Evaluating the biosafety of conventional and O3-BAC process and its relationship with NOM characteristics

Disinfection by-products control in wastewater effluents treated with ozone and biological activated carbon followed by UV/Chlor(am)ine processes

Sequential utilization of ozone (O3) and biological activated carbon (BAC) followed by UV/chlor(am)ine advanced oxidation process (AOP) has drawn attention in water reuse. However, the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in this process is less evaluated. This study investigated the DBP formation and the relevant toxicity during the O3-BAC-UV/chlor(am)ine treatment of sand-filtered municipal secondary effluent. DBP formation in UV/chlorine and UV/dichloramine (NHCl2) processes were compared, where the impact of key operational parameters (e.g., UV wavelength, pH) on DBP formation were comprehensively evaluated. O3-BAC significantly reduced DBP formation potential (DBPFP) (58.2 %). Compared to UV/chlorine AOP, UV/NHCl2 AOP reduced DBP formation by 29.7 % in short-time treatment, while insignificantly impacting on DBPFP (p > 0.05). UV/NHCl2 AOP also led to lower calculated cytotoxicity (67.7 %) and genotoxicity (55.9 %) of DBPs compared to UV/chlorine AOP. Compared to 254 nm UV light, the utilization of 285 nm UV light decreased the formation of DBPs in wastewater treated with the UV/chlorine AOP and UV/NHCl2 AOP by 31.3 % and 19.2 %, respectively. However, the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in UV/NHCl2 AOP using 285 nm UV light increased by 83.4 % and 58.5 %, respectively, compared to 254 nm. The concentration of DBPs formed in the UV/NHCl2 AOP at pH 8 was 54.3 % lower than that at pH 7, suggesting a better control of DBPs at alkaline condition. In the presence of bromide, UV/NHCl2 AOP tended to generate more brominated DBPs than UV/chlorine AOP. Overall, UV/NHCl2 AOP resulted in lower concentration and toxicity of DBPs compared to UV/chlorine AOP.

Exploring the impacts of service life of biological activated carbon on dissolved organic nitrogen removal

The biological activated carbon (BAC) process has been widely used in drinking water treatment to improve the removal of pollutants, including the precursors of nitrogenous disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs). Nevertheless, old BAC filter effluent DON concentration is heightened, increasing the highly toxic N-DBPs formation potential. Herein, the variation of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) was comprehensively explored during one backwashing cycle, focusing on four BAC age (0.3, 2, 5, and 10 years) for BAC filters in drinking water. Comparatively, the removal rate of DON by four BAC followed the order 0.3-yr BAC (39.69%-66.96%) >2-yr BAC (10.10%-39.78%) >5-yr BAC (-4.18%-29.63%)>10-yr BAC (-20.88%-19.87%). When at day 7 after backwashing, 10-yr BAC filter effluent increased at least 13.71% of DON and considerably elevated the N-DBPs formation potential, which was attributed to the ultimate production of more various proteins/amino sugars-like compounds by microbes. In comparisons of microbial community between all BAC samples, Rhizobials were more prevalent in 10-yr BAC and could produce microbe-derived DON associated with amino acids. Moreover, microbes regulated metabolic pathways, including amino acid biosynthesis, TCA cycle, purine metabolism, and pyrimidine metabolism, to enhance the adaptive cellular machinery in response to environmental stressors, and therefore accelerated microbial secretion of microbe-derived DON. Structural equation model (SEM) analysis investigated that BAC age had bio-effects on N-DBPs formation potential, which were delivered via the linkage of " BAC age, microbial community, microbial metabolism, and DON molecular characteristics". Our findings demonstrate the necessity of reconsidering the feasibility of BAC filters for long-time operation, which has implications for future N-DBPs precursors control in drinking water.

