hr had no impact on substrate removal. This implies that substrate utilization, not external mass transfer, is the rate limiting step for substrate removal in drinking water biofilters. In this study, compounds or NOM fractions are termed quickly biodegradable if they are removed in the first three minutes of EBCT. 15% of the DOC was removed by the biofilter within three minutes of EBCT and was termed the quickly biodegradable fraction. The BDOC fraction of the ozonated solution was determined to be 40 to 45% of the DOC. In terms of BDOC, about one third of the total BDOC was quickly biodegradable. The AOC results show that about 90% of the total AOC was utilized by Spirillum sp. NOX (AOC-NOX). Most of the AOC was quickly biodegradable and was removed within one minute of EBCT. For aldehydes, glyoxal and methyl glyoxal were removed to below the detection limit after two minutes of EBCT. However, only 60% of formaldehyde removal was achieved in the first two minutes of EBCT, and no additional removal was achieved with increasing EBCT. Additionally, no significant removal of acetaldehyde was observed. The results of ketoacids show that their utilization rates were very high. More than 90% of glyoxylic acid and pyruvic acid were removed within one minute of EBCT.

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Grefte ◽  
M. Dignum ◽  
E. R. Cornelissen ◽  
L. C. Rietveld

Abstract. To guarantee a good water quality at the customers tap, natural organic matter (NOM) should be (partly) removed during drinking water treatment. The objective of this research was to improve the biological stability of the produced water by incorporating anion exchange (IEX) for NOM removal. Different placement positions of IEX in the treatment lane (IEX positioned before coagulation, before ozonation or after slow sand filtration) and two IEX configurations (MIEX® and fluidized IEX (FIX)) were compared on water quality as well as costs. For this purpose the pre-treatment plant at Loenderveen and production plant Weesperkarspel of Waternet were used as a case study. Both, MIEX® and FIX were able to remove NOM (mainly the HS fraction) to a high extent. NOM removal can be done efficiently before ozonation and after slow sand filtration. The biological stability, in terms of assimilable organic carbon, biofilm formation rate and dissolved organic carbon, was improved by incorporating IEX for NOM removal. The operational costs were assumed to be directly dependent of the NOM removal rate and determined the difference between the IEX positions. The total costs for IEX for the three positions were approximately equal (0.0631 € m−3), however the savings on following treatment processes caused a cost reduction for the IEX positions before coagulation and before ozonation compared to IEX positioned after slow sand filtration. IEX positioned before ozonation was most cost effective and improved the biological stability of the treated water.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 668-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Q. Zhao ◽  
C. P. Huang ◽  
S. Y. Chen ◽  
D. S. Wang ◽  
T. Li ◽  
...  

Natural organic matter (NOM) plays a significant role in the fouling of ultrafiltration membranes in drinking water treatment processes. For a better understanding of the interaction between fractional components of NOM and polysulfone (PS) ultrafiltration membranes used for drinking water treatment, fouling and especially the physically irreversible fouling of natural organic matter were investigated. Resin fractionation, fluorescence excitation–emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), contact angle and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) were employed to identify the potential foulants. The results showed that humic acid and fulvic acid of small size were likely to permeate the membrane, while the hydrophobic fraction of humic and fulvic acid and aromatic proteins tended to be rejected and retained. Organic compounds such as proteins, humic substances, and polysaccharide-like materials, were all detected in the fouling layer. The physically irreversible fouling of the PS membrane seemed to be mainly attributed to the hydrophobic fraction of humic substances.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Ramirez ◽  
Stephan Ramseier Gentile ◽  
Stéphane Zimmermann ◽  
Serge Stoll

Intensive use of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) in daily products ineluctably results in their release into aquatic systems and consequently into drinking water resources. Therefore, understanding NPs behavior in various waters from naturel to mineral waters is crucial for risk assessment evaluation and the efficient removal of NPs during the drinking water treatment process. In this study, the impact of relevant physicochemical parameters, such as pH, water hardness, and presence of natural organic matter (NOM) on the surface charge properties and aggregation abilities of both NPs and nanoplastic particles is investigated. TiO2, CeO2, and Polystyrene (PS) nanoplastics are selected, owing to their large number applications and contrasting characteristics at environmental pH. Experiments are performed in different water samples, including, ultrapure water, three bottled mineral waters, Lake Geneva, and drinking water produced from Lake Geneva. Our findings demonstrate that both water hardness and negatively charged natural organic matter concentrations, which were measured via dissolved organic carbon determination, are playing important roles. At environmental pH, when negatively charged nanoparticles are considered, specific cation adsorption is promoting aggregation so long as NOM concentration is limited. On the other hand, NOM adsorption is expected to be a key process in NPs destabilization when positively charged PS nanoplastics are considered.


2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 459-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Chae

The aim of this study was to characterize and compare natural organic matter (NOM) removal and disinfection by-product (DBP) formation in the drinking water treatment train that can give valuable information, while optimizing the treatment process. In this study, the determination of the hydrophobic (HPO), transphilic (THP) and hydrophilic (HPI) NOM distribution was used in parallel with more related drinking water parameters to compare the selected waters. High-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) was applied to evaluate the relative changes of molecular size distribution of NOM in different treatment steps and source waters. This showed that the quantity, speciation and activated carbon adsorption of DBPs could vary not only by water quality, but also by the distribution and properties of the organic molecules that comprise NOM.


2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Bursill

On and follow Natural organic matter (NOM) derived from soil and vegetation in water catchments is the key factor influencing most, if not all water treatment processes. The structure of the NOM and its involvement in water treatment processes requires better understanding. It seems likely that a better understanding of NOM reactions could lead to far better predictive capacity for water treatment designers and operators. Certainly the removal of NOM as a first step to the production of drinking water has many attractions. This paper provides an overview of work done by the author and many of his colleagues to advance this issue.


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