Particle properties in granular activated carbon filter during drinking water treatment

The elemental composition and bacteria attached in particles were investigated during granular activated carbon （GAC） filtration.The experimental results showed that trapped influent particles could form new,larger particles on GAC surface.The sloughing of individuals off GAC surface caused an increase in effluent particles in the size range from 5 to 25 μm.The selectivity for element removal in GAC filters caused an increasing proportion of metallic elements in the effluent particles.The distribution of molar ratio indicated a complicated composition for large particles,involving organic and inorganic substances.The organic proportion accounted for 40% of total carbon attached to the particles.Compared with dissolved carbon,there was potential for the formation of trihalomethanes by organic carbon attached to particles,especially for those with size larger than 10 μm.The pure carbon energy spectrum was found only in the GAC effluent and the size distribution of carbon fines was mainly above 10 μm.The larger carbon fines provided more space for bacterial colonization and stronger protection for attached bacteria against disinfection.The residual attached bacteria after chorine disinfection was increased to 10 2-10 3 CFU/mL within 24 hours at 25°C.

Particle size distribution and property of bacteria attached to carbon fines in drinking water treatment

The quantitative change and size distribution of particles in the effluents from a sand filter and a granular activated carbon （GAC） filter in a drinking water treatment plant were investigated. The average total concentration of particles in the sand filter effluent during a filter cycle was 148 particles/mL, 27 of which were larger than 2 μm in size. The concentration in the GAC effluent （561 particles/mL） was significantly greater than that in the sand filter effluent. The concentration of particles larger than 2 μm in the GAC filter effluent reached 201 particles/mL, with the amount of particles with sizes between 2 μm and 15 μm increasing. The most probable number （MPN） of carbon fines reached 43 unit/L after six hours and fines between 0.45 μm and 8.0 μm accounted for more than 50%. The total concentration of outflowing bacteria in the GAC filter effluent, 350 CFU （colony-forming units） /mL, was greater than that in the sand filter effluent, 210 CFU/mL. The desorbed bacteria concentration reached an average of 310 CFU/mg fines. The disinfection efficiency of desorbed bacteria was lower than 40% with 1.5 mg/L of chlorine. The disinfection effect showed that the inactivation rate with 2.0 mg/L of chloramine （90%） was higher than that with chlorine （70%）. Experimental results indicated that the high particle concentration in raw water and sedimentation effluent led to high levels of outflowing particles in the sand filter effluent. The activated carbon fines in the effluent accounted for a small proportion of the total particle amount, but the existing bacteria attached to carbon fines may influence the drinking water safety. The disinfection efficiency of desorbed bacteria was lower than that of free bacteria with chlorine, and the disinfection effect on bacteria attached to carbon fines with chloramine was better than that with only chlorine.

Combination of chlorine and magnetic ion exchange resin for drinking water treatment of algae

The effectiveness of a magnetic ion exchange resin （MIEX） for the treatment of Hongze Lake water in China was evaluated, The kinetics of natural organic matter （NOM） removal at various MIEX doses and contact time, multiple-loading experiments, impacts of MIEX prior to coagulation on coagulant demands and the effectiveness of combination of MIEX, pre-chlorination and coagulation were investigated. Kinetic experimental results show that more than 80% UV254 and 67% dissolved organic carbon （DOC） from raw water can be removed by the use of MIEX alone. 94% sulfate, 69% nitrate and 98% bromide removals are obtained after the first use of MIEX in multiple-loading experiments. It is suggested that MIEX can be loaded up to 1 250 bed volume （BV, volume ratio of tested water to resin） or more without saturation when regarding organics removal as a target. MIEX can remove organics to a greater extend than coagulation and lower the coagulant demand when combining with coagulation. Chlorination experimental results show that MIEX can remove 57% chlorine demand and 77% trihalomethane formation potential （THMFP） for raw water. Pre-chlorination followed by MIEX and coagulation can give additional organic and THMFP removals. The results suggest that MIEX provides a new method to solve thc problem algae reproduction.