Insight into the temporal dynamics of microbial succession and ecology mechanisms in biological activated carbon tanks

Biological activated carbon (BAC) has long been applied in China to guarantee water quality and to achieve drinking water regulations. However, a knowledge gap remains regarding the temporal dynamics of microbial communities, particularly microbe-based assembly and co-occurrence patterns. Accordingly, this study investigated the evolution of BAC microbial communities using a pilot-scale system and examined by multivariate ecological combined with high-throughput Illumina sequencing and statistical methods. The results showed that BAC microbial diversity reached its peak in 2 years and declined thereafter. Microbial communities composition was accompanied by significant temporal evolution in the BAC biofilm. Deterministic processes gained in importance along with time, especially homogeneous selection which contributed 59.09 %-75.63 % to the community assembly in 8-yr, 9-yr, and 10-yr BAC. According to co-occurrence network analysis, microbial networks have more unstable structures over time, as evidenced by higher modularity, heightened connectivity, and fewer keystones. Moreover, the interaction between microbial taxa tended to have a higher proportion of competitive relationships during the operation of the BAC tank, ranging from 13.51 % to 76.35 %. Based on these dynamic ecological processes, microbial community succession in BAC biofilm might undergo four phases: community establishment (Years 0-2); community stability (Years 2-5); community quasi-degradation (Years 5-8); community degradation (Years 8-10). The performance of BAC was greatly influenced by community development, and contaminant removal gradually decreased as community succession proceeded. These results add to our knowledge of microbial ecology and provide the basis for further research into microbial communities' regulation strategies in BAC tanks.

Unraveling dissolved organic matter in drinking water through integrated ozonation/ceramic membrane and biological activated carbon process using FT-ICR MS

The performance of an integrated process comprising coagulation, ozonation, and catalytic ceramic membrane filtration (CMF) followed by treatment with biological active carbon (BAC) was evaluated in a pilot-scale (96 m³/d) experiment to understand the biostability and quality of the finished water. The fate of dissolved organic matter (DOM) at the molecular level was explored using Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Biostable finished water with an assimilable organic carbon (AOC) concentration of 30.2-45.4 µg/L was obtained by the integrated process, and the high hydraulic retention time (HRT) (≥ 45 min) of the BAC filter was necessary to provide biostable finished water. The coagulation/O₃/CMF unit efficiently transformed nitrogen-containing polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) with aromaticity and large molecular weight (Mw) (500-1000 Da) into CHO-type highly unsaturated phenolic compounds (HuPh) with less aromaticity and medium Mw (300-500 Da), which were effectively removed by subsequent BAC filtering. The main reaction was oxygen addition, followed by deamination and dealkylation of the coagulation/O₃/CMF unit and decarboxylation of the BAC filter. Principal component analysis revealed that N-containing and large-Mw PAH are potential AOC precursors, and the chemical characteristics of CHO-type and medium-Mw HuPh make them AOC candidates (correlation coefficients > 0.96). This study provides insights into the management of drinking water biostability and its suitability for the practical application of the integrated coagulation/O₃/CMF-BAC process in drinking water treatment plants.

Effects of treatment processes on AOC removal and changes of bacterial diversity in a water treatment plant

