Improvement of the assimilable organic carbon （AOC） analytical method for reclaimed water

Microbial growth is an issue of concern that may cause hygienic and aesthetic problems during the transportation and usage of reclaimed water. Assimilable organic carbon （AOC） is an important parameter which determines the heterotrophic bacterial growth potential of water. Pseudomonas fluorescens P17 and Spirillum sp. NOX are widely used to measure AOC in drinking water. The AOC values of various reclaimed water samples determined by P 17 and NOX were compared with those determined by the new strains isolated from reclaimed water in this study. It showed that the conventional test strains were not suitable for AOC measurement of reclaimed water in certain cases. In addition to P17 and NOX, Stenotrophomonas sp. Z J2, Pseudomonas saponi- phila G3 and Enterobacter sp. G6, were selected as test strains for AOC measurement of reclaimed water. Key aspects of the bioassay including inoculum cell density, incubation temperature, incubation time and the pH of samples were evaluated for the newly selected test strains. Higher inoculum density （104 CFU.mL-1） and higher incubation temperature （25℃） could reduce the time required for the tests. The AOC results of various collected samples showed the advantages of the method proposed based on those five strains in evaluating the biologic stability of reclaimed water.

Significant increase of assimilable organic carbon(AOC)levels in MBR effluents followed by coagulation,ozonation and combined treatments:Implications for biostability control of reclaimed water

As water reuse development has increased,biological stability issues associated with reclaimed water have gained attention.This study evaluated assimilable organic carbon(AOC)in effluents from a full-scale membrane biological reactor(MBR)plant and found that they were generally stable over one year(125-216µg/L),with slight increases in warmer seasons.After additional tertiary treatments,the largest increases in absolute and specific AOCs were detected during ozonation,followed by coagulation-ozonation and coagulation.Moreover,UV254 absorbance is known to be an effective surrogate to predict the AOC changes during ozonation.Applying coagulation prior to ozonation of MBR effluents for removal of large molecules was found to reduce the AOC formation compared with ozonation treatment alone.Finally,the results revealed that attention should be paid to seasonal variations in influent and organic fraction changes during treatment to enable sustainable water reuse.

Variation in assimilable organic carbon formation during chlorination of Microcystis aeruginosa extracellular organic matter solutions

This study investigated the chlorination of Microcystis aeruginosa extracellular organic matter（EOM） solutions under different conditions, to determine how the metabolites produced by these organisms affect water safety and the formation of assimilable organic carbon（AOC）. The effects of chlorine dosages, coagulant dosage, reaction time and temperature on the formation of AOC were investigated during the disinfection of M.aeruginosa metabolite solutions. The concentration of AOC followed a decreasing and then increasing pattern with increasing temperature and reaction time. The concentration of AOC decreased and then increased with increasing chlorination dosage, followed by a slight decrease at the highest level of chlorination. However, the concentration of AOC decreased continuously with increasing coagulant dosage. The formation of AOC can be suppressed under appropriate conditions. In this study, chlorination at 4 mg/L, combined with a coagulant dose of 40 mg/L at 20°C over a reaction time of 12 hr, produced the minimum AOC.

Variability of micropollutants and microorganisms in water distribution system

The variation of water quality in water distribution system was investigated with assimilable organic carbon (AOC)and trihalomethanes(THMs) used as assessment indexes. Bacterium was identified in water distribution. The result showed that there were pathogenic parasites in water distribution system. The variation of AOC is related to chlorine residual and bacterium activity, and AOC concentration decreased first and then increased with the extension of water distribution system. The formation of THMs was related to the consumption of chlorine inside the distribution system, and THMs concentration increased with the extension of water pipe line.

Improving AOC degradation rate by intensified biological process in advanced water treatment

The object of is to evaluate assimilable organic carbon（AOC） degradation rate by intensified biological technique in advanced water treatment. By artificially acclimating and cultivating strains attached onto carbon surface, the selected strains can be intensified for their degradation to organic matters. The research indicates that ozonation process increases AOC concentration considerably, however, it is beneficial to microdegradation. Temperature and empty bed contact time （ TEBC ） are two important factors affecting microbiology. From 14 to 27 ℃, intensified biological carbon can remove AOC better compared with granular activated carbon （GAC）. Under identical TERC, intensified technique increases more than 10% AOC reduction.

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.

Effect of different molecular weight organic components on the increase of microbial growth potential of secondary effluent by ozonation

Ozonation has been widely applied in advanced wastewater treatment. In this study, the effect of ozonation on assimilable organic carbon （AOC） levels in secondary effluents was investigated, and AOC variation of different molecular weight （MW） organic components was analyzed. Although the removal efflciencies were 47%-76% and 94%-100% for UV2s4 and color at ozone dosage of 10 mg/L, dissolved organic carbon （DOC） in secondary effluents was hardly removed by ozonation. The AOC levels increased by 70%-780% at an ozone dosage range of 1-10 mg/L. AOC increased significantly in the instantaneous ozone demand phase, and the increase in AOC was correlated to the decrease in UV254 during ozonation. The results of MW distribution showed that, ozonation led to the transformation of larger molecules into smaller ones, but the increase in low MW （〈1 kDa） fraction did not contribute much to AOC production. The change of high MW （〉100 kDa and 10-100 kDa） fractions itself during ozonation was the main reason for the increase of AOC levels. Furthermore, the oxidation of organic matters with high MWs （〉 100 kDa and 10-100 kDa） resulted in more AOC production than those with low MWs （1-10 kDa and 〈1 kDa）. The results indicated that removing large molecules in secondary effluents could limit the increase of AOC during ozonation.

The biofilm characteristics and enhanced performance of a marine microbial-electrolysis-cell-based biosensor under positive anodic potential

Microbial fuel cells have already been used as biosensors to monitor assimilable organic carbon(AOC).However,their signal production from AOC is known to be completely suppressed by dissoved oxygen(DO).In this study,two identical microbial electrolysis cell(MEC)based biosensors were inoculated with marine sediment and operated at two different anodic potentials,namely-300 mV and+250 mV relative to Ag/AgCl.The MEC biosensor operated under positive anodic potential conditions had electrochemically active microbial communities on the anode,including members of the Shewanellaceae,Pseudoalteromonadaceae,and Clostridiaceae families.However,the strictly anaerobic members of the Desulfuromonadaceae,Desulfobulbaceae and Desulfobacteraceae families were found only in the negative anodic potential MEC biosensor.The positive anodic potential MEC biosensor showed several other advantages as well,such as faster start-up,significantly higher maximum current production,fivefold improvement in the AOC detection limit,and tolerance of low dissolved oxygen,compared to those obtained from the negative anodic potential MEC biosensor.The developed positive anodic potential MEC biosensor can thus be used as a real-time and inexpensive detector of AOC concentrations in high saline and low DO seawater.