Immobilization biological activated carbon used in advanced drinking water treatment

Bacteria separated from a mature filter bed of groundwater treatment plants were incubated in a culture media containing iron and manganese. A consortium of 5 strains of bacteria removing iron and manganese were obtained by repeated enrichment culturing. It was shown from the experiments of effect factors that ironmanganese removal bacteria in the euhure media containing both Fe and Mn grew better than in that containing only Fe, however, they were unable to grow in the culture media containing only Mn. When comparing the bacteria biomass in the case ofp （DO） ：2.8 mg/L andp （DO） ：9. 0 mg/L, no significant difference was found. The engineering bacteria removing the organic and the bacteria removing iron and manganese were simuhaneously inoculated into activated carbon reactor to treat the effluent of distribution network. The experimental results showed that by using IBAC （ Immobilization Biological Activated Carbon） treatment, the removal efficiency of iron, manganese and permanganate index was more than 98% , 96% and 55% , respectively. After the influent with turbidity of 1.5 NTU, color of 25 degree and oflbnsive odor was treated, the turbidity and color of effluence were less than 0.5 NTU and 15 degree, respectively, and it was odorless. It is determined that the cooperation function of engineering bacteria and activated carbon achieved advanced drinking water treatment.

Effect of typhoon with extreme precipitation on mountain reservoir drinking water treatment: a case study in Ningbo, China

Due to frequent drinking water pollution accidents in the past decade, it is common that mountain reservoirs were used as the source of drinking water in China. However, some coastal areas frequently suffer from typhoon with extreme precipitation, which results in the water quality deterioration of the reservoirs. The influence of typhoons with extreme precipitation on Jiaokou reservoir and the emergency treatment process of Maojiaping water treatment plant in the past three typical typhoons with extreme precipitation from the year of 2012-2015 were studied. It was found that the degradation of water quality, such as the increase of turbidity and bacteria index, may not merely appear during the events, but last for several days. Changing the dosage of water purification agent, such as coagulant and disinfectant at right time and place may be an efficient emergency water treatment process. Based on the analysis of water quality variation rule during and after the events, it was also found that emergency treatment can be fully prepared before the arrival of a typhoon with extreme precipitation. And in order to better respond to the typhoon with extreme precipitation, several suggestions are also proposed in this paper as follows: establishing vegetated buffers at right place, such as macrophanerophytes,shrub or herbage, increasing investments in infrastructure management, merging or cancelling the small-scale water treatment plants, preparing adequate water purification agent before the typhoon comes, etc.

Problems of drinking water treatment along Ismailia Canal Province, Egypt

The present drinking water purification system in Egypt uses surface water as a raw water supply without a preliminary filtration process.On the other hand,chlorine gas is added as a disinfectant agent in two steps,pre-and post-chlorination.Due to these reasons most of water treatment plants suffer low filtering effectiveness and produce the trihalomethane(THM) species as a chlorination by-product.The Ismailia Canal represents the most distal downstream of the main Nile River.Thus its water contains all the proceeded pollutants discharged into the Nile.In addition,the downstream reaches of the canal act as an agricultural drain during the closing period of the High Dam gates in January and February every year.Moreover,the wide industrial zone along the upstream course of the canal enriches the canal water with high concentrations of heavy metals.The obtained results indicate that the canal gains up to 24.06×106 m3 of water from the surrounding shallow aquifer during the closing period of the High Dam gates,while during the rest of the year,the canal acts as an influent stream losing about 99.6×106 m3 of its water budget.The reduction of total organic carbon(TOC) and suspended particulate matters(SPMs) should be one of the central goals of any treatment plan to avoid the disinfectants by-products.The combination of sedimentation basins,gravel pre-filtration and slow sand filtration,and underground passage with microbiological oxidation-reduction and adsorption criteria showed good removal of parasites and bacteria and complete elimination of TOC,SPM and heavy metals.Moreover,it reduces the use of disinfectants chemicals and lowers the treatment costs.However,this purification system under the arid climate prevailing in Egypt should be tested and modified prior to application.

