Towards reducing DBP formation potential of drinking water by favouring direct ozone over hydroxyl radical reactions during ozonation

Ozone/peroxide advanced oxidation in combination with biofiltration for taste and odour control and organics removal

The objective of this pilot-scale study was to investigate the effectiveness of incorporating ozone (O₃) and advanced oxidation (hydrogen peroxide/ozone: H₂O₂/O₃) in combination with biofiltration for taste and odour control, organic carbon removal, and disinfection byproduct (DBP) precursor reduction. Implementation of O₃ and H₂O₂/O₃ with and without biofiltration was investigated at pilot-scale in terms of geosmin, 2-methylisoborneol (MIB), and DBP precursor removal efficiency. Two media types (granular activated carbon and anthracite) were compared in conjunction with investigating the impact of pre-oxidation with O₃ (2 mg/L) and varying H₂O₂/O₃ mass ratios (0.1, 0.2, 0.35, and 0.5 mg/mg). When O₃ preceded biologically active carbon (BAC) or biologically active anthracite, geosmin removals of 80% and 81%, respectively, were observed at 10 °C; this increased to 89% and 90%, respectively, at 16 °C. Optimal MIB removal (67%) was achieved with 0.1 H₂O₂/O₃ (mg/mg) in combination with BAC at 16 °C. In general, geosmin proved to be more amenable to biodegradation than MIB. BAC without pre-oxidation removed 87% geosmin and 85% MIB, at 22 °C. MIB removals decreased to 60% and 46%, respectively at 16 °C and 10 °C. The application of 0.2 H₂O₂/O₃ (mg/mg) prior to BAC provided treatment which effectively removed geosmin and MIB. However, in terms of DBP precursor reduction, there was no beneficial impact of H₂O₂ addition on trihalomethane or haloacetic acid formation potentials.

Ozone and chlorine reactions with dissolved organic matter - Assessment of oxidant-reactive moieties by optical measurements and the electron donating capacities

Oxidation processes are impacted by the type, concentration and reactivity of the dissolved organic matter (DOM). In this study, the reactions between various types of DOM (Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA), Nordic Reservoir NOM (NNOM) and Pony Lake fulvic acid (PLFA)) and two oxidants (ozone and chlorine) were studied in the pH range 2-9 by using a combination of optical measurements and electron donating capacities. The relationships between residual electron donating capacity (EDC) and residual absorbance showed a strong pH dependence for the ozone-DOM reactions with phenolic functional groups being the main reacting moieties. Relative EDC and absorbance abatements (UV₂₅₄ or UV₂₈₀) were similar at pH 2. At pH 7 or 9, the relative abatement of EDC was more pronounced than for absorbance, which could be explained by the formation of UV-absorbing products such as benzoquinone from the transformation of phenolic moieties. An increase in fluorescence abatement with increasing pH was also observed during ozonation. The increase in fluorescence quantum yields could not be attributed to formation of benzoquinone, but related to a faster abatement of phenolic moieties relative to fluorophores with low ozone reactivity. The overall ^•OH yields as a result of DOM-induced ozone consumption increased significantly with increasing pH, which could be related to the higher reactivity of phenolic moieties at higher pH. The ^•OH yields for SRFA and PLFA were proportional to the phenolic contents, whereas for NNOM, the ^•OH yield was about 30% higher. During chlorination of DOM at pH 7 an efficient relative EDC abatement was observed whereas the relative absorbance abatement was much less pronounced. This is due to the formation of chlorophenolic moieties, which exert a significant absorbance, and partly lose their electron donating capacity. Pre-ozonation of SRFA leads to a decrease of chloroform and haloacetic acid formation, however, only after a threshold of > ∼50% abatement of the EDC and under conditions which are not precursor limited. The decrease in chloroform and haloacetic acid formation after the threshold EDC abatement was proportional to the relative residual EDC.

