Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) is currently considered as one of the most important parameters in drinking water treatment due to its potential to form toxic nitrogenous disinfection by-products (N-DBPs). A comprehensive investigation was made in this study on the variation of DON in a full-scale drinking water treatment plant with a treatment train of coagulation/sedimentation, biofiltration and disinfection. The results showed that DON could be removed effectively by coagulation/sedimentation and disinfection, while biofiltration increased the DON concentration significantly. To determine the mechanism of DON increase, DON and other related parameters at different media depths of the biofilter were studied. The results showed that the DON concentration in the biofilter presented a rapid decrease from 0.73 to 0.44 mg l−1 in the top media (0–10 cm), and a slow increase from 0.44 to 1.08 mg l−1 in the bottom media (10–100 cm). Soluble microbial products (SMPs) released by bacterial metabolism might be a main source of the DON in the biofilter. These SMPs contained aromatic protein-like fractions, which were confirmed by EEM analysis.
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Research Article|
February 01 2012
Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in a full-scale drinking water treatment plant
Bing Liu;
Bing Liu
1Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, 361021, China
2College of Urban and Environmental Science, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang, 464000, China
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Li Gu;
Li Gu
1Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, 361021, China
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Xin Yu;
1Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, 361021, China
E-mail: xyu@iue.ac.cn
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Huining Zhang
Huining Zhang
1Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, 361021, China
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Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua (2012) 61 (1): 41–49.
Article history
Received:
December 12 2011
Accepted:
December 28 2011
Citation
Bing Liu, Li Gu, Xin Yu, Huining Zhang; Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in a full-scale drinking water treatment plant. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua 1 February 2012; 61 (1): 41–49. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2012.098
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Bing Liu, Li Gu, Xin Yu, Huining Zhang; Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in a full-scale drinking water treatment plant. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua 1 February 2012; 61 (1): 41–49. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2012.098
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