Biological stability in drinking water: a regression analysis of influencing factors

Some parameters, such as assimilable organic carbon(AOC), chloramine residual, water temperature, and water residence time, were measured in drinking water from distribution systems in a northern city of China. The measurement results illustrate that when chloramine residual is more than 0.3 mg/L or AOC content is below 50μg/L, the biological stability of drinking water can be controlled.Both chloramine residual and AOC have a good relationship with Heterotrophic Plate Counts( HPC)(Iog value), the correlation coefficient was-0.64 and 0.33, respectively. By regression analysis of the survey data, a statistical equation is presented and it is concluded that disinfectant residual exerts the strongest influence on bacterial growth and AOC is a suitable index to assess the biological stability in the drinking water.     

Modification on the conventional procedure to measure AOC in drinking water

Additional phosphorus will be introduced to water sample if the conventional procedure is used to measure assimilable organic carbon(AOC) in drinking water. It has been shown that there are the cases that phosphorus is the limiting nutrient for microbial growth in drinking water. The measured value of AOC would not be able to indicate appropriately the regrowth potential of bacteria in this case. The conventional procedure used to measure AOC was modified to avoid the introduction of additional phosphorus to water sample in this study. It was shown that it was feasible to measure AOC in water using the modified procedure. Furthermore, the measured value of AOC determined by the modified procedure could indicate appropriately the regrowth potential of bacteria in drinking water despite either organics or phosphorus was the limiting nutrient for bacterial regrowth.     

Phosphorus limitation on bacterial regrowth in drinking water

Assimilable organic carbon(AOC) test and bacterial regrowth potential(BRP) analysis were used to investigate the effect of phosphorus on bacterial regrowth in the drinking water that was made from some raw water taken from a reservoir located in northern China. It was shown that AOC of the drinking water samples increased by 43.9%—59.6% and BRP increased by 100%—235% when 50 μg/L PO4^3--P(as NaH2PO4 ) was added alone to the drinking water samples. This result was clear evidence of phosphorus limitation on bacteria regrowth in the drinking water. This investigation indicated the importance of phosphorus in ensuring biological stability of drinking water and offered a novel possible option to restrict microbial regrowth in drinking water distribution system by applying appropriate technologies to remove phosphorus efficiently from drinking water in China.     

Molecular ecological networks reveal the spatial-temporal variation of microbial communities in drinking water distribution systems

Microbial activity and regrowth in drinking water distribution systems is a major concern for water service companies. However, previous studies have focused on the microbial composition and diversity of the drinking water distribution systems(DWDSs), with little discussion on microbial molecular ecological networks(MENs) in different water supply networks.MEN analysis explores the potential microbial interaction and the impact of environmental stress, to explain the characteristics of microbial...     

Experimental study using the dilution incubation method to assess water biostability

Water biostability is of particular concern to water supply as a major limiting factor for heterotrophic bacterial growth in water distribution systems. This study focused on bacterial growth dynamics in the series dilution of water samples with TOC（total organic carbon） values determined beforehand. The results showed that the specific growth rate of Pseudomonas fluorescens P17 varied dramatically and irregularly with TOC value when TOC concentrations were low enough during the initial periods of incubation under given conditions. According to this relationship between bacterial growth rate and TOC, a dilution incubation method was designed for the study of water biostability. With the method under a given condition, a turning-point TOC value was found at a relatively fixed point in the curve between bacterial growth rate and TOC of water sample, and the variation of growth rate had different characteristics below the turning-point TOC value relative to that over this value. A turning-point TOC value similarly existed in all experiments not only with tap water, but also with acetate and mixed solutions. And in the dilution incubation method study, the affections were analyzed by condition factors such as inoculum amount,incubation time and nature of the organic carbon source. In very low organic carbon water environments, the variation characteristics of bacterial growth rate will be useful to further understand the meaning of water biostability.     

