title: Tracking the behavior of different size fractions of dissolved organic matter in a full-scale advanced drinking water treatment plant.
abstract: In this study, five different dissolved organic matter (DOM) fractions, defined based on a size exclusion chromatography with simultaneous detection of organic carbon (OCD) and ultraviolet (UVD), were quantitatively tracked with a treatment train of coagulation/flocculation-sand filtration-ozonation-granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration in a full-scale advanced drinking water treatment plant (DWTP). Five DOM samples including raw water were taken after each treatment process in the DWTP every month over the period of three years. A higher abundance of biopolymer (BP) fraction was found in the raw water during spring and winter than in the other seasons, suggesting an influence of algal bloom and/or meltwater on DOM composition. The greater extent of removal was observed upon the coagulation/flocculation for high-molecular-weight fractions including BP and humic substances (HS) and aromatic moieties, while lower sized fractions were preferentially removed by the GAC filtration. Ozone treatment produced the fraction of low-molecular-weight neutrals probably resulting from the breakdown of double-bonded carbon structures by ozone oxidation. Coagulation/flocculation was the only process that revealed significant effects of influent DOM composition on the treatment efficiency, as revealed by a high correlation between the DOM removal rate and the relative abundance of HS for the raw water. Our study demonstrated that SEC-OCD-UVD was successful in monitoring size-based DOM composition for the advanced DWTP, providing an insight into optimizing the treatment options and the operational conditions for the removal of particular fractions within the bulk DOM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Energy, Sejong University, Seoul, 143-747, South Korea.
authors.forename: Viet Ly
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Quang
authors.affiliation: Water Analysis and Research Center, K-water, 560 Sintanjin-ro, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, 307-711, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ilhwan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Energy, Sejong University, Seoul, 143-747, South Korea. jinhur@sejong.edu.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hur
mesh_terms: D045424:Complex Mixtures / Q000032:analysis*; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D005374:Filtration; D005427:Flocculation; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis*; D010316:Particle Size; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D045424:Complex Mixtures; D060766:Drinking Water; D009930:Organic Chemicals
keywords: Advanced drinking water treatment; Coagulation; Granular activated carbon (GAC); Ozonation; Size exclusion chromatography