The effectiveness of different treatment processes on assimilable organic carbon (AOC) removal and bacterial diversity variations was evaluated in a water treatment plant. The van der Kooij technique was applied for AOC analysis and responses of bacterial communities were characterized by the metagenomics assay. Results show that the AOC concentrations were about 93, 148, 43, 51, 37, and 38 μg acetate-C/L in effluents of raw water basin, preozonation, rapid sand filtration (RSF), ozonation, biofiltration [biological activated carbon (BAC) filtration], and chlorination (clear water), respectively. Increased AOC concentrations were observed after preozonation, ozonation, and chlorination units due to the production of biodegradable organic matters after the oxidation processes. Results indicate that the oxidation processes were the main causes of AOC formation, which resulted in significant increases in AOC concentrations (18-59% increment). The AOC removal efficiencies were 47, 28, and 60% in the RSF, biofiltration, and the whole system, respectively. RSF and biofiltration were responsible for the AOC treatment and both processes played key roles in AOC removal. Thus, both RSF and biofiltration processes would contribute to AOC treatment after oxidation. Sediments from the raw water basin and filter samples from RSF and BAC units were collected and analyzed for bacterial communities. Results from scanning electron microscope analysis indicate that bacterial colonization was observed in filter materials. This indicates that the surfaces of the filter materials were beneficial to bacterial growth and AOC removal via the adsorption and biodegradation mechanisms. Next generation sequencing analyses demonstrate that water treatment processes resulted in the changes of bacterial diversity and community profiles in filters of RSF and BAC. According to the findings of bacterial composition and interactions, the dominant bacterial phyla were Proteobacteria (41% in RSF and 56% in BAC) followed by Planctomycetes and Acidobacteria in RSF and BAC systems, which might affect the AOC biodegradation efficiency. Results would be useful in developing AOC treatment and management processes in water treatment plants.

Performance of BAC for DBPs precursors' removal for one year with micro-polluted lake water in East-China

Effectiveness of biological activated carbon (BAC) filter in removing disinfection byproducts (DBPs) precursors of micro-polluted lake water for one year was conducted. The formation potential (FP) of DBPs (trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs) and Nitrosamines (NAs)), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), molecular weight (MW) distribution and excitation emission matrix fluorescence (EEM) of dissolved organic material (DOM) in the influent and effluent of BAC were determined. The results indicated that the removal efficiency (RE) of DOC ranged from 42.9-28.3%. Neither virgin GAC nor long-term operated BAC could efficiently dispose of THMs and HAAs precursors (RE from 35.2-18.8%, from 42 to 8.4%, respectively), however, BAC still showed good ability in removal of NAs precursors after a year operation, of which RE just dropped from 81.7-69.6%. There was strong correlation between RE of NAs precursors and DOC with small MW (<0.5 kDa). The removal of HAAs precursors showed relatively close relation to aromatic protein-like components and soluble microbial pollutants (SMPs). Weak direct relationship was found between the water quality parameters and THMs precursors.

Combination of catalytic ozonation by regenerated granular activated carbon (rGAC) and biological activated carbon in the advanced treatment of textile wastewater for reclamation

Wastewater reclamation in the textile industry has attracted considerable attention. In this study, catalytic ozonation by regenerated granular activated carbon (rGAC) and its combination with biological activated carbon (BAC) was investigated for the reclamation of a real bio-treated dyeing and finishing wastewater (BDFW). Catalytic ozonation by rGAC (O₃/rGAC) was 1.6-2.0 times more efficient than ozonation alone for pollutants degradation. Although iron oxide loaded rGAC (rGAC-Fe) improved the performance of catalytic ozonation by 14%-25%, but was labile (<2 days) compared to stable rGAC (>20 days). Catalytic ozonation improved the generation of ^•OH, contributing 1.1-1.7 times faster of chromophores decomposition and 0.24-0.55 times more increase of biodegradability than ozonation. However, catalytic ozonation increased the acute toxicity of BDFW by two times. The combination of O₃/rGAC and BAC can synergistically reduce COD, chromophores, and color in BDFW during 45-day's continuous operation, the improvements than O₃/rGAC being 21.0%, 18.8%, and 13.6%, respectively. Moreover, although O₃/rGAC of BDFW increased the toxicity from 98.3 to 146.5 μg-HgCl₂/L, post BAC significantly reduced the toxicity to 13.1 μg-HgCl₂/L. Engineering practice of water reclamation by O₃/rGAC-BAC was approved to be feasible based on both the water quality of treated water and the operation cost.