Deposition behavior of residual aluminum in drinking water distribution system: Effect of aluminum speciation

Finished drinking water usually contains some residual aluminum.The deposition of residual aluminum in distribution systems and potential release back to the drinking water could significantly influence the water quality at consumer taps.A preliminary analysis of aluminum content in cast iron pipe corrosion scales and loose deposits demonstrated that aluminum deposition on distribution pipe surfaces could be excessive for water treated by aluminum coagulants including polyaluminum chloride（PACl）.In this work,the deposition features of different aluminum species in PACl were investigated by simulated coil-pipe test,batch reactor test and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring.The deposition amount of non-polymeric aluminum species was the least,and its deposition layer was soft and hydrated,which indicated the possible formation of amorphous Al（OH）₃.Al₁₃ had the highest deposition tendency,and the deposition layer was rigid and much less hydrated,which indicated that the deposited aluminum might possess regular structure and self-aggregation of Al₁₃could be the main deposition mechanism.While for Al₃₀,its deposition was relatively slower and deposited aluminum amount was relatively less compared with Al₁₃.However,the total deposited mass of Al₃₀ was much higher than that of Al₁₃,which was attributed to the deposition of particulate aluminum matters with much higher hydration state.Compared with stationary condition,stirring could significantly enhance the deposition process,while the effect of pH on deposition was relatively weak in the near neutral range of 6.7 to 8.7.     

Developing a chloramine decay index to understand nitrification: A case study of two chloraminated drinking water distribution systems

The management of chloramine decay and the prevention of nitrification are some of the critical issues faced by water utilities that use chloramine as a disinfectant.In this study,potential association between high performance size exclusion chromatography(HPSEC)data obtained with multiple wavelength Ultraviolet(UV) detection from two drinking water distribution systems in Australia and nitrification occurrence was investigated.An increase in the absorbance signal of HPSEC profiles with UV detection at λ = 230 nm between apparent molecular weights of 200 to 1000 Da was observed at sampling sites that experienced rapid chloramine decay and nitrification while its absorbance signal at λ =254 nm decreased.A chloramine decay index(C.D.I) defined as the ratio of area beneath the HPSEC spectra at two different wavelengths of 230 and 254 nm,was used in assessing chloramine decay occurrences.The C.D.Is of waters at locations that experienced nitrification were consistently higher than locations not experiencing nitrification.A simulated laboratory study showed that the formation of nitrite/nitrate and/or soluble microbial products and/or the release of extracellular polymeric substances(EPS) during nitrification may contribute to the C.D.I.increase.These findings suggest that C.D.I derived from HPSEC with multiple wavelength UV detection could be an informative index to track the occurrence of rapid chloramine decay and nitrification.     

High-performance size exclusion chromatography with a multi-wavelength absorbance detector study on dissolved organic matter characterisation along a water distribution system

This study examined the associations between dissolved organic matter(DOM) characteristics and potential nitrification occurrence in the presence of chloramine along a drinking water distribution system. High-performance size exclusion chromatography(HPSEC) coupled with a multiple wavelength detector(200–280 nm) was employed to characterise DOM by molecular weight distribution, bacterial activity was analysed using flow cytometry, and a package of simple analytical tools, such as dissolved organic carbon, absorbance at 254 nm, nitrate,nitrite, ammonia and total disinfectant residual were also applied and their applicability to indicate water quality changes in distribution systems were also evaluated. Results showed that multi-wavelength HPSEC analysis was useful to provide information about DOM character while changes in molecule weight profiles at wavelengths less than 230 nm were also able to be related to other water quality parameters. Correct selection of the UV wavelengths can be an important factor for providing appropriate indicators associated with different DOM compositions. DOM molecular weight in the range of 0.2–0.5 k Da measured at210 nm correlated positively with oxidised nitrogen concentration(r = 0.99), and the concentrations of active bacterial cells in the distribution system(r = 0.85). Our study also showed that the changes of DOM character and bacterial cells were significant in those sampling points that had decreases in total disinfectant residual. HPSEC-UV measured at210 nm and flow cytometry can detect the changes of low molecular weight of DOM and bacterial levels, respectively, when nitrification occurred within the chloraminated distribution system.     

Ammonia pollution characteristics of centralized drinking water sources in China

The characteristics of ammonia in drinking water sources in China were evaluated during 2005-2009. The spatial distribution and seasonal changes of ammonia in different types of drinking water sources of 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and 4 municipalities were investigated. The levels of ammonia in drinking water sources follow the order of river > lake/reservoir > groundwater. The levels of ammonia concentration in river sources gradually decreased from 2005 to 2008, while no obvious change was observed in the lakes/reservoirs and groundwater drinking water sources. The proportion of the type of drinking water sources is different in different regions. In river drinking water sources, the ammonia level was varied in different regions and changed seasonally. The highest value and wide range of annual ammonia was found in South East region, while the lowest value was found in Southwest region. In lake/reservoir drinking water sources, the ammonia levels were not varied obviously in different regions. In underground drinking water sources, the ammonia levels were varied obviously in different regions due to the geological permeability and the natural features of regions. In the drinking water sources with higher ammonia levels, there are enterprises and wastewater drainages in the protected areas of the drinking water sources.     

