Influence of iron on nitrification in full-scale drinking water trickling filters

Vet, W.W.J.M. de; Rietveld, L.C.; Loosdrecht, M.C.M. van

doi:10.2166/aqua.2009.115

Cited by 27 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…The higher number of AOP in water sampled after tower aeration and pellet softening than in water from the first rapid sand filter at plant B implies that biological nitrification is limited in the first rapid sand filter. The raw water of plant B contains high concentrations of DOC, methane, iron, and manganese, which might limit nitrification during biological filtration (2,9).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea in Groundwater Treatment and Drinking Water Distribution Systems

Wielen

Voost

Kooij

2009

Appl Environ Microbiol

134

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The ammonia-oxidizing prokaryote (AOP) community in three groundwater treatment plants and connected distribution systems was analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR and sequence analysis targeting the amoA gene of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA). Results demonstrated that AOB and AOA numbers increased during biological filtration of ammonia-rich anoxic groundwater, and AOP were responsible for ammonium removal during treatment. In one of the treatment trains at plant C, ammonia removal correlated significantly with AOA numbers but not with AOB numbers. Thus, AOA were responsible for ammonia removal in water treatment at one of the studied plants. Furthermore, an observed negative correlation between the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration in the water and AOA numbers suggests that high DOC levels might reduce growth of AOA. AOP entered the distribution system in numbers ranging from 1.5 ؋ 10 3 to 6.5 ؋ 10 4 AOPs ml ؊1 . These numbers did not change during transport in the distribution system despite the absence of a disinfectant residual. Thus, inactive AOP biomass does not seem to be degraded by heterotrophic microorganisms in the distribution system. We conclude from our results that AOA can be commonly present in distribution systems and groundwater treatment, where they can be responsible for the removal of ammonia.Ammonia can be present in source water used for drinking water production or added to treated water with chlorine to form chloramines as a disinfectant. However, the presence of ammonia in drinking water is undesirable because nitrification might lead to toxic levels of nitrite (29) or adverse effects on water taste and odor (4) and might increase heterotrophic bacteria, including opportunistic pathogens (29). Two-thirds of the drinking water in The Netherlands is produced from groundwater. Most of the groundwater used for drinking water production is anoxic with relatively high concentrations of methane, iron, manganese, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and ammonia. Treatment of anoxic groundwater aims at achieving biologically stable water, because drinking water in The Netherlands is distributed without a disinfectant residual. As a result, a highly efficient nitrification process during rapid medium filtration is required.Nitrification is the microbial oxidation of ammonia to nitrate and consists of two processes: the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite by ammonia-oxidizing prokaryotes (AOP) and the oxidation of nitrite to nitrate by nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Recently it was shown that in addition to bacteria, archaea also are capable of ammonia oxidation (13). Since then, ammoniaoxidizing archaea (AOA) have been found in many different ecosystems, including wastewater treatment systems (10,20,24). However, it is currently unknown if AOA are present in drinking water treatment processes and distribution systems. Recent studies have focused on nitrification in drinking water treatment (16,28). In those studies, AOB and NOB were enumerated by traditional most-proba...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea in Groundwater Treatment and Drinking Water Distribution Systems

Wielen

Voost

Kooij

2009

Appl Environ Microbiol

134

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“…Previous studies have shown that the time required for a biofilter to reach compliance is usually a few months when using inherent inoculation (Štembal et al, 2004). Possible reasons for this lengthy start-up period include low water temperatures, low availability of nutrients, weak inoculation or other factors (de Vet et al, 2012). A comparison of the length of the start-up period from various studies in the literature is virtually futile, largely due to diverging experimental conditions and focus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comprehensive analysis of the start-up period of a full-scale drinking water biofilter provides guidance for optimization

Ramsay

Breda

Søborg

2018

Drink. Water Eng. Sci.

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Abstract. The use of biofilters to produce drinking water from anaerobic groundwater is widespread in some European countries. A major disadvantage of biofilters is the long start-up period required for virgin filter medium to become fully functional. Although individual aspects of biofilter start-up have previously been investigated, no comprehensive study in full scale using inherent inoculation has previously been documented. A thorough investigation of a full-scale drinking water biofilter was carried out over 10 weeks of start-up. The many spatial and temporal changes taking place during start-up were documented using a holistic approach. In addition to collection of many samples over time (frequency) and space (filter depth), this study entailed the use of multiple sample media (water, backwash water and filter media) and multiple types of analyses (physical, chemical and microbiological). The decrease in filter effluent concentrations of individual substances to compliance levels followed a specific order that was shown to coincide with the spatiotemporal development of bacteria on the filter media. Due to the abiotic nature of the iron removal process, iron disappears at the earliest in the start-up period followed by substances that require growth of microorganisms. Ammonium disappears next, with nitrite appearing briefly near the end of ammonium removal, followed by manganese. The thorough overall picture obtained by these efforts provides guidance for optimization and monitoring of the start-up. Guidance for optimization includes shortening the start-up by focusing on kick-starting the ammonium removal; limiting the monitoring burden (at-line measurements of ammonium in finished water supplemented with manual manganese measurements when ammonium removal is complete); and improving filter design by isolating the removal processes in separate, smaller filters.

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“…Subsurface aeration is a mild form of in situ iron removal (Braester and Martinell, 1988). The drinking water company Oasen in the Netherlands applies this technique not for the purpose of in situ iron removal, but for the enhancement of nitrification in the water treatment plant (WTP; de Vet et al, 2009a). In this technique, limited amounts of well‐aerated tap water are periodically injected back into the anaerobic groundwater aquifer, which contains ferrous iron, in between longer periods of groundwater abstraction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gallionella spp. in trickling filtration of subsurface aerated and natural groundwater

Vet

Dinkla

Abbas

et al. 2011

Biotech & Bioengineering

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The growth of iron-oxidizing bacteria, generally regarded as obligate microaerophilic at neutral pH conditions, has been reported in a wide range of environments, including engineered systems for drinking water production. This research focused on intensively aerated trickling filters treating deep anaerobic and subsurface aerated groundwater. The two systems, each comprising groundwater abstraction and trickling filtration, were monitored over a period of 9 months. Gallionella spp. were quantified by qPCR with specifically designed 16S rRNA primers and identified directly in the environmental samples using clone libraries with the same primers. In addition, enrichments in gradient tubes were evaluated after DGGE separation with general bacterial primers. No other iron-oxidizing bacteria than Gallionella spp. were found in the gradient tubes. qPCR provided an effective method to evaluate the growth of Gallionella spp. in these filter systems. The growth of Gallionella spp. was stimulated by subsurface aeration, but these bacteria hardly grew in the trickling filter. In the uninfluenced, natural anaerobic groundwater, Gallionella spp. were only present in low numbers, but they grew extensively in the trickling filter. Identification revealed that Gallionella spp., growing in the trickling filter were phylogenetically distinct from the species found growing during subsurface aeration, indicating that the different conditions in both systems selected for niche organisms, while inhibiting other groups. The results suggest a minor direct significance for inoculation of Gallionella spp. during filtration of subsurface aerated groundwater.

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Influence of iron on nitrification in full-scale drinking water trickling filters

Cited by 27 publications

References 5 publications

Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea in Groundwater Treatment and Drinking Water Distribution Systems

Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea in Groundwater Treatment and Drinking Water Distribution Systems

Comprehensive analysis of the start-up period of a full-scale drinking water biofilter provides guidance for optimization

Gallionella spp. in trickling filtration of subsurface aerated and natural groundwater

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