Effects of phosphate-enhanced ozone/biofiltration on formation of disinfection byproducts and occurrence of opportunistic pathogens in drinking water distribution systems

The effects of ozone-biologically activated carbon (O₃-BAC) treatment with various phosphate doses (0, 0.3 or 0.6 mg/L) were investigated on the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) and occurrence of opportunistic pathogens (OPs) in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) simulated by annular reactors (ARs). It was found that the lowest DBPs and the highest inactivation of OPs such as Mycobacterium spp., Mycobacterium avium, Aeromonas spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Hartmanella vermiformis, occurred in the effluent of the AR with 0.6 mg/L phosphate addition. Based on the results of different characterization techniques, for the AR with 0.6 mg/L phosphate-enhanced O₃-BAC treatment, dissolved organic carbon in the influent exhibited the lowest concentration and most stable fraction due to the improved biodegradation effect. Moreover, the total amount of suspended extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in the bulk water of the AR decreased greatly, resulting in the lowest chlorine consumption and DBPs formation in the AR. In Fourier transform infrared spectra of the suspended EPS, the amide II band (1600-1500 cm^-1) disappeared and the protein/polysaccharide ratio decreased remarkably, indicating the destruction of protein and a decrease in hydrophobicity. Moreover, β-sheets and α-helices in the protein secondary structures were degraded while the random coils increased sharply as phosphate addition increased to 0.6 mg/L, inhibiting microbial aggregation and hence weakening the chlorine-resistance capability. Thus, most of the OPs in suspended biofilms were more easily inactivated by residual chlorine, resulting in the lowest OPs occurrence in the effluent of the AR. Our findings indicated that enhancing the efficiency of the BAC filter by adding phosphate is a promising method for improving water quality in DWDSs.

Effects of conventional ozonation and electro-peroxone pretreatment of surface water on disinfection by-product formation during subsequent chlorination

The electro-peroxone (E-peroxone) process is an emerging ozone-based electrochemical advanced oxidation process that combines conventional ozonation with in-situ cathodic hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) production for oxidative water treatment. In this study, the effects of the E-peroxone pretreatment on disinfection by-product (DBP) formation from chlorination of a synthetic surface water were investigated and compared to conventional ozonation. Results show that due to the enhanced transformation of ozone (O₃) to hydroxyl radicals (OH) by electro-generated H₂O₂, the E-peroxone process considerably enhanced dissolved organic carbon (DOC) abatement and significantly reduced bromate (BrO₃^-) formation compared to conventional ozonation. However, natural organic matter (NOM) with high UV₂₅₄ absorbance, which is the major precursors of chlorination DBPs, was less efficiently abated during the E-peroxone process than conventional ozonation. Consequently, while both conventional ozonation and the E-peroxone process substantially reduced the formation of DBPs (trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids) during post-chlorination, higher DBP concentrations were generally observed during chlorination of the E-peroxone pretreated waters than conventional ozonation treated. In addition, because of conventional ozonation or the E-peroxone treatment, DBPs formed during post-chlorination shifted to more brominated species. The overall yields of brominated DBPs exhibited strong correlations with the bromide concentrations in water. Therefore, while the E-peroxone process can effectively suppress bromide transformation to bromate, it may lead to higher formation of brominated DBPs during post-chlorination compared to conventional ozonation. These results suggest that the E-peroxone process can lead to different DBP formation and speciation during water treatment trains compared to conventional ozonation.

Effect of ozonation on the characteristics of effluent organic matter fractions and subsequent associations with disinfection by-products formation

Ozonation could be used in advanced wastewater treatment plants to reduce the precursors of disinfection by-products (DBPs), or for disinfection and oxidation of trace organic compounds. Detailed analysis of effluent organic matter (EfOM) is intrinsic to the understanding of impact of ozonation on the characterization variation of EfOM, which is closely related with DBPs formation during subsequent chlorination. In this study, the raw as well as oxidized EfOM with ozone were fractionated into hydrophobic acids, neutrals and bases, and hydrophilic acids, neutrals and bases. Results indicated that ozonation increased the proportion of hydrophilic fractions in EfOM, especially of hydrophilic acids, which resulted in increased specific haloacetic acids formation potential (HAAFP) in the subsequent chlorination. Although ozonation decreased the total organic carbon and SUVA₂₅₄ of EfOM and most isolated fractions, further ozonation increased the SUVA of hydrophilic acids after the initial decrease. This was in accordance with the chemical structures analysis with FTIR, which showed the relative abundance of unsaturated structures such as CO bonds in hydrophilic fractions increased with further ozonation. Furthermore, specific trihalomethanes formation potential (THMFP) of each fraction decreased after initial pre-ozonation but increased with different extent with further ozonation. While for HAAs, pre-ozonation of hydrophilic acids significantly increased the dichloroacetic acid (DCAA) formation potential. In brief, EfOM containing a relatively high content of aromatic structures i.e. SUVA₂₅₄ and aliphatic structures yielded a remarkably high specific DBPFP. Further mineralization of organic fractions and specific increased formation of aliphatic CH structures by further ozonation caused the increased DBPFPs especially DCAAFP during subsequent chlorination.

