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Huang F, Graham NJD, Su Z, Xu L, Yu W. Capabilities of Microbial Consortia from Disparate Environment Matrices in the Decomposition of Nature Organic Matter by Biofiltration. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 262:122047. [PMID: 39003956 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 06/27/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a pivotal role in drinking water treatment, influencing the performance of unit processes and final water quality (e.g. disinfection byproduct risk). Biofiltration is an effective method of reducing DOM, but currently lacks a comprehensive appreciation of the association between microbial profiles and biofiltration performance. In this study, bench-scale biofiltration units inoculated with microbial consortia from river and soil matrices were operated successively for comparing their efficacy in terms of DOM removal. The results showed that biofiltration units receiving soil microbes were significantly superior (p < 0.05) to those receiving river inoculated microbes in terms of decomposing DOM recalcitrant fractions and reducing DBP formation potential, resulting in DOC and DBP precursor removals of up to 58.4 % and 87.9 %, respectively. Characterization of the taxonomic composition revealed that differences in the microbial assembly of the two biofilter groups were subject to deterministic rather than stochastic factors. Furthermore, more complicated interspecific relationships and niche structures in soil inoculated biofilters were deciphered by co-occurrence network, providing a plausible profile on a taxonomic division of labor in DOM stepwise degradation. Accordingly, the contribution of microbial compositions was found to be of greater importance than the GAC mass and biomass attached to the media. Thus, this study has advanced the understanding of microbial-mediated DOM decomposition in biofiltration, and also provided a promising strategy for enhancing the process for water use via developing appropriate engineered consortia of bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, PR China
| | - Nigel J D Graham
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Zhaoyang Su
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, PR China
| | - Lei Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, PR China
| | - Wenzheng Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, PR China.
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Dowdell KS, Olsen K, Martinez Paz EF, Sun A, Keown J, Lahr R, Steglitz B, Busch A, LiPuma JJ, Olson T, Raskin L. Investigating the suitability of online flow cytometry for monitoring full-scale drinking water ozone system disinfection effectiveness. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 257:121702. [PMID: 38749337 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121702] [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: 12/28/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
While online monitoring of physicochemical parameters has widely been incorporated into drinking water treatment systems, online microbial monitoring has lagged behind, resulting in the use of surrogate parameters (disinfectant residual, applied dose, concentration × time, CT) to assess disinfection system performance. Online flow cytometry (online FCM) allows for automated quantification of total and intact microbial cells. This study sought to investigate the feasibility of online FCM for full-scale drinking water ozone disinfection system performance monitoring. A water treatment plant with high lime solids turbidity in the ozone contactor influent was selected to evaluate the online FCM in challenging conditions. Total and intact cell counts were monitored for 40 days and compared to surrogate parameters (ozone residual, ozone dose, and CT) and grab sample assay results for cellular adenosine triphosphate (cATP), heterotrophic plate counts (HPC), impedance flow cytometry, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Online FCM provided insight into the dynamics of the full-scale ozone system, including offering early warning of increased contactor effluent cell concentrations, which was not observed using surrogate measures. Positive correlations were observed between online FCM intact cell counts and cATP levels (Kendall's tau=0.40), HPC (Kendall's tau=0.20), and impedance flow cytometry results (Kendall's tau=0.30). Though a strong correlation between log intact cell removal and CT was not observed, 16S rRNA gene sequencing results showed that passage through the ozone contactor significantly changed the microbial community (p < 0.05). Potential causes of the low overall cell inactivation in the contactor and the significant changes in the microbial community after ozonation include regrowth in the later chambers of the contactor and varied ozone resistance of drinking water microorganisms. This study demonstrates the suitability of direct, online microbial analysis for monitoring full-scale disinfection systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine S Dowdell
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, 1353 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Kirk Olsen
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, 1353 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Ernesto F Martinez Paz
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, 1353 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Aini Sun
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, 1353 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jeff Keown
- Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plant, City of Ann Arbor, 919 Sunset Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA
| | - Rebecca Lahr
- Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plant, City of Ann Arbor, 919 Sunset Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA
| | - Brian Steglitz
- Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plant, City of Ann Arbor, 919 Sunset Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA
| | - Andrea Busch
- Great Lakes Water Authority, 9300W. Jefferson Ave, Detroit, MI 48209, USA
| | - John J LiPuma
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, 8323 MSRB III, SPC5646, 1150W. Med Cntr Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Terese Olson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, 1353 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Lutgarde Raskin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, 1353 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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Qi W, Skov PV, de Jesus Gregersen KJ, Pedersen LF. A novel method to estimate biofilm activity based on enzymatic oxygen release from hydrogen peroxide decomposition. Biofilm 2023; 5:100121. [PMID: 37090160 PMCID: PMC10119708 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioflm.2023.100121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 04/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Biofilm is central for biological water treatment processes in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). A lack of suitable methods for quantifying biofilm activity, however, makes it difficult to assess and compare the microbial status of biofilm. This type of information of the biofilm will be useful to assess the colonization status of nitrifying biocarriers or to evaluate the effect of disinfectants on the biofilm activity. Here we introduce a novel assay for rapid assessment of microbial activities in the biofilm attached on bioelements from a RAS biofilter. The assay consisted of an intermittent respirometer platform where biofilter elements were exposed to 10 mg/L hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for 1 h, following concurrent measurements of oxygen release from the decomposition of H2O2 caused by biofilm-associated enzymes. A different number of colonized, mature bioelements from a moving bed biofilter in a freshwater RAS were tested with repeated H2O2 exposure, and compared against their autoclaved forms. A substantial increase in dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration (0.92-2.31 mg O2/L) occurred with mature bioelements during 1 h of H2O2 exposure, compared to small amounts of DO release (≤0.27 mg O2/L) with autoclaved bioelements. This substantiates that H2O2 decomposition by biofilm is mainly governed by microbial enzymatic activities. A monomolecular model fitted well with the observed oxygen release profiles of tested mature bioelements after H2O2 exposure (R2 > 0.98). The kinetic rate constant of net oxygen release (k or , h-1) was proportional (R2 for linear fit = 0.99) to the number of mature bioelements tested. Repeated exposure of H2O2 to the same bioelements did not change k or , which indicates that 10 mg/L H2O2 with an exposure time of 1 h does not suppress enzymatic activity in biofilm. Our study provides a new rapid method that allows simple quantification of microbial activity in biofilm samples from aquaculture systems, which could potentially be also applied to study biofilm from wastewater treatment plants and other industries.
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Lin H, Hou Q, Sun X, Hu G, Yu R. Oyster shell for drinking water filtration compared with granular activated carbon: advantages and limitations. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:121475-121486. [PMID: 37950780 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-30781-5] [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: 06/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/13/2023]
Abstract
Deliberate media selection can be conducted to achieve targeted objective in filters. In this study, three biofilters (BFs) packed with calcinated oyster shell (COS), granular activated carbon (GAC), and COS + GAC (Mix) were set up in parallel following a rough filter packed with natural oyster shell to compare the performance for treating micro-polluted source water. Different media showed selective removal effects for different pollutants. GAC outperformed COS in terms of TOC and UV254. COS achieved higher reduction in turbidity than GAC. Due to the removal of total bacteria, the absolute and relative abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) both decreased much in rough filter treated water (1.16 × 1014 to 1.40 × 1013 copies L-1 and 81.6 to 36.9%, respectively). The highest diverse and rich bacterial community was found in the biofilms on the COS filler, so microbial leakage gave rise to high bacterial content, leading to the highest absolute abundance of ARGs in COS BF effluent (2.11 × 1013 copies L-1). The highest relative abundance of ARGs (41.2%) was found in GAC BF effluent. SourceTracker and biomarker analysis both suggested that treatment process played a more important role in shaping the bacterial community structure in Mix BF effluent than single media BFs, which contributed to the lowest absolute (8.69 × 1012 copies L-1) and relative abundance (25.2%) of ARGs in Mix BF effluent among the three BFs. Our results suggested that mix COS + GAC can not only give full play to their respective advantages for traditional pollutants, but also achieve highest reduction in ARGs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huirong Lin
- College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China
- Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China
| | - Quanyang Hou
- College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China
- Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China
| | - Xiaohui Sun
- College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China
| | - Gongren Hu
- College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China
- Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China
| | - Ruilian Yu
- College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China.
- Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China.
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Yuan J, Fox F, Crowe G, Mortazavian S, Passeport E, Hofmann R. Is In-Service Granular Activated Carbon Biologically Active? An Evaluation of Alternative Experimental Methods to Distinguish Adsorption and Biodegradation in GAC. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:16125-16133. [PMID: 36210519 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
In-service granular activated carbon (GAC) may transform into biological activated carbon (BAC) and remove contaminants through both adsorption and biodegradation, but it is difficult to determine its biodegradative capacity. One approach to understand the GAC biodegradative capacity is to compare the performance between unsterilized and sterilized GAC, but the sterilization methods may not ensure effective microbial inhibition and may affect adsorption. This study identified the 14C-glucose respiration rate as the best metric to evaluate the effectiveness of three sterilization methods: sodium azide addition, autoclaving, and γ irradiation. The sterilization protocols were refined, including continuously feeding 300 mg/L of sodium azide, three cycles of autoclaving, and 10-12 kGy of γ irradiation. Parallel minicolumn tests were conducted to identify sodium azide addition as the most broadly effective sterilization method with an insignificant effect on adsorption in most cases, except for the adsorption of anionic compounds under certain conditions. Nevertheless, this problem was solved by decreasing the azide dosage as long as it is still sufficient to provide effective microbial inhibition. This study helps to develop an approach that differentiates adsorption and biodegradation in GAC, which could be used by future studies to advance our understanding of BAC filtration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Yuan
- Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM5S 1A4
| | - Fiona Fox
- Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM5S 1A4
| | - Grace Crowe
- Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM5S 1A4
| | - Soroosh Mortazavian
- Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM5S 1A4
| | - Elodie Passeport
- Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM5S 1A4
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM5S 3E5
| | - Ron Hofmann
- Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM5S 1A4
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Yuan J, Mortazavian S, Crowe G, Flick R, Passeport E, Hofmann R. Evaluating the relative adsorption and biodegradation of 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin across granular activated carbon filter-adsorbers. WATER RESEARCH 2022; 215:118239. [PMID: 35272225 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118239] [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: 11/28/2021] [Revised: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the relative contributions of adsorption vs. biodegradation towards 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) and geosmin removal in the granular activated carbon (GAC) harvested from six filter-adsorbers in three drinking water treatment plants in the Great Lakes region. Column tests using azide-treated (sterilized) and untreated GAC in parallel were used to isolate the two effects. It was identified that substantial MIB and geosmin biodegradation in the GAC was occurring in one location, and that GAC in some cases had significant adsorption capacity after as much as 9 years of operation. Four alternative biological parameters (adenosine triphosphate, esterase activity, phosphatase activity, and 14C-glucose respiration rate) were measured to quantify the biological activity of the GAC, and 14C-glucose respiration rate was identified to be a potential indicator for GAC biodegradative capacity in terms of MIB, geosmin, and dissolved organic carbon. Several potential MIB and geosmin biodegradation products were also identified using non-targeted screening analysis. By using the new tools identified in this study, we can begin to better understand where adsorption vs. biodegradation may predominate under real-world conditions (e.g., different temperatures, influent concentrations, and empty bed contact time), leading ultimately to more cost-effective use of GAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Yuan
- Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4, Canada.
| | - Soroosh Mortazavian
- Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4, Canada
| | - Grace Crowe
- Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4, Canada
| | - Robert Flick
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E5, Canada
| | - Elodie Passeport
- Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4, Canada; Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E5, Canada
| | - Ron Hofmann
- Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4, Canada
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