Novel FGBAC reactor for controlling the leakage of microfauna in drinking water treatment

In order to reduce the microfauna leakage risk from a granular biological activated carbon （GBAC） reactor which employs granular activated carbon （GAC） as adsorption media in drinking water advanced treatment, a novel fiber and granular biological activated carbon （FGBAC） reactor which employs both GAC and activated carbon fiber （ACF） as adsorption media, was developed. The results showed that the species composition of microfauna leaking from FGBAC reactor is almost similar to that leaking from GBAC reactor, however the densities of microfauna leaking from FGBAC reactor is reduced by 26%-81% compared to those leaking from GBAC reactor. In addition, compared to GBAC reactor, FGBAC reactor can increase the removal efflciencies of chemical oxygen demand （COD） and turbidity by 7% and 10%, respectively, during the stable operation period of reactor.

Efficiency characterization of ceramic filtering materials used for drinking water treatment

For ceramic filtering materials, their adsorption capacities, purification efficiencies to remove organic compounds from drinking water, and correlation between adsorption capacities and pore structures were tested and analyzed. The results show that correlation coefficient between the specific surface area and the adsorptive amount of iodine molecule is 0.99; correlation coefficient between the pore volume and the adsorptive value of tannin molecule is 0.92, and correlation coefficient between the most probable diameter and the adsorption parameter is 1.0. A new method of morphology characterization for ceramic filtering materials was developed, which offered a sort of standard for the evaluation on water purification efficiencies and selection of ceramic filtering materials.

Resource utilization of drinking water treatment aluminum sludge in green cementing materials: Hydration characteristics and hydration kinetics

As a byproduct of water treatment,drinking water treatment aluminum sludge(DWTAS)has challenges related to imperfect treatment and disposal,which has caused potential harm to human health and the environment.In this paper,heat treatment DWTAS as a supplement cementitious material was used to prepare a green cementing material.The results show that the 800℃ is considered as the optimum heat treatment temperature for DWTAS.DWTAS-800℃ is fully activated after thermal decomposition to form incompletely crystallized highly activeγ-Al2O3 and active SiO_(2).The addition of DWTAS promoted the formation of ettringite and C-(A)-S-H gel,which could make up for the low early compressive strength of cementing materials to a certain extent.When cured for 90 days,the compressive strength of the mortar with 30% DWTAS-800℃ reached 44.86 MPa.The dynamic process was well simulated by Krstulovi′c-Dabi′c hydration kinetics model.This study provided a methodology for the fabrication of environmentally friendly and cost-effective compound cementitiousmaterials and proposed a“waste-to-resource”strategy for the sustainable management of typical solid wastes.

Space aquatic chemistry:A roadmap for drinking water treatment in microgravity

Rapid advancement in aerospace technology has successfully enabled long-term life and economic activities in space,particularly in Low Earth Orbit(LEO),extending up to 2000 km from the mean sea level.However,the sustainance of the LEO Economy and its Environmental Control and Life Support System(ECLSS)still relies on a regular cargo supply of essential commodities(e.g.,water,food)from Earth,for which there still is a lack of adequate and sustainable technologies.One key challenge in this context is developing water treatment technologies and standards that can perform effectively under microgravity conditions.Solving this technical challenge will be a milestone in providing a scientific basis and the necessary support mechanisms for establishing permanent bases in outer space and beyond.To identify clues towards solving this challenge,we looked back at relevant scientific research exploring novel technologies and standards for deep space exploration,also considering feedback for enhancing these technologies on land.Synthesizing our findings,we share our outlook for the future of drinking water treatment in microgravity.We also bring up a new concept for space aquatic chemistry,considering the closed environment of engineered systems operating in microgravity.

Emergency drinking water treatment in source water pollution incident—technology and practice in China

An investigation into emergency potable water treatment technologies was conducted to investigate China’s water pollution situation.In order to confirm optimum parameters,the technological efficiency of each pollutant was obtained.About 100 contaminants were tested to find the emergency treatment technologies,most of which were found to be positive.This paper presents the three largest and most significant water pollution incidents in China to date,analyzing cases such as the nitrobenzene pollution incident in the Songhua River in November 2005,the cadmium pollution incident in the Beijiang River in December 2005,and the water crisis with odorous tap water in Wuxi City in May 2007.

