Formation of regulated and unregulated disinfection byproducts during chlorination and chloramination: Roles of dissolved organic matter type, bromide, and iodide

Algal blooms and wastewater effluents can introduce algal organic matter(AOM) and effluent organic matter(Ef OM) into surface waters, respectively. In this study, the impact of bromide and iodide on the formation of halogenated disinfection byproducts(DBPs) during chlorination and chloramination from various types of dissolved organic matter(DOM, e.g., natural organic matter(NOM), AOM, and Ef OM) were investigated based on the data collected from literature. In general, higher formation of trihalomethanes(THMs) and haloacetic acids(HAAs) was observed in NOM than AOM and Ef OM, indicating high reactivities of phenolic moieties with both chlorine and monochloramine. The formation of haloacetaldehydes(HALs), haloacetonitriles(HANs) and haloacetamides(HAMs) was much lower than THMs and HAAs. Increasing initial bromide concentrations increased the formation of THMs, HAAs, HANs, and HAMs, but not HALs. Bromine substitution factor(BSF) values of DBPs formed in chlorination decreased as specific ultraviolet absorbance(SUVA) increased. AOM favored the formation of iodinated THMs(I-THMs) during chloramination using preformed chloramines and chlorination-chloramination processes. Increasing prechlorination time can reduce the I-THM concentrations because of the conversion of iodide to iodate, but this increased the formation of chlorinated and brominated DBPs. In an analogous way, iodine substitution factor(ISF) values of I-THMs formed in chloramination decreased as SUVA values of DOM increased. Compared to chlorination, the formation of noniodinated DBPs is low in chloramination.

The impact of preozonation on the coagulation of cellular organic matter produced by Microcystis aeruginosa and its toxin degradation

Ozonation pretreatment is typically implemented to improve algal cell coagulation. However, knowledge on the effect of ozonation on the characteristics and coagulation of associated algal organic matter, particularly cellular organic matter(COM), which is extensively released during algal bloom decay, is limited. Hence, this study aimed to elucidate the impact of ozonation applied before the coagulation of dissolved COM from the cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa. Additionally, the degradation of microcystins(MCs) naturally present in the COM matrix was investigated. A range of ozone doses(0.1–1.0 mg O3/mg of dissolved organic carbon – DOC) and ozonation pH values(pH 5, 7 and 9) were tested, while aluminium and ferric sulphate coagulants were used for subsequent coagulation. Despite negligible COM removal, ozonation itself eliminated MCs, and a lower ozone dose was required when performing ozonation at acidic or neutral pH(0.4 mg O3/mg DOC at pH 5 and 7 compared to 0.8 mg O3/mg DOC at pH 9). Enhanced MC degradation and a similar pattern of pH dependence were observed after preozonation-coagulation, whereas coagulation alone did not sufficiently remove MCs. In contrast to the benefits of MC depletion, preozonation using ≥0.4 mg O3/mg DOC decreased the coagulation efficiency(from 42%/48% to 28%–38%/41%–44% using Al/Fe-based coagulants), which was more severe with increasing ozone dosage. Coagulation was also influenced by the preozonation pH, where pH 9 caused the lowest reduction in COM removal. The results indicate that ozonation efficiently removes MCs, but its employment before COM coagulation is disputable due to the deterioration of coagulation.

Impact of pre-oxidation on the formation of byproducts in algae-laden water disinfection:Insights from fluorescent and molecular weight

Pre-oxidation has been reported to be an effective way to remove algal cells in water, but the released algal organic matter (AOM) could be oxidized and lead to the increment in disinfection by-product (DBP) formation. The relationship between pre-oxidation and AOM-derived DBP formation needs to be approached more precisely. This study compared the impact of four pre-oxidants, ozone (O), chlorine dioxide (ClO), potassium permanganate(KMnO) and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), on the formation of nitrogenous (N-) and carbonaceous (C-) DBPs in AOM chlorination. The characterization (fluorescent properties,molecular weight distribution and amino acids concentration) on AOM samples showed that the characterization properties variations after pre-oxidation were highly dependent on the oxidizing ability of oxidants. The disinfection experiments showed that Oincreased DBP formation most significantly, which was consistent with the result of characterization properties variations. Then canonical correspondent analysis (CCA) and Pearson’s correlation analysis were conducted based on the characterization data and DBP formation. CCA indicated that C-DBPs formation was highly dependent on fluorescent data. The formation of haloacetic acids (HAAs) had a positive correlation with aromatic protein-like component while trichloromethane (TCM) had a positive correlation with fulvic acid-like component.Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that low molecular weight fractions were favorable to form N-DBPs. Therefore, characterization data could provide the advantages in the control of DBP formation, which further revealed that KMnOand ClOwere better options for removing algal cells as well as limiting DBP formation.