Comparing Ozonation and Biofiltration Treatment of Source Water with High Cyanobacteria-Derived Organic Matter: The Case of a Water Treatment Plant Followed by a Small-Scale Water Distribution System

I-Chieh Chien, Sheng-Pei Wu, Hsien-Chun Ke, Shang-Lien Lo and Hsin-hsin Tung
Additional contact information
I-Chieh Chien: Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Tamkang University, 151 Yingzhuan Road, Tamsui District, New Taipei City 25137, Taiwan
Sheng-Pei Wu: Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Hsien-Chun Ke: Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Shang-Lien Lo: Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Hsin-hsin Tung: Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: High cyanobacteria-derived dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in source water can cause drinking water quality to deteriorate, producing bad taste, odor, toxins, and possibly elevated levels of disinfection byproduct (DBP) precursors. Conventional water treatment processes do not effectively remove algal organic substances. In this study, rapid-sand-filtration effluent from a water treatment plant on Kinmen Island, where serious cyanobacterial blooms occurred, was used to evaluate the DOC- and DBP-removal efficiency of ozonation and/or biofiltration. To simulate a small-scale water distribution system following water treatment, 24 h simulated distribution system (SDS) tests were conducted. The following DBPs were analyzed: trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), haloacetonitriles (HANs), and trichloronitromethane (TCNM). Applying biological activated-carbon filtration (BAC) on its own achieved the greatest reduction in SDS-DBPs. Ozonation alone caused adverse effects by promoting THM, HAA, and TCNM formation. Ozonation and BAC filtration yielded better DOC removal (51%) than BAC filtration alone (41%). Considering the cost of ozonation, we suggest that when treating high cyanobacterial organic matter in water destined for a small-scale water distribution system, BAC biofiltration alone could be an efficient, economical option for reducing DBP precursors. If DOC removal needs to be improved, preceding ozonation could be incorporated.

Keywords: cyanobacteria bloom; disinfection byproducts; biofiltration; ozonation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2633/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2633/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:12:p:2633-:d:185322

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().