Spatial variations of aluminum species in drinking water supplies in Xi’an studied applying geographic information system

This article aimed to investigate the variation of aluminum species and the effects of coagulant type and water quality on aluminum speciation in drinking water.Statistical analysis showed that the concentration of total aluminum(AlT) of drinking water in Xi'an ranged from 0.051 to 0.417 mg/L and the concentration of AlT in about 24.7% studied samples was higher than the currently recommended value(0.2 mg/L).The areas fed by surface water plants had a larger portion(39.4%) of samples over the recommended value.In drinking water treated by alum coagulant,the average concentration of monomeric aluminum(Ala) was higher than that in water treated by poly aluminum chlorine(PACl) and poly aluminum ferric chloride(PAFC).The average concentrations of polynuclear aluminum(Alb) and colloidal/suspended aluminum(Alc) in the drinking water treated by alum were lower than those in water treated by PACl and PAFC.There was a notable decrease in AlT along with the delivery pipeline away from the plants,with an average decline of about 36 μg/(L·km).Besides coagulant type,water quality also could afflect aluminum speciation.In drinking water without orthophosphate,the concentrations of Ala and AlT were positively correlated with pH;while,in drinking water with orthophosphate,the concentrations of Ala and AlT were negatively correlated with pH.The addition of orthophosphate salts in the drinking water treatment process would be an effective method for aluminum control in pH range 6.5-8.2.     

Modeling of residual chlorine in water distribution system

Water quality within water distribution system may vary with both location and time.Water quality models are used to predict the spatial and temporal variation of water quality throughout water system.A model of residual chlorine decay in water pipe has been developed, given the consumption of chlorine in reactions with chemicals in bulk water,bio-films on pipe wall, in corrosion process, and the mass transport of chlorine from bulk water to pipe wall.Analytical methods of the flow path from water sources to the observed point and the water age of every observed node were proposed .Model is used to predict the decay of residual chlorine in an actual distribution system.Good agreement between calculated and measured values was obtained.     

Iron stability in drinking water distribution systems in a city of China

A field study on the estimation and analysis of iron stability in drinking water distribution system was carried out in a city of China. The stability of iron ion was estimated by pC-pH figure. It was found that iron ion was unstable, with a high Fe （OH）3 precipitation tendency and obvious increase in turbidity. The outer layer of the corrosion scale was compact, while the inner core was porous. The main composition of the scale was iron, and the possible compound constitutes of the outer scale were α-FeOH, γ-FeOOH, α-Fe2O3, γ-F2O3, FeCl3, while the inner were Fe3O4, FeCl2, FeCO3. According to the characteristics of the corrosion scale, it was thought that the main reason for iron instability was iron release from corrosion scale. Many factors such as pipe materials, dissolved oxygen and chlorine residual affect iron release. Generally, higher iron release occurred with lower dissolved oxygen or chlorine residual concentration, while lower iron release occurred with higher dissolved oxygen or chlorine residual concentration. The reason was considered that the passivated out layer of scale of ferric oxide was broken down by reductive reaction in a condition of low oxidants concentration, which would result more rapid corrosion of the nine and red water phenomenon.     

Genotoxicity evaluation and a primary risk assessment of organic pollutants in the drinking water sources of Nanjing, China

An increasing number of industrial, agricultural, and commercial chemicals in the aquatic environment leads to various deleterious effects on organisms, which is becoming an increasingly serious problem in China. In this study, the comet assay was conducted to investigate the genotoxicity to human body caused by organic concentrates in the drinking water sources of Nanjing City from Yangtze River of China, and health and ecology risk due to expose to these organic pollutants were evaluated with the multimedia environmental assessment system （MEAS）. For all the water samples, they were collected from four different locations in the drinking water sourcr samples, es of Nanjing City. The results of the comet assay showed that all the organic concentrates from the water samples could induce different levels DNA damages on human peripheral blood lymphocytes, and a statistically significant difference （p〈0.01） was observed compared with the solvent control, which demonstrated the genotoxicity was in existence. According to the ambient severity （AS） of individual compound, we had sorted out the main organic pollutants in the drinking water source of the four waterworks, and the results showed that there was some potential hazard to human body for all the source water, namely the total ambient severity （TAS） of health for each water source was more than 1. However, the TAS of ecology for each water source was less than 1, which indicated that it was safe to ecology. The results of this investigation demonstrate the application of the comet assay and the MEAS in aquatic environmental monitoring studies, and the comet assay found to be fast, sensitive, and suitable for genotoxicity monitoring programs of drinking water source.     

