A fishy odor episode in a north China reservoir: Occurrence, origin, and possible odor causing compounds

A significant outbreak of fishy odor occurred in a reservoir located in Inner Mongolia, China, in the winter of 2011, and the odor rating, algal density and concentrations of some potential odorous compounds were monitored over a period of two months. The peak odor rating of the fishy odor was 7 according to flavor profile analysis. Among the dominant algal species （two diatom and one chrysophyte species） observed during the survey, the chrysophyte Dinobryon sp. was the most abundant species, with the peak density recorded at 88,520 cells/mL. Seven potential algal metabolites including heptanal, 2,4-heptadienal, 2,4-decadienal, nonanal, 2-octenal, 2,6- nonadienal and hexanal were detected. The principal component analysis result showed that n-hexanal, n-heptanal and 2,4-decadienal, possibly the metabolites of diatoms, and 2,4-heptadienal, possibly the metabolite of Dinobryon sp., might have contributed to the fishy odor episode. This study demonstrated that the fishy odor episode in this reservoir might be caused by the abnormal growth of chrysophytes and diatoms under the ice-cover.

Occurrence of odor problems in drinking water of major cities across China

A comprehensive investigation into the occur-rence of odor problem at 111 drinking water treatment plants （DWTPs） in major cities across China was undertaken using both flavor profile analysis （FPA） and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS）. Eighty percent of source water samples exhibited odor problems, characterized by earthy/musty （41%） and swampy/septic （36%） odors, while the occurrence rate was lower （45%） in the finished water. Source water from rivers exhibited more pollution-origin odors, such as the swampy/septic odor, while that from lakes and reservoirs exhibited more algae- origin odors, such as earthy/musty odors. The occurrence rate of 2-methylisoborneol （2-MIB） in the surface source water samples was 75%, with 7% of samples containing 2- MIB concentrations of over 10 ng.L-1. The earthy/musty odor in the lake/reservoir water samples was mainly caused by 2-MIB （linear regression coefficient, R2= 0.69）, while the correlation between 2-MIB concentration and the earthy/musty odor intensity samples was weak （R2= 0.35） in the river-source water These results will be useful for the management of odor-quality problems in drinking water of China.

Identification of odorous compounds in reclaimed water using FPA combined with sensory GC-MS

Odorous compounds in the influent of a reclaimed water treatment plant （RWTP）, consisting of coagulation, sedimentation, continuous micro-filtration （CMF）, and chlorination in succession, in a north China city, were identified by combining flavor profile analysis （FPA） with sensory gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry （GC-MS）. The sewery/swampy/septic odor with an odor intensity of 6.4 was found to be the major odor group in the RWTP influent, and the existence of well-known odorant including dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, indole and skatole were confirmed using GC-MS. The result of a spiking test showed that the intensity （3.6） of the sewery/swampy/septic odor caused by these four chemicals contributed to over 50% of the odor intensity of the influent. The FPA intensity for sewery/swampy/septic odor in the RWTP effluent was 3.8, showing that the treatment process was not efficient for the removal of odorants, particularly indole and skatole.

Addition of hydrogen peroxide for the simultaneous control of bromate and odor during advanced drinking water treatment using ozone

Complete removal of the characteristic septic/swampy odor from Huangpu River source water could only be achieved under an ozone dose as high as 4.0 mg/L in an ozone-biological activated carbon （O3- BAC） process, which would lead to the production of high concentrations of carcinogenic bromate due to the high bromide content. This study investigated the possibility of simultaneous control of bromate and the septic/swampy odor by adding H2O2 prior to the O3-BAC process for the treatment of Huangpu River water. H2O2 addition could reduce the bromate concentration effectively at an H2O2/O3 （g/g） ratio of 0.5 or higher. At the same time, the septic/swampy odor removal was enhanced by the addition of H2O2, although optimization of the H2O2/O3 ratio was required for each ozone dose. At an ozone dose of 2.0 mg/L, the odor was removed completely at an H2O2/O3 ratio of 0.5. The results indicated that H2O2 application at a suitable dose could enhance the removal of the septic/swampy odor while suppressing the formation of bromate during ozonation of Huangpu River source water.