Removal of antibiotic-resistant genes during drinking water treatment:A review

Once contaminate the drinking water source,antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs)will propagate in drinking water systems and pose a serious risk to human health.Therefore,the drinking water treatment processes(DWTPs)are critical to manage the risks posed by ARGs.This study summarizes the prevalence of ARGs in raw water sources and treated drinking water worldwide.In addition,the removal efficiency of ARGs and related mechanisms by different DWTPs are reviewed.Abiotic and biotic factors that affect ARGs elimination are also discussed.The data on presence of ARGs in drinking water help come to the conclusion that ARGs pollution is prevalent and deserves a high priority.Generally,DWTPs indeed achieve ARGs removal,but some biological treatment processes such as biological activated carbon filtration may promote antibiotic resistance due to the enrichment of ARGs in the biofilm.The finding that disinfection and membrane filtration are superior to other DWTPs adds weight to the advice that DWTPs should adopt multiple disinfection barriers,as well as keep sufficient chlorine residuals to inhibit re-growth of ARGs during subsequent distribution.Mechanistically,DWTPs obtain direct and inderect ARGs reduction through DNA damage and interception of host bacterias of ARGs.Thus,escaping of intracellular ARGs to extracellular environment,induced by DWTPs,should be advoided.This review provides the theoretical support for developping efficient reduction technologies of ARGs.Future study should focus on ARGs controlling in terms of transmissibility or persistence through DWTPs due to their biological related nature and ubiquitous presence of biofilm in the treatment unit.

Influence of the inherent properties of drinking water treatment residuals on their phosphorus adsorption capacities

Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the phosphorus（P） adsorption and desorption on five drinking water treatment residuals（WTRs） collected from different regions in China. The physical and chemical characteristics of the five WTRs were determined. Combined with rotated principal component analysis, multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the inherent properties of the WTRs and their P adsorption capacities. The results showed that the maximum P adsorption capacities of the five WTRs calculated using the Langmuir isotherm ranged from 4.17 to8.20 mg/g at a p H of 7 and further increased with a decrease in p H. The statistical analysis revealed that a factor related to Al and 200 mmol/L oxalate-extractable Al（Alox） accounted for 36.5% of the variations in the P adsorption. A similar portion（28.5%） was attributed to an integrated factor related to the p H, Fe, 200 mmol/L oxalate-extractable Fe（Feox）, surface area and organic matter（OM） of the WTRs. However, factors related to other properties（Ca,P and 5 mmol/L oxalate-extractable Fe and Al） were rejected. In addition, the quantity of P desorption was limited and had a significant negative correlation with the（Feox＋ Alox） of the WTRs（p 〈 0.05）. Overall, WTRs with high contents of Alox, Feoxand OM as well as large surface areas were proposed to be the best choice for P adsorption in practical applications.

Control of aliphatic halogenated DBP precursors with multiple drinking water treatment processes： Formation potential and integrated toxicity

The comprehensive control efficiency for the formation potentials（FPs） of a range of regulated and unregulated halogenated disinfection by-products（DBPs）（including carbonaceous DBPs（C-DBPs）, nitrogenous DBPs（N-DBPs）, and iodinated DBPs（I-DBPs）） with the multiple drinking water treatment processes, including pre-ozonation, conventional treatment（coagulation–sedimentation, pre-sand filtration）, ozone-biological activated carbon（O_3-BAC） advanced treatment, and post-sand filtration, was investigated. The potential toxic risks of DBPs by combing their FPs and toxicity values were also evaluated.The results showed that the multiple drinking water treatment processes had superior performance in removing organic/inorganic precursors and reducing the formation of a range of halogenated DBPs. Therein, ozonation significantly removed bromide and iodide,and thus reduced the formation of brominated and iodinated DBPs. The removal of organic carbon and nitrogen precursors by the conventional treatment processes was substantially improved by O_3-BAC advanced treatment, and thus prevented the formation of chlorinated C-DBPs and N-DBPs. However, BAC filtration leads to the increased formation of brominated C-DBPs and N-DBPs due to the increase of bromide/DOC and bromide/DON.After the whole multiple treatment processes, the rank order for integrated toxic risk values caused by these halogenated DBPs was haloacetonitriles（HANs）》haloacetamides（HAMs） 〉haloacetic acids（HAAs） 〉 trihalomethanes（THMs） 〉 halonitromethanes（HNMs） 》I-DBPs（I-HAMs and I-THMs）. I-DBPs failed to cause high integrated toxic risk because of their very low FPs. The significant higher integrated toxic risk value caused by HANs than other halogenated DBPs cannot be ignored.