Occurrence and Succession of Bacterial Community in O3/BAC Process of Drinking Water Treatment

In the drinking water industry, a common advanced treatment process is comprised of treatment with ozone, followed by biological-activated carbon (O₃/BAC). However, the bacterial community formation and succession procedures associated with activated carbon have rarely been reported. In this study, the dynamics of bacterial communities at three different depths were investigated using a pilot-scale O₃/BAC filter. The average chemical oxygen demand (CODMn), turbidity removal and dissolved oxygen (DO) consumption rate of the filter were 26.43%, 16.57% and 16.4% during the operation period, respectively. Bacterial communities dominated by proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes attached on activated carbon were determined by polymerase chain reaction-density gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the compositions and structures of bacterial communities in different layers clustered after fluctuation. A redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that Ramlibacter henchirensis was positively correlated to chemical oxygen demand (COD_Mn) removal and nitrate-N removal, and Georgfuchsia toluolica also showed a positive correlation with COD_Mn removal. Aquabacterium parvum and Phaeobacterium nitratireducens were positively-correlated with turbidity removal. Pedobacter glucosidilyticus and Pseudomonas sp. were associated with high dissolved oxygen (DO) consumption. These results provide insight into the succession characteristics of the bacterial community of O₃/BAC treatment and the interactions of the bacterial community with filter operation performance.

Adsorption of perfluorinated acids onto soils: Kinetics, isotherms, and influences of soil properties

The adsorption of perfluorinated acids (PFAs) onto soils with different physicochemical properties was investigated in this study. The adsorption kinetics for all PFAs onto the soil with the highest contents of total organic carbon (TOC) and iron oxide were well described by a biexponential adsorption model, indicating that two types of binding sites characterized by a fast and a slow sorption rates were involved in the adsorption, and the time required for achieving adsorption equilibrium was <48 h for all PFAs. The adsorption isotherms were well represented by both of Freundlich equation (R² = 0.9547-0.9977) and/or Virial equation (R² = 0.8720-0.9995). The interfacial capacitances derived from the Virial isotherm were substantially low (in the range of 33.7 to 851 μF/m²) for all soils, but were not analyte-independent for all PFAs onto the same soil. The linear regression between distribution coefficient (K_d) and individual soil property as well as principle component analysis were conducted for determining the dominant soil physicochemical properties affecting the adsorption of PFAs onto soil in the present study. The results indicated that the content of protein rather than of total organic carbon (TOC) was the dominant property, and then followed by anion exchange capacity (AEC) and the content of iron oxides. For the other properties, the influences of fulvic acid (FA) and aluminum oxides were PFA-dependent, while there were no effects of saccharide, humic acid (HA), specific surface area (SSA) and cation exchange capacities (CEC) on the adsorption.

Leakage of soluble microbial products from biological activated carbon filtration in drinking water treatment plants and its influence on health risks

The application of ozone-biological activated carbon (O₃-BAC) as an advanced treatment method in drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) can help to remove organic micropollutants and further decrease the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) level in finished water. With the increase attention to microbial safety of drinking water, a pre-positioned O₃-BAC followed by a sand filter has been implanted into DWTP located in Shanghai, China to increase the biostability of effluents. The results showed that BAC had high removal efficiencies of UV₂₅₄, DOC and disinfection by-product formation potential (DBPFP). The removal efficiencies between pre- and post-positioned BAC filtrations were similar. Based on the analyses of fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectrophotometry (FEEM), the generation and leakage of soluble microbial products (SMPs) were found in both two BAC filtrations on account of the increased fluorescence intensities and fluorescence regional integration (FRI) distribution of protein-like organics, as well as the enhanced biological index (BIX). The leakage of SMPs produced by metabolism of microbes during BAC process resulted in increased DBPFP yield and carcinogenic factor per unit of DOC (CF/DOC). Although BAC filtration reduced the DBPFP and CF, there still was high health risk of effluents for the production of SMPs. Therefore, the health risks for SMPs generated by BAC filtration in drinking water advanced treatment process should be addressed, especially with that at high temperature.