Degradation of natural organic matter by UV/chlorine oxidation: Molecular decomposition, formation of oxidation byproducts and cytotoxicity

The degradation of natural organic matters (NOMs) by the combination of UV and chlorine (UV/chlorine) was investigated in this study. UV/chlorine oxidation can effectively degrade NOMs, with the degradation of chromophores (∼80%) and fluorophores (76.4-80.8%) being more efficient than that of DOC (15.1-18.6%). This effect was attributed to the chromophores and fluorophores (double bonds, aromatic groups and phenolic groups) being preferentially degraded by UV/chlorine oxidation, particularly reactive groups with high electron donating capacity. Radical species •OH and •Cl were generated during UV/chlorine oxidation, with the contribution of •OH 1.4 times as high as that of •Cl. The degradation kinetics of different molecular weight (MW) fractions suggests that UV/chlorine oxidation degrades high MW fractions into low MW fractions, with the degradation rates of high MW fractions (>3000 Da) 4.5 times of those of medium MW fractions (1000-3000 Da). In comparison with chlorination alone, UV/chlorine oxidation did not increase the formation (30 min) and formation potential (24 h) of trihalomethanes, but instead promoted the formation and formation potential of haloacetic acids and chloral hydrate. Adsorbable organic halogen (AOX) formed from UV/chlorine oxidation of NOM were 0.8 times higher than those formed from chlorination. Cytotoxicity studies indicated that the cytotoxicity of NOM increased after both chlorination and UV/chlorine oxidation, which may be due to the formation of AOX.

Predicting reactivity of model DOM compounds towards chlorine with mediated electrochemical oxidation

Chlorine demand of a water sample depends on the characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM). It is an important parameter for water utilities used to assess oxidant and/or disinfectant consumption of source waters during treatment and distribution. In this study, model compounds namely resorcinol, tannic acid, vanillin, cysteine, tyrosine, and tryptophan were used to represent the reactive moieties of complex DOM mixtures. The reactivity of these compounds was evaluated in terms of Cl₂ demand and electron donating capacity (EDC). The EDC was determined by mediated electrochemical oxidation (MEO) which involves the use of 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) as an electron shuttle. The Cl₂ demand of readily oxidizable compounds (resorcinol, tannic acid, vanillin, and cysteine) was found to correlate well with EDC (R² = 0.98). The EDC values (mol e^-/mol C) of the model compounds are as follows: 1.18 (cysteine) > 0.77 (resorcinol) > 0.59 (vanillin) > 0.52 (tannic acid) > 0.36 (tryptophan) > 0.19 (tyrosine). To determine the effect of pre-oxidation on EDC, ozone was added (0.1 mol O₃/mol C) into each model compound solution. Ozonation caused a general decrease in EDC (10-40%), chlorine demand (10-30%), and UV absorbance (10-40%), except for tyrosine which showed both increased UV₂₇₅ and EDC. Before and after ozonation, 24 h disinfection byproduct (DBP) formation potential tests (Cl₂ residual = 1.5 mg/L) were conducted to evaluate the use of EDC for DBP formation prediction. The results indicate that there was no significant correlation between the EDC of the model compounds and the formation potentials of adsorbable organic chlorine, trichloromethane, and trichloroacetic acid. This suggests that while EDC correlates with Cl₂ demand, chlorine consumption may not directly translate to DBP formation because oxidation reactions may dominate over substitution reactions. Overall, this study provides useful insights on the reactions of ABTS⁺ and HOCl with model DOM compounds, and highlights the potential application of MEO for rapid determination of Cl₂ demand of a water sample.

