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Zheng W, Chen Y, Zhang J, Peng X, Xu P, Niu Y, Dong B. Control of chlorination disinfection by-products in drinking water by combined nanofiltration process: A case study with trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. CHEMOSPHERE 2024; 358:142121. [PMID: 38677607 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2024] [Revised: 04/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024]
Abstract
Disinfection by-products (DBPs) are prevalent contaminants in drinking water and are primarily linked to issues regarding water quality. These contaminants have been associated with various adverse health effects. Among different treatment processes, nanofiltration (NF) has demonstrated superior performance in effectively reducing the levels of DBPs compared to conventional processes and ozone-biological activated carbon (O3-BAC) processes. In this experiment, we systematically investigated the performance of three advanced membrane filtration treatment schemes, namely "sand filter + nanofiltration" (SF + NF), "sand filter + ozone-biological activated carbon + nanofiltration" (SF + O3-BAC + NF), and "ultrafiltration + nanofiltration" (UF + NF), in terms of their ability to control disinfection by-product (DBP) formation in treated water, analyzed the source and fate of DBP precursors during chlorination, and elucidated the role of precursor molecular weight distribution during membrane filtration in relation to DBP formation potential (DBPFP). The results indicated that each treatment process reduced DBPFP, as measured by trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP) and haloacetic acid formation potential (HAAFP), with the SF + O3-BAC + NF process being the most effective (14.27 μg/L and 14.88 μg/L), followed by the SF + NF process (21.04 μg/L and 16.29 μg/L) and the UF + NF process (26.26 μg/L and 21.75 μg/L). Tyrosine, tryptophan, and soluble microbial products were identified as the major DBP precursors during chlorination, with their fluorescence intensity decreasing gradually as water treatment progressed. Additionally, while large molecular weight organics (60-100,000 KDa) played a minor role in DBPFP, small molecular weight organics (0.2-5 KDa) were highlighted as key contributors to DBPFP, and medium molecular weight organics (5-60 KDa) could adhere to the membrane surface and reduce DBPFP. Based on these findings, the combined NF process can be reasonably selected for controlling DBP formation, with potential long-term benefits for human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjing Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Yellow River Water Environment in Gansu Province, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; College of Environment and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Yan Chen
- Key Laboratory of Yellow River Water Environment in Gansu Province, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; College of Environment and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China.
| | - Jian Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Yellow River Water Environment in Gansu Province, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; College of Environment and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Xing Peng
- Key Laboratory of Yellow River Water Environment in Gansu Province, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; College of Environment and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Pengcheng Xu
- Key Laboratory of Yellow River Water Environment in Gansu Province, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; College of Environment and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Yalin Niu
- Key Laboratory of Yellow River Water Environment in Gansu Province, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; College of Environment and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, 730070, China
| | - Bingzhi Dong
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China; Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, 200092, China
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Lau S, Feng Y, Gu AZ, Russell C, Pope G, Mitch WA. Cytotoxicity Comparison between Drinking Water Treated by Chlorination with Postchloramination versus Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) with Postchlorination. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:13699-13709. [PMID: 37640368 PMCID: PMC10501121 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c03591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Revised: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Granular activated carbon treatment with postchlorination (GAC/Cl2) and chlorination followed by chloramination (Cl2/NH2Cl) represent two options for utilities to reduce DBP formation in drinking water. To compare the total cytotoxicity of waters treated by a pilot-scale GAC treatment system with postchlorination (and in some instances with prechlorination upstream of GAC (i.e., (Cl2)/GAC/Cl2)) and chlorination/chloramination (Cl2/NH2Cl) at ambient and elevated Br- and I- levels and at three different GAC ages, we applied the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell cytotoxicity assay to whole-water extracts in conjunction with calculations of the cytotoxicity contributed by the 33 (semi)volatile DBPs lost during extractions. At both ambient and elevated Br- and I- levels, GAC/Cl2 and Cl2/NH2Cl achieved comparable reductions in the formation of regulated trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs). Nonetheless, GAC/Cl2 always resulted in lower total cytotoxicity than Cl2/NH2Cl, even at up to 65% total organic carbon breakthrough. Prechlorination formed (semi)volatile DBPs that were removed by the GAC, yet there was no substantial difference in total cytotoxicity between Cl2/GAC/Cl2 and GAC/Cl2. The poorly characterized fraction of DBPs captured by the bioassay dominated the total cytotoxicity when the source water contained ambient levels of Br- and I-. When the water was spiked with Br- and I-, the known, unregulated (semi)volatile DBPs and the uncharacterized fraction of DBPs were comparable contributors to total cytotoxicity; the contributions of regulated THMs and HAAs were comparatively minor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie
S. Lau
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Yinmei Feng
