Phosphorus limitation on bacterial regrowth in drinking water

Assimilable organic carbon(AOC) test and bacterial regrowth potential(BRP) analysis were used to investigate the effect of phosphorus on bacterial regrowth in the drinking water that was made from some raw water taken from a reservoir located in northern China. It was shown that AOC of the drinking water samples increased by 43.9%—59.6% and BRP increased by 100%—235% when 50 μg/L PO 3- 4-P(as NaH 2PO 4) was added alone to the drinking water samples. This result was clear evidence of phosphorus limitation on bacteria regrowth in the drinking water. This investigation indicated the importance of phosphorus in ensuring biological stability of drinking water and offered a novel possible option to restrict microbial regrowth in drinking water distribution system by applying appropriate technologies to remove phosphorus efficiently from drinking water in China.

Modification on the conventional procedure to measure AOC in drinking water

Additional phosphorus will be introduced to water sample if the conventional procedure is used to measure assimilable organic carbon(AOC) in drinking water. It has been shown that there are the cases that phosphorus is the limiting nutrient for microbial growth in drinking water. The measured value of AOC would not be able to indicate appropriately the regrowth potential of bacteria in this case. The conventional procedure used to measure AOC was modified to avoid the introduction of additional phosphorus to water sample in this study. It was shown that it was feasible to measure AOC in water using the modified procedure. Furthermore, the measured value of AOC determined by the modified procedure could indicate appropriately the regrowth potential of bacteria in drinking water despite either organics or phosphorus was the limiting nutrient for bacterial regrowth.

Biostability in distribution systems in one city in southern China: Characteristics, modeling and control strategy

This study investigated the bacterial regrowth in drinking water distribution systems receiving finished water from an advanced drinking water treatment plant in one city in southem China. Thirteen nodes in two water supply zones with different aged pipelines were selected to monitor water temperature, dissolved oxygen （DO）, chloramine residual, assimilable organic carbon （AOC）, and heterotrophic plate counts （HPC）. Regression and principal component analyses indicated that HPC had a strong correlation with chloramine residual. Based on Chick-Watson＇s Law and the Monod equation, biostability curves under different conditions were developed to achieve the goal of HPC 100 CFU/mL. The biostability curves could interpret the scenario under various AOC concentrations and predict the required chloramine residual concentration under the condition of high AOC level. The simulation was also carded out to predict the scenario with a stricter HPC goal （≤50 CFU/mL） and determine the required chloramine residual. The biological regrowth control strategy was assessed using biostability curve analysis. The results indicated that maintaining high chloramine residual concentration was the most practical way to achieve the goal of HPC ≤ 100 CFU/mL. Biostability curves could be a very useful tool for biostability control in distribution systems. This work could provide some new insights towards biostability control in real distribution systems.