Increase of cytotoxicity during wastewater chlorination: Impact factors and surrogates

Toxic and harmful disinfection byproducts (DBPs) were formed during wastewater chlorination. It was recently suggested that cytotoxicity to mammalian cells reflects risks posed by chlorinated wastewater. Here, ATP assays were performed to evaluate the cytotoxicity to mammalian cells. Chlorination significantly increased cytotoxicity of treated wastewater. Factors affecting cytotoxicity formation during wastewater chlorination were investigated. Quenching with sodium thiosulfate and ascorbic acid decreased the formed cytotoxicity, while ammonium kept the cytotoxicity stable. The chlorine dose required for the maximum cytotoxicity increase was dramatically affected by DOC and ammonia concentrations. The maximum cytotoxicity increase, defined as the cytotoxicity formation potential (CtFP), occurred when wastewater was treated for 48h with a chlorine dose of 2·DOC+11·NH₃N+10 (mg-Cl₂/L). During chlorination, the amounts of AOX formation was found to be significantly correlated with cytotoxicity formation when no DBPs were destroyed. AOX formation could be used as a surrogate to estimate cytotoxicity increase during wastewater chlorination. Besides, the CtFP of 14 treated wastewater samples was assessed ranged from 5.4-20.4mg-phenol/L. The CtFP could be estimated from UV₂₅₄ of treated wastewater because CtFP and UV₂₅₄ were strongly correlated.

Biodegradability of DBP precursors after drinking water ozonation

Ozonation is known to generate biodegradable organic matter, which is typically reduced by biological filtration to avoid bacterial regrowth in distribution systems. Post-chlorination generates halogenated disinfection byproducts (DBPs) but little is known about the biodegradability of their precursors. This study determined the effect of ozonation and biofiltration conditions, specifically ozone exposure and empty bed contact time (EBCT), on the control of DBP formation potentials in drinking water. Ozone exposure was varied through addition of H₂O₂ during ozonation at 1 mgO₃/mgDOC followed by biological filtration using either activated carbon (BAC) or anthracite. Ozonation led to a 10% decrease in dissolved organic carbon (DOC), without further improvement from H₂O₂ addition. Raising H₂O₂ concentrations from 0 to 2 mmol/mmolO₃ resulted in increased DBP formation potentials during post-chlorination of the ozonated water (target Cl₂ residual after 24 h = 1-2 mg/L) as follows: 4 trihalomethanes (THM4, 37%), 8 haloacetic acids (HAA8, 44%), chloral hydrate (CH, 107%), 2 haloketones (HK2, 97%), 4 haloacetonitriles (HAN4, 33%), trichloroacetamide (TCAM, 43%), and adsorbable organic halogen (AOX, 27%), but a decrease in the concentrations of 2 trihalonitromethanes (THNM2, 43%). Coupling ozonation with biofiltration prior to chlorination effectively lowered the formation potentials of all DBPs including CH, HK2, and THNM2, all of which increased after ozonation. The dynamics of DBP formation potentials during BAC filtration at different EBCTs followed first-order reaction kinetics. Minimum steady-state concentrations were attained at an EBCT of about 10-20 min, depending on the DBP species. The rate of reduction in DBP formation potentials varied among individual species before reaching their minimum concentrations. CH, HK2, and THNM2 had the highest rate constants of between 0.5 and 0.6 min^-1 followed by HAN4 (0.4 min^-1), THM4 (0.3 min^-1), HAA8 (0.2 min^-1), and AOX (0.1 min^-1). At an EBCT of 15 min, the reduction in formation potential for most DBPs was less than 50% but was higher than 70% for CH, HK2, and THNM2. The formation of bromine-containing DBPs increased with increasing EBCT, most likely due to an increase in Br^-/DOC ratio. Overall, this study demonstrated that the combination of ozonation and biofiltration is an effective approach to mitigate DBP formation during drinking water treatment.