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell University, 220 Hollister Hall, 527 College Ave, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - April Z. Gu
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell University, 220 Hollister Hall, 527 College Ave, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Caroline Russell
- Carollo
Engineers, Inc., 8911 Capital of Texas Hwy North, Suite 2200, Austin, Texas 78759, United States
| | - Greg Pope
- Carollo
Engineers, Inc., 8911 Capital of Texas Hwy North, Suite 2200, Austin, Texas 78759, United States
| | - William A. Mitch
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California 94305, United States
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Chen B, Jiang J, Yang X, Zhang X, Westerhoff P. Roles and Knowledge Gaps of Point-of-Use Technologies for Mitigating Health Risks from Disinfection Byproducts in Tap Water: A Critical Review. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 200:117265. [PMID: 34091221 PMCID: PMC8634687 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Revised: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Due to rising concerns about water pollution and affordability, there is a rapidly-growing public acceptance and global market for a variety of point-of-use (POU) devices for domestic uses. However, the efficiencies and mechanisms of POU technologies for removing regulated and emerging disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are still not systematically known. To facilitate the development of this field, we summarized performance trends of four common technologies (i.e., boiling, adsorption, membrane filtration, and advanced oxidation) on mitigating preformed DBPs and identified knowledge gaps. The following highest priority knowledge gaps include: 1) data on DBP levels at the tap or cup in domestic applications; 2) certainty regarding the controls of DBPs by heating processes as DBPs may form and transform simultaneously; 3) standards to evaluate the performance of carbon-based materials on varying types of DBPs; 4) long-term information on the membrane performance in removing DBPs; 5) knowledge of DBPs' susceptibility toward advanced redox processes; 6) tools to monitor/predict the toxicity and diversity of DBPs formed in waters with varying precursors and when implementing different treatment technologies; and 7) social acceptance and regulatory frameworks of incorporating POU as a potential supplement to current centralized-treatment focused DBP control strategies. We conclude by identifying research needs necessary to assure POU systems protect the public against regulated and emerging DBPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baiyang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Prevention and Control, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), 518055, China.
| | - Jingyi Jiang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xin Yang
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
| | - Xiangru Zhang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Paul Westerhoff
- NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-3005, United States.
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Han J, Zhang X, Jiang J, Li W. How Much of the Total Organic Halogen and Developmental Toxicity of Chlorinated Drinking Water Might Be Attributed to Aromatic Halogenated DBPs? ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 55:5906-5916. [PMID: 33830743 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c08565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Although >700 disinfection byproducts (DBPs) have been identified, >50% of the total organic halogen (TOX) in drinking water chlorination is unknown, and the DBPs responsible for the chlorination-associated health risks remain largely unclear. Recent studies have revealed numerous aromatic halo-DBPs, which generally present substantially higher developmental toxicity than aliphatic halo-DBPs. This raises a fascinating and important question: how much of the TOX and developmental toxicity of chlorinated drinking water can be attributed to aromatic halo-DBPs? In this study, an effective approach with ultraperformance liquid chromatography was developed to separate the DBP mixture (from chlorination of bromide-rich raw water) into aliphatic and aromatic fractions, which were then characterized for their TOX and developmental toxicity. For chlorine contact times of 0.25-72 h, aromatic fractions accounted for 49-67% of the TOX in the obtained aliphatic and aromatic fractions, which were equivalent to 26-36% of the TOX in the original chlorinated water samples. Aromatic halo-DBP fractions were more developmentally toxic than the corresponding aliphatic fractions, and the overall developmental toxicity of chlorinated water samples was dominated by aromatic halo-DBP fractions. This might be explained by the considerably higher potentials of aromatic halo-DBPs to bioconcentrate and then generate reactive oxygen species in the organism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiarui Han
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xiangru Zhang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jingyi Jiang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Wanxin Li
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Verdugo EM, Gifford M, Glover C, Cuthbertson AA, Trenholm RA, Kimura SY, Liberatore HK, Richardson SD, Stanford BD, Summers RS, Dickenson ER. Controlling disinfection byproducts from treated wastewater using adsorption with granular activated carbon: Impact of pre-ozonation and pre-chlorination. WATER RESEARCH X 2020; 9:100068. [PMID: 33015600 PMCID: PMC7522497 DOI: 10.1016/j.wroa.2020.100068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Revised: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
