Identification of key precursors contributing to the formation of CX_(3)R-type disinfection by-products along the typical full-scale drinking water treatment processes

Identification and characterization of disinfection by-product(DBP)precursors could help optimize drinkingwater treatment processes and improve the quality of finishedwater.This study comprehensively investigated the characteristics of dissolved organic matter(DOM),the hydrophilicity and molecule weight(MW)of DBP precursor and DBP-associated toxicity along the typical full-scale treatment processes.The results showed that dissolved organic carbon and dissolved organic nitrogen content,the fluorescence intensity and the SUVA254 value in raw water significantly decreased after the whole treatment processes.Conventional treatment processes were in favor of the removal of high-MW and hydrophobic DOM,which are important precursors of trihalomethane and haloacetic acid.Compared with conventional treatment processes,Ozone integrated with biological activated carbon(O3-BAC)processes enhanced the removal efficiencies of DOM with different MW and hydrophobic fractions,leading to a further decrease in almost all DBP formation potential and DBP-associated toxicity.However,almost 50%of the detected DBP precursors in raw water has not been removed after the coagulation-sedimentation-filtration integrated with O3-BAC advanced treatment processes.These remaining precursors were found to be mainly hydrophilic and low-MW(<1.0 kDa)organics.Moreover,they would largely contribute to the formation of haloacetaldehydes and haloacetonitriles,which dominated the calculated cytotoxicity.Since current drinking water treatment process could not effectively control the highly toxic DBPs,the removal of hydrophilic and low-MW organics in drinking water treatment plants should be focused on in the future.

饮用水中消毒副产物前体物的控制技术研究现状

阐述了饮用水中消毒副产物前体物主要来自于原水中的腐殖质,如腐殖酸和富里酸等天然有机物。介绍了不同特征的有机物与氯反应生成消毒副产物的关系,着重介绍了化学预氧化,活性炭吸附和组合工艺等去除消毒副产物前体物技术的应用现状,简述了关于饮用水中消毒副产物前体物的控制技术研究的发展趋势。

Disinfection by-product(DBP) research in China:Are we on the track?

Disinfection by-products(DBPs) formed during water disinfection has drawn significant public concern due to its toxicity. Since the first discovery of the trihalomethanes in 1974,continued effort has been devoted on DBPs worldwide to investigate the formation mechanism, levels, toxicity and control measures in drinking water. This review summarizes the main achievements on DBP research in China, which included:(1) the investigation of known DBP occurrence in drinking water of China;(2) the enhanced removal of DBP precursor by water treatment process;(3) the disinfection optimization to minimize DBP formation;and(4) the identification of unknown DBPs in drinking water. Although the research of DBPs in China cover the whole formation process of DBPs, there is still a challenge in effectively controlling the drinking water quality risk induced by DBPs, an integrated research framework including chemistry, toxicology, engineering, and epidemiology is especially crucial.

Enhanced removal of organic matter and typical disinfection byproduct precursors in combined iron–carbon micro electrolysis-UBAF process for drinking water pre-treatment

The organic matter and two types of disinfection byproduct(DBP) precursors in micropolluted source water were removed using an iron–carbon micro-electrolysis(ICME)combined with up-flow biological aerated filter(UBAF) process. Two pilot-scale experiments(ICME-UBAF and UBAF alone) were used to investigate the effect of the ICME system on the removal of organic matter and DBP precursors. The results showed that ICME pretreatment removed 15.6% of dissolved organic matter(DOM)and significantly improved the removal rate in the subsequent UBAF process. The ICME system removed 31% of trichloromethane(TCM) precursors and 20% of dichloroacetonitrile(DCAN) precursors. The results of measurements of the molecular weight distribution and hydrophilic fractions of DOM and DBP precursors showed that ICME pretreatment played a key role in breaking large-molecular-weight organic matter into low-molecular-weight components, and the hydrophobic fraction into hydrophilic compounds, which was favorable for subsequent biodegradation by UBAF.Three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy(3D-EEM) further indicated that the ICME system improved the removal of TCM and DCAN precursors. The biomass analysis indicated the presence of a larger and more diverse microbial community in the ICME-UBAF system than for the UBAF alone. The high-throughput sequencing results revealed that domination of the genera Sphingomonas, Brevundimonas and Sphingorhabdus contributed to the better removal of organic matter and two types of DBP precursors. Also, Nitrosomonas and Pseudomonas were beneficial for ammonia removal.

Simultaneous removal of ammonia and N-nitrosamine precursors from high ammonia water by zeolite and powdered activated carbon

When adding sufficient chlorine to achieve breakpoint chlorination to source water containing high concentration of ammonia during drinking water treatment, high concentrations of disinfection by-products（DBPs） may form. If N-nitrosamine precursors are present, highly toxic N-nitrosamines, primarily N-nitrosodimethylamine（NDMA）, may also form. Removing their precursors before disinfection should be a more effective way to minimize these DBPs formation. In this study, zeolites and activated carbon were examined for ammonia and N-nitrosamine precursor removal when incorporated into drinking water treatment processes.The test results indicate that Mordenite zeolite can remove ammonia and five of seven N-nitrosamine precursors efficiently by single step adsorption test. The practical applicability was evaluated by simulation of typical drinking water treatment processes using six-gang stirring system. The Mordenite zeolite was applied at the steps of lime softening, alum coagulation, and alum coagulation with powdered activated carbon（PAC） sorption. While the lime softening process resulted in poor zeolite performance, alum coagulation did not impact ammonia and N-nitrosamine precursor removal. During alum coagulation, more than67% ammonia and 70%–100% N-nitrosamine precursors were removed by Mordenite zeolite（except 3-（dimethylaminomethyl）indole（DMAI） and 4-dimethylaminoantipyrine（DMAP））. PAC effectively removed DMAI and DMAP when added during alum coagulation. A combination of the zeolite and PAC selected efficiently removed ammonia and all tested seven N-nitrosamine precursors（dimethylamine（DMA）, ethylmethylamine（EMA）, diethylamine（DEA）, dipropylamine（DPA）, trimethylamine（TMA）, DMAP, and DMAI） during the alum coagulation process.