Effect of filter-feeding fish silver carp on phytoplankton species and size distribution in surface water： A field study in water works

Silver carp were introduced into the pre-sedimentation pond to control excessive phytoplankton in raw water.The effectiveness of the filter-feeding silver carp on phytoplankton control and the effect of silver carp on phytoplankton community were investigated.The results showed that Microcystis could be effectively removed by silver carp stocked in the pre-sedimentation pond,and simultaneously,the concentration of single-cell phytoplankton increased obviously.The difference in phytoplankton species and singlecell phytoplankton size between in the water and in the gut of silver carp indicated that phytoplankton smaller than 5 μm,such as Chamydomonas and Platymonas,were almost not be filtered by silver carp,phytoplankton with the size between 5 and 20 μm could be partly filtered,and large size phytoplankton,mainly colony-forming Microcystis could be filtered almost completely.These filterfeeding characteristics directly caused the phytoplankton size distribution biased toward miniaturization.Therefore,this biological treatment using silver carp could be applied only to deal with groups of Microcystis-dominated eutrophic water,and was not appropriate in water bodies where single-cell micro phytoplankton were dominant.Especially when silver carp are used in water treatment,a cautious attitude should be taken based on the evaluation of phytoplankton biomass and species structure features in raw water.     

Pilot plant study on ozonation and biological activated carbon process for drinking water treatment

A study on advanced drinking water treatment was conducted in a pilot scale plant taking water from conventional treatment process. Ozonation-biological activated carbon process （O3-BAC） and granular activated carbon process （GAC） were evaluated based on the following parameters： CODMn, UV254, total organic carbon （TOC）, assimilable organic carbon （AOC） and biodegradable dissolved organic carbon （BDOC）. In this test, the average removal rates of CODMn, UV254 and TOC in O3-BAC were 18.2%, 9.0% and 10.2% higher on （AOC） than in GAC, respectively. Ozonation increased 19.3-57.6 μg Acetate-C/L in AOC-P17, 45.6-130.6 μg Acetate-C/L in AOC-NOX and 0.1-0.5 mg/L in BDOC with ozone doses of 2 8 mg/L. The optimum ozone dose for maximum AOC formation was 3 mgO3/L. BAC filtration was effective process to improve biostability.     

Microbial community characterization, activity analysis and purifying efficiency in a biofilter process

The growth and metabolism of microbial communities on biologically activated carbon(BAC) play a crucial role in the purification of drinking water.To gain insight into the growth and metabolic characteristics of microbial communities and the efficiency of drinking water treatment in a BAC filter,we analyzed the heterotrophic plate count(HPC),phospholipid,dehydrogenase,metabolic function and water quality parameters during start-up and steady-state periods.In the start-up process of the filter with natural biofilm colonization,the variation in heterotrophic plate count levels was S-curved.The total phospholipid level was very low during the first 5 days and reached a maximum value after 40 days in the filter.The activity of dehydrogenase gradually increased during the first 30 days and then reached a plateau.The functional diversity of the microbial community in the filter increased,and then reached a relatively stable level by day 40.After an initial decrease,which was followed by an increase,the removal rate of NH4+-N and COD Mn became stable and was 80% and 28%,respectively,by day 40.The consumption rate of dissolved oxygen reached a steady level after 29 days,and remained at 18%.At the steady operation state,the levels of HPC,phospholipid,dehydrogenase activity and carbon source utilization had no significant differences after 6 months compared to levels measured on day 40.The filter was shown to be effective in removing NH4+-N,NO2--N,COD Mn,UV 254,biodegradable dissolved organic carbon and trace organic pollutants from the influent.Our results suggest that understanding changes in the growth and metabolism of microorganisms in BAC filter could help to improve the efficiency of biological treatment of drinking water.     

