title: Is nitrification the only cause of microbiologically induced chloramine decay?
abstract: Ammonia degradation was investigated in three batch reactors with differing initial concentrations of bacteria present in the same filtered water source based on pre-treatment filtration techniques. The potential for the bacterial community to degrade the ammonia present was determined in the absence of monochloramine, simulating a distribution system where a loss of disinfectant residual has occurred. Nitrification was observed in only one of the three batch reactors, whereas rapid microbiologically induced chloramine decay was present in two reactors. Results suggest that the microbial decay factor is not a valid tool for indication of nitrification, but may be used as an indicator of the occurrence of rapid monochloramine decay. Intact bacterial cell numbers did not to correlate with changes in ammonia, nitrite or nitrate concentrations and hence did not correlate with the nitrification observed. Neither use of the microbial decay factor or monitoring of ammonia oxidising prokaryotes provided an early indication for the occurrence of nitrification. Hence, monitoring of ammonia and nitrite would still be the most suitable tool for indicating nitrification.
authors.affiliation: Australian Water Quality Centre, South Australian Water Corporation, Adelaide, Australia. Electronic address: Emma.Sawade@sawater.com.au.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sawade
authors.affiliation: Australian Water Quality Centre, South Australian Water Corporation, Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Monis
authors.affiliation: Australian Water Quality Centre, South Australian Water Corporation, Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Australian Water Quality Centre, South Australian Water Corporation, Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Drikas
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002700:Chloramines / Q000378:metabolism*; D004203:Disinfection; D058465:Nitrification; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D002700:Chloramines; D000641:Ammonia; C030816:chloramine
keywords: Ammonia; Ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB); Chloramine decay; Flow cytometry; Microbial decay factor; Nitrification