Different removal efficiency of disinfection-byproduct precursors between dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN) and dichloroacetamide (DCAcAm) by up-flow biological activated carbon (UBAC) process

Up-flow biological activated carbon (UBAC) filter has been widely used in waterworks due to its less hydraulic loss, stronger biodegradation ability, and the prevention of excessive biomass growth relative to down-flow BAC treatment. In this study, the different removal efficiency (DRE) of disinfection byproduct precursors between dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN) and dichloroacetamide (DCAcAm) was evaluated when UBAC filter was used as advanced treatment process. Results showed that the UBAC filter with approximately 36 months of usage time had a poor performance in the removal of DCAcAm formation potential (FP) (i.e. 9.3–19.1%) compared to DCAN FP (i.e., 22.5–34.1%). After chlorination of UBAC effluent, the hydrolysis of DCAN to form DCAcAm only partly contributed to the DRE variations of both DCAN FP and DCAcAm FP. Using the high-throughput sequencing technology and the redundancy analysis (RDA), the second dominant genus Bacillus in UBAC filter, which may transform precursors of DCAN into inorganic matters, could be another reason that led to the DRE in DCAN and DCAcAm FP. The formation and leakage of soluble microbial products (SMPs) was identified by excitation-emission matrix (EEM) peak intensities as well as variation of biological index (BIX). The SMPs released into UBAC effluent, favoring the formation of DCAcAm, also contributed to the precursors of both DCAN and DCAcAm, causing a poor removal performance in DCAcAm FP by UBAC filter.