Factors effecting aluminum speciation in drinking water by laboratory research

Effects of aluminum on water distribution system and human health mainly attribute to its speciation in drinking water. Laboratory experiments were performed to investigate factors that may influence aluminum speciation in water supply system. The concentration of soluble aluminum and its transformation among other aluminum species were mainly controlled by kinetics processes of related reactions. Total aluminum concentration had a notable e ect on the concentrations of mononuclear and soluble aluminum in the first 4 day; then its e ect became weak. At pH above 7.50, both fluoride and orthophosphate had little e ect on aluminum speciation; while, when the solution pH was below 7.50, the concentrations of mononuclear and soluble aluminum were proportional to the concentration of fluoride and inversely proportional to the concentration of orthophosphate. Both mononuclear and polynuclear silicic acids could complex with mononuclear aluminum by forming soluble aluminosilicates. In addition, the adding sequence of orthophosphate and aluminum into drinking water would also a ect the distribution of aluminum species in the first 4 day. In order to minimize aluminum bioavailability in drinking water, it was suggested that orthophosphate should be added prior to coagulant process, and that the concentrations of fluoride and silicic acids should be controlled below 2.0 and 25 mg/L, respectively, prior to the treatment. The solution pH in coagulation and filtration processes should be controlled in the range of 6.50–7.50.     

O3-BAC-Cl2: A multi-barrier process controlling the regrowth of opportunistic waterborne pathogens in drinking water distribution systems

Simulated drinking water distribution system (DWDS) treated with O₃-BAC-Cl₂ (ozone-biological activated carbon-chlorine) was constructed to study its effects on the regrowth of five typical opportunistic pathogens (OPs). It was found that O₃-BAC-Cl₂ could significantly reduce the regrowth of target OPs in the effluents of DWDS compared with Cl₂ and O₃-Cl₂ with the same residual chlorine levels. However, the effect of O₃-BAC-Cl₂ on the average numbers of target OPs gene markers in the biofilms of DWDS was not apparent, suggesting that OPs in the biofilms of DWDS were tolerant to the upstream disinfection process. The quantification of target OPs in the BAC-filter column demonstrated that OPs decreased with the increase of depth, which was likely due to the organic nutrient gradient and microbial competition inside the BAC-filter. Increase in the ozone dose could further reduce the OPs at the bottom of the BAC-filter. Spearman correlation analysis demonstrated that some significant correlations existed between target microorganisms, suggesting potential microbial ecological relationships. Overall, our results demonstrated that the BAC-filter may act as a “battlefield” suppressing the OPs through microbial competition. O₃-BAC-Cl₂ could be an effective multi-barrier process to suppress the proliferation of OPs in the bulk water of DWDS. However, OPs protected by the biofilms of DWDS should receive further attention because OPs may be detached and released from the biofilms.     

Full-scale study of removal effect on Cyclops of zooplankton with chlorine dioxide

Cyclops of zooplankton propagated excessively in eutrophic water body and could not be effectively inactivated by the conventional disinfections process like chlorination due to its stronger resistance to oxidation. In this paper, a full-scale study of chlorine dioxide preoxidation cooperating with routine clarification process for Cyclops removal was conducted in a waterworks. The experimental results were compared with that of the existing prechlorination process in several aspects: including the Cyclops removal efficiencies of water samples taken from the outlets of sedimentation tank and sand filter and the security of drinking water and so on. The results showed that chlorine dioxide might be more effective to inactivate Cyclops than chlorine and Cyclops could be thoroughly removed from water by pre-dosing chlorine dioxide process. The GC-MS examination and Ames test further showed that the sort and amount of organic substance in the treated water by chlorine dioxide preoxidation were evidently less than that of prechlorination and the mutagenicity of drinking water treated by pre-dosing chlorine dioxide was substantially reduced compared with prechlorination.     

Genotoxicity evaluation of drinking water sources in human peripheral blood lymphocytes using the comet assay

The potential harm of organic pollutants in drinking water to human health is widely focused on in the wodd; more and more pollutants with genotoxic substances are released into the aquatic environment. Water source samples were collected from 7 different localities of Nanjing City. The potential genotoxicity of organic extracts from drinking water sources were investigated by means of the comet assay in human peripheral lymphocytes. The results showed that all the organic extracts from all the water source samples could induce DNA damages of human peripheral blood lymphocytes at different levels. A significant difference （P 〈 0.01） was observed when compared with the solvent control, The DNA damage increased with the increase of the dosage of the original water source. Significant differences of DNA damage were observed in different drinking water sources, as shown by the multiple comparisons analysis at the dosage of 100x; the degree of DNA damage treated by Hushu waterworks （at town level） was the most serious, the arbitrary units （AU） was 141.62±6.96, however, that of Shangyuanmen waterworks （at city level） was only 109.64±2.97. The analysis also revealed that the genotoxicity of town＇s water sources was higher than that of the city. The results demonstrated that the comet assay can be successfully applied to the genotoxicity monitoring programs of drinking water sources.