Detecting N-nitrosamines in water treatment plants and distribution systems in China using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

N-nitrosodimethylamine （NDMA） and several other N-nitrosamines have been detected as disinfection by-products in drinking waters in many countries around the world. An ultra-performance liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry method with solid phase extraction sample preparation was developed to study the occurrence of N-nitrosamines in several water treatment plants and distribution systems in China. Isotope labeled N-nitrosodi-n-propylamine-dl4 （NDPA-dl4） was selected as the internal standard for quantification. The solid phase extraction procedures including pH, enrichment process and MS/MS parameters including capillary voltage, cone gas flow, cone voltage, collision energy were optimized to give average recoveries of 26% to 112% for nine N- nitrosamine species. The instrument detection limits were estimated to range from 0.5 to 5μg.L-1 for the nine N- nitrosamine species. NDMA and several other N-nitrosa- mines were found at fairly high concentrations in several water treatment plants and distribution systems. NDMA was found in all locations, and the highest concentrations in cities B, G, T, and W were 3.0, 35.7, 21.3, and 19.7 ng. L 1, respectively. A wide range of N-nitrosamines concentrations and species were observed in different locations. Higher concentrations of N-nitrosamines were detected in distribution systems that were further away from the treatment plants, suggesting that the contact time between the residual disinfectant and natural organic matter may play an important role in the formation of these compounds.

Overview coking plant & Lurgi gasifier plant waste water treatment

The paper described the coking plant and Lurgi gasifier plant waste water types and characteristics , comparing the COD and ammonia-N level in different source of waste water in the plant.The currently maturity coking plant waste water treatment method was statement in the paper and analyzed the pros and cons of each method.The primary cost analysis of each type of waste water treatment was also completed in the paper.According to these analyses , recommendation was prepared for coking plant and Lurgi gasifier plant waste water treatment.

Natural and Anthropic Sources of Arsenic in the Groundwater and Soils of the Mekong Delta

Human exposure to arsenic (As) is primarily through drinking water and food ingestion. Arsenic is naturally present in the environment and has been known as “the king of poisons” since the Middle Ages. It is mutagenic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic and approximately 70% comes from ingested food and 29% from water. Once ingested, arsenic can bio-accumulate in the human body or be excreted. Arsenic in groundwater is a main source of As in humans and the two arsenicals most abundant in water are arsenite (+3 oxidation state) and arsenate (+5 oxidation state). In order of toxicity from the most toxic to least toxic are arsines, arsenites, arsenoxides, arsenates, pentavalent arsenicals, Arsenic compounds, and metallic arsenic. Arsenic accumulates in the body when ingested in small doses. It often takes decades before physical symptoms of As poisoning show. While As is element normally found in the human body, it is highly toxic in excess amounts. The lethal dose for rates is 48 μg/L which translates to 125 mg for a middle-aged male. The maximum safe limit for As ingestion for an average Vietnamese middle-aged male is 220 μg per day. This lethal dosage puts As in a highly toxic category in food and toxicology. Most of the As in the Mekong Delta groundwater is from natural alluvial sediment sources. Other anthropic sources include the burial of millions of Vietnamese with elevated As levels since 1962, industrial sources, smelting by-products, water treatment plants, sewage and wastewater treatment discharges into waterways have added to the Mekong Delta As levels in the soil and groundwater. However, Agent Blue, the As-based herbicide, used during the Vietnam War, did contribute a significant amount (over 1,132,400 kg of manufactured (anthropic) As) to Southern Vietnam landscape. The As spikes and levels in the Mekong Delta soils and groundwater need restoration. The uptake of trace amounts of As in rice is indeed a critical food security and human health issue and requires mitigation.

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.

Chloramine demand estimation using surrogate chemical and microbiological parameters

A model is developed to enable estimation of chloramine demand in full scale drinking water supplies based on chemical and microbiological factors that affect chloramine decay rate via nonlinear regression analysis method.The model is based on organic character（specific ultraviolet absorbance（SUVA）） of the water samples and a laboratory measure of the microbiological（Fm） decay of chloramine.The applicability of the model for estimation of chloramine residual（and hence chloramine demand） was tested on several waters from different water treatment plants in Australia through statistical test analysis between the experimental and predicted data.Results showed that the model was able to simulate and estimate chloramine demand at various times in real drinking water systems.To elucidate the loss of chloramine over the wide variation of water quality used in this study,the model incorporates both the fast and slow chloramine decay pathways.The significance of estimated fast and slow decay rate constants as the kinetic parameters of the model for three water sources in Australia was discussed.It was found that with the same water source,the kinetic parameters remain the same.This modelling approach has the potential to be used by water treatment operators as a decision support tool in order to manage chloramine disinfection.

Microplastics removal strategies:A step toward finding the solution

Microplastics are an emerging threat and a big challenge for the environment.The presence of microplastics(MPs)in water is life-threatening to diverse organisms of aquatic ecosystems.Hence,the scientific community is exploring deeper to find treatment and removal options of MPs.Various physical,chemical and biological methods are researched for MPs removal,among which few have shown good efficiency in the laboratory.These methods also have a few limitations in environmental conditions.Other than finding a suitable method,the creation of legal restrictions at a governmental level by imposing policies against MPs is still a daunting task in many countries.This review is an effort to place all effectual MP removal methods in one document to compare the mechanisms,efficiency,advantages,and disadvantages and find the best solution.Further,it also discusses the policies and regulations available in different countries to design an effective global policy.Efforts are also made to discuss the research gaps,recent advancements,and insights in the field.