This study measured chlorine- and chloramine-reactive precursors using formation potential (FP) tests of nine U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulated and 57 unregulated disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in tertiary-filtered wastewater before and after pilot-scale granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption. Using breakthrough of precursor concentration and of concentration associated calculated cytotoxicity and genotoxicity (by correlating known lethal concentrations reported elsewhere), the performance of three parallel GAC treatment trains were compared against tertiary-filtered wastewater: ozone/GAC, chlorine/GAC, and GAC alone. Results show GAC alone was the primary process, versus ozone or chlorine alone, to remove the largest fraction of total chlorine- and chloramine-reactive DBP precursors and calculated cytotoxicity and genotoxicity potencies. GAC with pre-ozonation removed the most chlorine- and chloramine-reactive DBP precursors followed by GAC with pre-chlorination and lastly GAC without pre-treatment. GAC with pre-ozonation produced an effluent with cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of DBPs from FP that generally matched that of GAC without pre-oxidation; meanwhile removal of toxicity was greater by GAC with pre-chlorination. The cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of DBPs from FP tests did not scale with DBP concentration; for example, more than 90% of the calculated cytotoxicity resulted from 20% of the DBPs, principally from haloacetaldehydes, haloacetamides, and haloacetonitriles. The calculated cytotoxicity and genotoxicity from DBPs associated with FP-chloramination were at times higher than with FP-chlorination though the concentration of DBPs was five times higher with FP-chlorination. The removal of DBP precursors using GAC based treatment was at least as effective as removal of DOC (except for halonitromethanes for GAC without pre-oxidation and with pre-chlorination), indicating DOC can be used as an indicator for DBP precursor adsorption efficacy. However, the DOC was not a good surrogate for total cytotoxicity and genotoxicity breakthrough behavior, therefore, unregulated DBPs could have negative health implications that are disconnected from general water quality parameters, such as DOC, and regulated classes of DBPs. Instead, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity correlate with the concentration of specific classes of unregulated DBPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgard M. Verdugo
- Water Quality Research and Development, Southern Nevada Water Authority, 1299, Burkholder Blvd., Henderson, United States
| | - Mac Gifford
- Water Quality Research and Development, Southern Nevada Water Authority, 1299, Burkholder Blvd., Henderson, United States
| | - Caitlin Glover
- Water Quality Research and Development, Southern Nevada Water Authority, 1299, Burkholder Blvd., Henderson, United States
| | - Amy A. Cuthbertson
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter St., Columbia, SC 29208, United States
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Rebecca A. Trenholm
- Water Quality Research and Development, Southern Nevada Water Authority, 1299, Burkholder Blvd., Henderson, United States
| | - Susana Y. Kimura
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter St., Columbia, SC 29208, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Hannah K. Liberatore
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter St., Columbia, SC 29208, United States
- Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, United States
| | - Susan D. Richardson
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter St., Columbia, SC 29208, United States
| | - Benjamin D. Stanford
- Hazen and Sawyer, 143 Union Blvd., Suite 200, Lakewood, CO, 80228, United States
| | - R. Scott Summers
- Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado, Campus Box 428, Boulder, CO, 80309, United States
| | - Eric R.V. Dickenson
- Water Quality Research and Development, Southern Nevada Water Authority, 1299, Burkholder Blvd., Henderson, United States
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Erdem CU, Ateia M, Liu C, Karanfil T. Activated carbon and organic matter characteristics impact the adsorption of DBP precursors when chlorine is added prior to GAC contactors. WATER RESEARCH 2020; 184:116146. [PMID: 32726742 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Pre-chlorination (i.e. dosing chlorine prior to granular activated carbon (GAC) contactors) was recently introduced as a promising method to reduce the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs). However, our understanding on the effect of natural organic matter (NOM) and GAC characteristics on pre-chlorination efficiency is still elusive. Thus, we have designed this systematic study to investigate the effects of GAC characteristics (i.e. surface area, pore size, and surface charge) on the subsequent reduction of DBP formation using five well-characterized adsorbents with three different NOM under three initial Br- concentrations. The results revealed that the adsorption of halogenated DBPs precursors mostly occurs in the mesoporous region (i.e. 2 nm < pore size <50 nm) of the adsorbents. Subsequently, pre-chlorination before treatment with HD3000 (i.e. GAC with the highest mesoporous surface area) decreased the formation of DBPs by 58%. Furthermore, oxidation of GAC increased the surface acidity and negatively impacted the adsorption of halogenated DBP precursors, which suggests basic GACs as promising adsorbents when applying pre-chlorination. In addition, experiments with different NOM showed that pre-chlorination was effective with higher aromatic NOM (i.e. high specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA254)). However, pre-chlorination of NOM with low SUVA254 has decreased the adsorption of some DBP precursors which resulted in increased formations of haloacetic acid (HAA) and total organic halogen (TOX). Also, experiments with effluent organic matter (EfOM) showed that pre-chlorination did not increase the adsorption of DBP precursors in low SUVA254 wastewater effluents. Besides, increasing initial Br- concentration increased the formation of brominated DBPs (Br-DBPs) and the adsorbed Br-DBP precursors. This study gives in-depth understanding of the mechanisms, advantages, and limitations of pre-chlorination as a potential method to control DBPs formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cagri Utku Erdem
- Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Science, Clemson University, SC, 29634, United States
| | - Mohamed Ateia
- Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Science, Clemson University, SC, 29634, United States; Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, United States
| | - Chao Liu
- Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Science, Clemson University, SC, 29634, United States; Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China
| | - Tanju Karanfil
- Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Science, Clemson University, SC, 29634, United States.
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