Transformation mechanism and fate of dissolved organic nitrogen(DON) in a full-scale drinking water treatment

Dissolved organic nitrogen(DON) has attracted much attention in drinking water treatment due to its potential to produce nitrogenous disinfection by-products(N-DBPs). This work was designed to explore the transformation and fate of DON and dissolved inorganic nitrogen(DIN) in drinking water treatment. The changes of DON and formation of N-DBPs were evaluated along the water treatment route(i.e., pre-ozonation and biologicalcontact oxidation, delivery pipes’ transportation, coagulation-sedimentation, sand filtration, post-ozonation, biological activated carbon, ultrafiltration and disinfection) of drinking water treatment plant(DWTP). The transformation mechanism of DON was comprehensively investigated by molecular weight fractionation, three-dimensional fluorescence, LCOCD(Liquid Chromatography-Organic Carbon Detection), total free amino acids. A detailed comparison was made between concentrations and variations of DON and DIN affected by seasons in the drinking water treatment. Regardless of seasonal variation in raw water concentration, the DON removal trends between different treatment processes remain constant in the present study. Compared to other treatment processes, pre-ozonation and coagulation-sedimentation exhibited the dominant DON removal in different seasons, i.e.,11.13%-14.45% and 14.98%-22.49%, respectively. Contrary, biological-contact oxidation and biological activated carbon negatively impacted the DON removal, in which DON increased by 1.76%-6.49% in biological activated carbon. This may be due to the release of soluble microbial products(SMPs) from bacterial metabolism, which was further validated by the rise of biopolymers in LC-OCD.

Evaluation of drinking water treatment combined filter backwash water recycling technology based on comet and micronucleus assay

Based on the fact that recycling of combined filter backwash water（CFBW）directly to drinking water treatment plants（WTP）is considered to be a feasible method to enhance pollutant removal efficiency,we were motivated to evaluate the genotoxicity of water samples from two pilot-scale drinking water treatment systems,one with recycling of combined backwash water,the other one with a conventional process.An integrated approach of the comet and micronucleus（MN）assays was used with zebrafish（Danio rerio）to investigate the water genotoxicity in this study.The total organic carbon（TOC）,dissolved organic carbon（DOC）,and trihalomethane formation potential（THMFP）,of the recycling process were lower than that of the conventional process.All the results showed that there was no statistically significant difference（P〉0.05）between the conventional and recycling processes,and indicated that the genotoxicity of water samples from the recycling process did not accumulate in 15 day continuous recycling trial.It was worth noting that there was correlation between the concentrations of TOC,DOC,UV（254）,and THMFPs in water and the DNA damage score,with corresponding R^2 values of 0.68,0.63,0.28,and 0.64.Nevertheless,both DNA strand breaks and MN frequency of all water samples after disinfection were higher than that of water samples from the two treatment units,which meant that the disinfection by-products（DBPs）formed by disinfection could increase the DNA damage.Both the comet and MN tests suggest that the recycling process did not increase the genotoxicity risk,compared to the traditional process.

Phosphate adsorption performance of a novel filter substrate made from drinking water treatment residuals

Phosphate is one of the most predominant pollutants in natural waters. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the phosphate adsorption performance of a（NFS） made from drinking water treatment residuals. The adsorption of phosphate on the NFS fitted well with the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo second-order kinetic models. At p H 7.0, the maximum adsorption capacity of 1.03 mg/g was achieved at 15°C corresponding to the wastewater temperature in cold months, and increased notably to 1.31 mg/g at 35°C.Under both acidic conditions（part of the adsorption sites was consumed） and basic conditions（negative charges formed on the surface of NFS, which led to a static repulsion of PO43-and HPO42-）, the adsorption of phosphate was slightly inhibited. Further study showed that part of the adsorption sites could be recovered by 0.25 mol/L Na OH. The activation energy was calculated to be above 8.0 k J/mol, indicating that the adsorption of phosphate on NFS was probably a chemical process. Considering the strong phosphate adsorption capacity and recoverability, NFS showed great promise on enhancing phosphate removal from the secondary treated wastewater in the filtration process.

