Kinetics of oxidation of dimethyl trisulfide by potassium permanganate in drinking water

Metabolites of algae such as geosmin, 2-methylisoborneol etc. are reported to induce pungent odors into drinking water and attract additional scientific attention. Recently, in China, taste and odor outbreaks in drinking water supply have become increasingly common. In source water affected by eutrophication, dimethyl trisulfide, speculated to be produced by decayed algae, was found to be the source of taste and odor issues and can be removed effectively by usual oxidation agents. In this experimental study, batch scale tests were carried out focusing on the removal of dimethyl trisulfide. Reaction kinetics of dimethyl trisulfide oxidized by potassium permanganate in water had been studied; influence factors such as pH, organic substrate, other existed taste, and odor contaminant in equivalent concentration were also discussed. Results showed that dimethyl trisulfide can be removed by potassium permanganate efficiently; the ratio can reach more than 70% with oxidant dosage of 4 mg·L^-1 and contact time prolonged to 120 min. The dimethyl trisulfide decomposition followed a second-order kinetics pattern with a rate constant k = 0.00213 L·(min·mg)^-1. Typically, the degradation rate of dimethyl trisulfide was increased with the increasing KMnO₄ dosage, but dramatically dropped with the increasing levels of humic acid (1.8–4.5 mg·L^-1) and other odor-causing compounds (e.g. β-cyclocitral, 0–1886.0 μg·L^-1). Solution pH (5.2–9.0) and initial dimethyl trisulfide concentration did not significantly affected the degradation. This study demonstrates that KMnO₄ oxidation is an effective option to remove dimethyl trisulfide from water.