Biological filtration for BOM and particle removal: a critical review

Urfer, Daniel; Huck, Peter M.; Booth, Stephen D.J.; Coffey, Bradley M.

doi:10.1002/j.1551-8833.1997.tb08342.x

Cited by 141 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Moreover, it is common knowledge that most granulated filter materials that come into contact with drinking water (e.g., sand, anthracite, and active carbon) sooner or later become colonized by a variety of indigenous bacteria (16,32). Notably, the bacteria colonizing such materials are not merely opportunistic but perform an essential biofiltration function in the treatment process through the removal of biodegradable organic matter (12,25,32).…”

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confidence: 99%

Bacterial Colonization of Pellet Softening Reactors Used during Drinking Water Treatment

Hammes

Boon

Vital

et al. 2011

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Pellet softening reactors are used in centralized and decentralized drinking water treatment plants for the removal of calcium (hardness) through chemically induced precipitation of calcite. This is accomplished in fluidized pellet reactors, where a strong base is added to the influent to increase the pH and facilitate the process of precipitation on an added seeding material. Here we describe for the first time the opportunistic bacterial colonization of the calcite pellets in a full-scale pellet softening reactor and the functional contribution of these colonizing bacteria to the overall drinking water treatment process. ATP analysis, advanced microscopy, and community fingerprinting with denaturing gradient gel electrophoretic (DGGE) analysis were used to characterize the biomass on the pellets, while assimilable organic carbon (AOC), dissolved organic carbon, and flow cytometric analysis were used to characterize the impact of the biological processes on drinking water quality. The data revealed pellet colonization at concentrations in excess of 500 ng of ATP/g of pellet and reactor biomass concentrations as high as 220 mg of ATP/m 3 of reactor, comprising a wide variety of different microorganisms. These organisms removed as much as 60% of AOC from the water during treatment, thus contributing toward the biological stabilization of the drinking water. Notably, only a small fraction (about 60,000 cells/ml) of the bacteria in the reactors was released into the effluent under normal conditions, while the majority of the bacteria colonizing the pellets were captured in the calcite structures of the pellets and were removed as a reusable product.

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confidence: 99%

Bacterial Colonization of Pellet Softening Reactors Used during Drinking Water Treatment

Hammes

Boon

Vital

et al. 2011

Appl Environ Microbiol

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“…Ozonation can significantly alter the structure and reactivity of natural organic 59 matter (NOM) (Wenk et al 2013) resulting in the formation of a mixture of compounds with lower 60 molecular weight and aromaticity, and higher carboxylic acid functionality (Carlson and Amy 1998, 61 Urfer et al 1997). This oxidative treatment increases the assimilable organic carbon (AOC) content 62 (Hammes et al 2006, Ramseier et al 2011) which is of great concern for water utilities because of 63 increased bacterial regrowth potential in distribution systems.…”

Section: Introduction 56mentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodegradability of DBP precursors after drinking water ozonation

et al. 2016

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25Ozonation is known to generate biodegradable organic matter, which is typically reduced by 26 biological filtration to avoid bacterial regrowth in distribution systems. Post-chlorination generates 27 halogenated disinfection byproducts (DBPs) but little is known about the biodegradability of their 28precursors. This study determined the effect of ozonation and biofiltration conditions, specifically 29 ozone exposure and empty bed contact time (EBCT), on the control of DBP formation potentials in 30 drinking water. Ozone exposure was varied through addition of H 2 O 2 during ozonation at 1 31 mgO 3 /mgDOC followed by biological filtration using either activated carbon (BAC) or anthracite. during BAC filtration at different EBCTs followed first-order reaction kinetics. Minimum steady-42 state concentrations were attained at an EBCT of about 10 -20 min, depending on the DBP species. 43The rate of reduction in DBP formation potentials varied among individual species before reaching 44 their minimum concentrations. CH, HK2, and THNM2 had the highest rate constants of between 45 0.5 and 0.6 min -1 followed by HAN4 (0.4 min -1 ), THM4 (0.3 min -1 ), HAA8 (0.2 min -1 ), and AOX 46 (0.1 min -1 ). At an EBCT of 15 min, the reduction in formation potential for most DBPs was less 47 than 50% but was higher than 70% for CH, HK2, and THNM2. The formation of bromine-48 containing DBPs increased with increasing EBCT, most likely due to an increase in Br -/DOC ratio.

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“…From a general point of view, biofiltration uses living material to capture and biologically degrade pollutants. The biofiltration of surface water is a common operation that has been widely and successfully used in water treatment for the last 20 years (Huck et al, 1994;Urfer et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another purpose of biofiltration is consumption of the biodegradable fraction of natural organic matter (NOM) in order to prevent downstream operational problems such as regrowth in pipelines (Servais et al, 1994;Huck et al, 1994;Urfer et al, 1997;Persson et al, 2006;Emelko et al, 2006). Furthermore, good efficiency in turbidity removal can also be attributed to biofiltration since it can act as a conventional physical filter, which results in acceptable filtration performances (Wang et al, 1995;Urfer et al, 1997;Emelko et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Study of Seawater Biofiltration by Measuring Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) and Turbidity

Simon

Rudé

Llorens

et al. 2013

Water Air Soil Pollut

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In the present study, we examined seawater biofiltration in terms of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and turbidity. A pilot biofilter continuously fed with fresh seawater reduced both turbidity and biological activity measured by ATP.Experiments operated with an empty bed contact time (EBCT) of between 2 and 14 min resulted in cellular ATP removals of 32% to 60% and turbidity removals of 38% to 75%. Analysis of the water from backwashing the biofilter revealed that the first half of the biofilter concentrated around 80% of the active biomass and colloidal material that produces turbidity. By reducing the EBCT, the biological activity moved from the first part of the biofilter to the end. Balances of cellular ATP and turbidity between consecutive backwashings indicated that the biological activity generated in the biofilter represented more than 90% of the detached cellular ATP. In contrast, the trapped ATP was less than 10% of the overall cellular ATP detached during the backwashing process. Furthermore, the biological activity generated in the biofilter seemed to be more dependent on the elapsed time than the volume filtered. In contrast, the turbidity trapped in the biofilter was proportional to the volume filtered, although a slightly higher amount of turbidity was found in the backwashing water; this was probably due to attrition of the bed medium. Finally, no correlations were found between turbidity and ATP, indicating that the two parameters focus on different matter. This suggests that turbidity should not be used as an alternative to cellular concentration.

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Biological filtration for BOM and particle removal: a critical review

Cited by 141 publications

References 74 publications

Bacterial Colonization of Pellet Softening Reactors Used during Drinking Water Treatment

Bacterial Colonization of Pellet Softening Reactors Used during Drinking Water Treatment

Biodegradability of DBP precursors after drinking water ozonation

Study of Seawater Biofiltration by Measuring Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) and Turbidity

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