Removal of natural organic matter in full-scale conventional and advanced water treatment plants: Assimilable organic carbon and its precursors

Huan He; Tian Li; Chang He; Jiapei Chen; Huaqiang Chu; Bingzhi Dong

Chemical Engineering Journal Advances (Nov 2021)

Removal of natural organic matter in full-scale conventional and advanced water treatment plants: Assimilable organic carbon and its precursors

Huan He,
Tian Li,
Chang He,
Jiapei Chen,
Huaqiang Chu,
Bingzhi Dong

Affiliations

Huan He: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 500 Pillsbury Dr. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55445, United States
Tian Li: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Corresponding author at: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
Chang He: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Jiapei Chen: College of Architecture and Design Art, Shaoxing Vocational and Technical College, 526 Shanyin Road, Yuecheng District, Shaoxing 312000, China
Huaqiang Chu: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Bingzhi Dong: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8
p. 100183

Abstract

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This study aimed to investigate the performance of three full-scale long-time water treatment plants with influent from Taihu Lake for the removal of natural organic matter (NOM) and assimilable organic carbon (AOC), emphasizing on the processes of pre- and post-ozonation and biological activated carbon filtration (BACF). High-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) separation, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity resin fractionation and excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy were applied to determine NOM fraction variation in purification processes and their relationships with AOC. The results indicated that NOM fractions with high hydrophilicity (NHPI) and lower molecular weight (1 kDa - 10 kDa) likely contributed to the majority of AOC. The advanced water treatment processes behaved negative removals of AOC since the BACF with long-time operation introduced large amounts of AOC precursors and could cause drastic rebound of AOC upon chlorination disinfection. Finally, during exposure to ozone, the formation rate of AOC showed a linear relationship with UV254 and total fluorescence intensity (TFI) and each regional fluorescence intensity (RFI) with slight interference by the presence of particulate organic matter (POM). This study provides useful information for variation of NOM and its associated bio-availability during conventional and advanced processes in full-scale water treatment plants.

Published in Chemical Engineering Journal Advances

ISSN: 2666-8211 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Technology: Chemical technology: Chemical engineering
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/chemical-engineering-journal-advances

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