title: Sorption and biodegradation of organic micropollutants during river bank filtration: a laboratory column study.
abstract: This study investigated sorption and biodegradation behaviour of 14 organic micropollutants (OMP) in soil columns representative of the first metre (oxic conditions) of the river bank filtration (RBF) process. Breakthrough curves were modelled to differentiate between OMP sorption and biodegradation. The main objective of this study was to investigate if the OMP biodegradation rate could be related to the physico-chemical properties (charge, hydrophobicity and molecular weight) or functional groups of the OMPs. Although trends were observed between charge or hydrophobicity and the biodegradation rate for charged compounds, a statistically significant linear relationship for the complete OMP mixture could not be obtained using these physico-chemical properties. However, a statistically significant relationship was obtained between biological degradation rates and the OMP functional groups. The presence of ethers and carbonyl groups will increase biodegradability, while the presence of amines, ring structures, aliphatic ethers and sulphur will decrease biodegradability. This predictive model based on functional groups can be used by drinking water companies to make a first estimate whether a newly detected compound will be biodegraded during the first metre of RBF or that additional treatment is required. In addition, the influence of active and inactive biomass (biosorption), sand grains and the water matrix on OMP sorption was found to be negligible under the conditions investigated in this study. Retardation factors for most compounds were close to 1, indicating mobile behaviour of these compounds during soil passage. Adaptation of the biomass towards the dosed OMPs was not observed for a 6 month period, implying that new developed RBF sites might not be able to biodegrade compounds such as atrazine and sulfamethoxazole in the first few months of operation.
authors.affiliation: Delft University of Technology, Department of Water Management, PO Box 5048, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands; Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Particle and Interfacial Technology Group, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: C.Bertelkamp@tudelft.nl.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bertelkamp
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), QLD 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reungoat
authors.affiliation: KWR Watercycle Research Institute, PO Box 1072, 3430 BB Nieuwegein, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Cornelissen
authors.affiliation: The University of Auckland, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Singhal
authors.affiliation: The University of Auckland, School of Chemical Sciences, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reynisson
authors.affiliation: Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics (DIAM), Faculty EEMCS, Mekelweg 4, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Cabo
authors.affiliation: Delft University of Technology, Department of Water Management, PO Box 5048, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands; Strategic Centre, Waternet, Korte Ouderkerkerdijk 7, 1096 AC Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: van der Hoek
authors.affiliation: Delft University of Technology, Department of Water Management, PO Box 5048, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands; Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Particle and Interfacial Technology Group, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: A R D
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Verliefde
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001280:Atrazine / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D005374:Filtration; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008970:Molecular Weight; D021281:Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship; D045483:Rivers; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole / Q000378:metabolism; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole; D001280:Atrazine
keywords: Biodegradation; Organic micropollutants; QSAR; River bank filtration; Sorption