Detoxification of zearalenone and ochratoxin A by ozone and quality evaluation of ozonised corn

Zearalenone (ZEN) and ochratoxin A (OTA) are secondary toxic metabolites of fungi that can contaminate a wide range of food and feedstuff. In this study, the effects of ozone treatment on ZEN and OTA and the quality of ozonised corn are investigated. Ozone significantly affects ZEN and OTA solutions. ZEN was undetectable 5 s after being treated with 10 mg l^-1 ozone. However, OTA was resistant to ozonation with a degradation rate of 65.4% after 120 s of treatment. Moreover, ZEN and OTA solutions were difficult to degrade after being dried by a nitrogen stream. Results showed that ozone effectively degraded ZEN and OTA in corn. The degradation rates of ZEN and OTA in corn increased with ozone concentration and treatment time. The degradation of ZEN and OTA at different ozone concentrations appropriately conformed to first-order kinetics with an R² value > 0.8749. Furthermore, under the same conditions, corn with increased moisture content (MC) (19.6%) was more sensitive to ozone than corn with a low MC (14.1%). When treated with 100 mg l^-1 ozone for 180 min, ZEN and OTA in corn with 19.6% MC decreased by 90.7% and 70.7%, respectively. To evaluate the quality of ozonised corn, subsequent quality experiments were conducted using corn samples treated at different times with 100 mg l^-1 ozone. The MC of corn decreased after ozone treatment. The whiteness and yellowness of the corn increased and decreased with increasing time, respectively. The fatty acid value of the corn increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) after 180 min of treatment. This study verified that ozone can effectively degrade ZEN and OTA in corn, but slightly affected corn quality.

Reducing natural organic matter and disinfection by-product precursors by alternating oxic and anoxic conditions during engineered short residence time riverbank filtration: A laboratory-scale column study

Riverbank filtration (RBF) with days to months of residence time has been successfully used as treatment or pre-treatment process to improve water quality for decades. However, its feasibility depends on the local hydrogeological conditions. Therefore, for sites unsuitable to traditional RBF, a smaller engineered RBF may be an option. This study evaluates the performance of engineered short residence time RBF on improving water quality, focusing on the removal of natural organic matter (NOM) and the reduction of precursors of carbon and nitrogen disinfection by-products (DBP). Lab-scale experiments were conducted with surface feed water from a drinking water plant. The results showed that within 6days hydraulic retention time (HRT), 60-70% dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and 70-80% ultraviolet absorbance at 254nm (UV254) could be removed. During the whole filtration process, biodegradation was responsible for the removal of organic matter, and it was found that alternating redox condition between oxic and anoxic was beneficial for the overall performance of the RBF. Dissolved oxygen (DO) had a substantial impact on the removal of DBP precursors. For carbon-containing DBP (C-DBP) precursors' removal, re-aeration after a sequence of oxic and anoxic conditions could further increase the removal efficiencies from 50%, 60%, and 60% to 80%, 90%, and 80% for trihalomethanes (THMs), chloral hydrate (CH), and haloketones (HKs). Prolonged anoxic conditions were however beneficial for the removal of nitrogen-containing DBP (N-DBP) precursors.

Sample Enrichment for Bioanalytical Assessment of Disinfected Drinking Water: Concentrating the Polar, the Volatiles, and the Unknowns

Enrichment methods used in sample preparation for the bioanalytical assessment of disinfected drinking water result in the loss of volatile and hydrophilic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and hence likely tend to underestimate biological effects. We developed and evaluated methods that are compatible with bioassays, for extracting nonvolatile and volatile DBPs from chlorinated and chloraminated drinking water to minimize the loss of analytes. For nonvolatile DBPs, solid-phase extraction (SPE) with TELOS ENV as solid phase performed superior compared to ten other sorbents. SPE yielded >70% recovery of nonpurgeable adsorbable organic halogens (AOX). For volatile DBPs, cryogenic vacuum distillation performed unsatisfactorily. Purge and cold-trap with crushed ice serving as condensation nuclei achieved recoveries of 50-100% for trihalomethanes and haloacetonitriles and approximately 60-90% for purged AOX from tap water. We compared the purgeable versus the nonpurgeable fraction by combining purge-and-trap extraction with SPE. The purgeable DBP fraction enriched with the purge-and-trap method exerted a lower oxidative stress response in mammalian cells than the nonpurgeable DBPs enriched with SPE after purging, while contributions of both fractions to bacterial cytotoxicity was more variable. 37 quantified DBPs explained almost the entire AOX in the purge-and-trap extracts, but <16% in the SPE extracts demonstrating that the nonpurgeable fraction is dominated by unknown DBPs.