What have we known so far about microplastics in drinking water treatment?A timely review

Microplastics(MPs)have been widely detected in drinking water sources and tap water,raising the concern of the effectiveness of drinking water treatment plants(DWTPs)in protecting the public from exposure to MPs through drinking water.We collected and analyzed the available research articles up to August 2021 on MPs in drinking water treatment(DWT),including laboratory-and full-scale studies.This article summarizes the major MP compositions(materials,sizes,shapes,and concentrations)in drinking water sources,and critically reviews the removal efficiency and impacts of MPs in various drinking water treatment processes.The discussed drinking water treatment processes include coagulation-flocculation(CF),membrane filtration,sand filtration,and granular activated carbon(GAC)filtration.Current DWT processes that are purposed for particle removal are generally effective in reducing MPs in water.Various influential factors to MP removal are discussed,such as coagulant type and dose,MP material,shape and size,and water quality.It is anticipated that better MP removal can be achieved by optimizing the treatment conditions.Moreover,the article framed the major challenges and future research directions on MPs and nanoplastics(NPs)in DWT.

Use of Fe/Al drinking water treatment residuals as amendments for enhancing the retention capacity of glyphosate in agricultural soils

Fe/Al drinking water treatment residuals（WTRs）, ubiquitous and non-hazardous by-products of drinking water purification, are cost-effective adsorbents for glyphosate. Given that repeated glyphosate applications could significantly decrease glyphosate retention by soils and that the adsorbed glyphosate is potentially mobile, high sorption capacity and stability of glyphosate in agricultural soils are needed to prevent pollution of water by glyphosate.Therefore, we investigated the feasibility of reusing Fe/Al WTR as a soil amendment to enhance the retention capacity of glyphosate in two agricultural soils. The results of batch experiments showed that the Fe/Al WTR amendment significantly enhanced the glyphosate sorption capacity of both soils（p 〈 0.001）. Up to 30% of the previously adsorbed glyphosate desorbed from the non-amended soils, and the Fe/Al WTR amendment effectively decreased the proportion of glyphosate desorbed. Fractionation analyses further demonstrated that glyphosate adsorbed to non-amended soils was primarily retained in the readily labile fraction（Na HCO3-glyphosate）. The WTR amendment significantly increased the relative proportion of the moderately labile fraction（HCl-glyphosate） and concomitantly reduced that of the Na HCO3-glyphosate, hence reducing the potential for the release of soil-adsorbed glyphosate into the aqueous phase. Furthermore, Fe/Al WTR amendment minimized the inhibitory effect of increasing solution p H on glyphosate sorption by soils and mitigated the effects of increasing solution ionic strength. The present results indicate that Fe/Al WTR is suitable for use as a soil amendment to prevent glyphosate pollution of aquatic ecosystems by enhancing the glyphosate retention capacity in soils.

Investigation on the eco-toxicity of lake sediments with the addition of drinking water treatment residuals

Drinking water treatment residuals（WTRs） have a potential to realize eutrophication control objectives by reducing the internal phosphorus（P） load of lake sediments. Information regarding the ecological risk of dewatered WTR reuse in aquatic environments is generally lacking, however. In this study, we analyzed the eco-toxicity of leachates from sediments with or without dewatered WTRs toward algae Chlorella vulgaris via algal growth inhibition testing with algal cell density, chlorophyll content, malondialdehyde content, antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase activity, and subcellular structure indices. The results suggested that leachates from sediments unanimously inhibited algal growth, with or without the addition of different WTR doses（10% or 50% of the sediment in dry weight） at different p H values（8–9）, as well as from sediments treated for different durations（10 or 180 days）. The inhibition was primarily the result of P deficiency in the leachates owing to WTR P adsorption, however, our results suggest that the dewatered WTRs were considered as a favorable potential material for internal P loading control in lake restoration projects, as it shows acceptably low risk toward aquatic plants.