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.

Profiles of carbon stocks in forest,reforestation and agricultural land,Northern Thailand

A study was conducted to assess carbon stocks in various forms and land-use types and reliably estimate the impact of land use on C stocks in the Nam Yao sub-watershed （19°05′10″N, 100°37′02″E）, Thailand. The carbon stocks of aboveground, soil organic and fine root within primary forest, reforestation and agricultural land were estimated through field data collection. Results re- vealed that the amount of total carbon stock of forests （357.62 ± 28.51 Mg·ha^-1, simplified expression of Mg （carbon）·ha^-1） was significantly greater （P〈 0.05） than the reforestation （195.25 ± 14.38 Mg·ha^-1） and the agricultural land （103.10 ± 18.24 Mg·ha^-1）. Soil organic carbon in the forests （196.24 ± 22.81 Mg·ha^-1） was also significantly greater （P〈 0.05） than the reforestation （146.83 ± 7.22 Mg·ha^-1） and the agricultural land （95.09± 14.18 Mg·ha^-1）. The differences in carbon stocks across land-use types are the primary consequence of variations in the vegetation biomass and the soil organic matter. Fine root carbon was a small fraction of carbon stocks in all land-use types. Most of the soil organic carbon and fine root carbon content was found in the upper 40-cm layer and decreased with soil depth. The aboveground carbon：soil organic carbon： fine root carbon ratios （ABGC： SOC： FRC）, was 5：8：1, 2：8：1, and 3：50：1 for the forest, reforestation and agricultural land, respectively. These results indicate that a relatively large proportion of the C loss is due to forest conversion to agricultural land. However, the C can be effectively recaptured through reforestation where high levels of C are stored in biomass as carbon sinks, facilitating carbon dioxide mitigation.

Drinking water biotic safety of particles and bacteria attached to fines in activated carbon process

In this paper,the drinking water biotic safety of particles and bacteria attached to fines in activated carbon process was investigated by actual treatment process and advanced treatment pilot trial with granular activated carbon.In the experiment,the particles were detected by IBR particle calculating instrument,the activated carbon fines were counted on the basis of the most probable number(MPN)with a microscope,the total number of bacteria was analyzed between the conventional agar culture medium and the one with R2A,and the bacteria attached to activated carbon fines was resolved by the homogenization technique.The experi-mental results showed that the average total number of parti-cles was 205 CNT/mL in the activated carbon effluent during a filter cycle,of which the number of particles with sizes>2μm was 77 CNT/mL more than the present particle con-trol criterion of the American drinking water product standard(50 CNT/mL).The backwash of low density and long dura-tion lowered particle number in the effluent.The MPN of activated carbon fines in the effluent was between 400 and 600 CNT/L,which accounted for less than 5‰ of the total particles from activated carbon filtration for a poor relative level(R^(2)=0.34).The microorganisms in activated carbon effluent consisted mostly of heterotrophic bacillus and the total bacteria number was five times as high as that of the inflow,i.e.the effluent from sand filter.The actual bacteria number may be truly indicated by the detection technique with R2A culture medium compared with the traditional agar cultivation.The inactivation efficiency of bacteria attached to activated carbon fines was less than 40%under 1.1 mg/L of chlorine contacting for 40 min.Results showed that the particles and bacteria attached to activated carbon fines may influence drinking water biotic safety,and that the effective control measures need to be further investigated.

Chemical characteristics of PM_(2.5) during haze episodes in the urban of Fuzhou,China

Atmospheric fine particles （PM2.5） were collected in this study with middle volume samplers in Fuzhou, China, during both normal days and haze days in summer （September 2007） and winter （january 2008）. The concentrations, distributions, and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs）, organic carbon （OC）, elemental carbon （EC）, and water soluble inorganic ions （WSIls） were determinated. The results showed that the concentrations of PM2.s, PAHs, OC, EC, and WSIIs were in the orders of haze 〉 normal and winter〉 summer. The dominant PAHs of PM2.s in Fuzhou were Fluo, Pyr, Chr, BbF, BkF, BaP, BghiP, and IcdP, which represented about 80.0% of the total PAHs during different sampling periods. The BaPeq concentrations of ^-~PAHs were 0.78, 0.99, 1.22, and 2.43 ng/m3 in summer normal, summer haze, winter normal, and winter haze, respectively. Secondary pollutants （SO42 , NO3 , NH4＊, and OC） were the major chemical compositions of PM2.5, accounting for 69.0%, 55.1%, 63.4%, and 64.9% of PM2.s mass in summer normal, summer haze, winter normal, and winter haze, respectively. Correspondingly, secondary organic carbon （SOC） in Fuzhou accounted for 20.1%, 48.6%, 24.5%, and 50.5% of OC. The average values of nitrogen oxidation ratio （NOR） and sulfur oxidation ratio （SOR） were higher in haze days （0.08 and 0.27） than in normal days （0.05 and 0.22）. Higher OC/EC ratios were also found in haze days （5.0） than in normal days （3.3）. Correlation analysis demonstrated that visibility had positive correlations with wind speed, and neg- ative correlations with relative humidity and major air pollutants. Overall, the enrichments of PM2.5, OC, EC, SO42 ,andNO3 promoted haze formation. Furthermore, the diagnostic ratios of IcdP/（IcdP ＋ BghiP）, lcdP/BghiP, OC/EC, and NO3 /SO42 indicated that vehicle exhaust and coal consumption were the main sources of pollutants in Fuzhou.