Impact of harmful algal bloom severity on bacterial communities in a full-scale biological filtration system for drinking water treatment

The occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater environments has been expanded worldwide with growing frequency and severity. HABs can pose a threat to public water supplies, raising concerns about safety of treated water. Many studies have provided valuable information about the impacts of HABs and management strategies on the early-stage treatment processes (e.g., pre-oxidation and coagulation/flocculation) in conventional drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). However, the potential effect of HAB-impacted water in the granular media filtration has not been well studied. Biologically-active filters (BAFs), which are used in drinking water treatment and rely largely on bacterial community interactions, have not been examined during HABs in full-scale DWTPs. In this study, we assessed the bacterial community structure of BAFs, functional profiles, assembly processes, and bio-interactions in the community during both severe and mild HABs. Our findings indicate that bacterial diversity in BAFs significantly decreases during severe HABs due to the predominance of bloom-associated bacteria (e.g., Spingopyxis, Porphyrobacter, and Sphingomonas). The excitation-emission matrix combined with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC) confirmed that filter influent affected by the severe HAB contained a higher portion of protein-like substances than filter influent samples during a mild bloom. In addition, BAF community functions showed increases in metabolisms associated with intracellular algal organic matter (AOM), such as lipids and amino acids, during severe HABs. Further ecological process and network analyses revealed that severe HAB, accompanied by the abundance of bloom-associated taxa and increased nutrient availability, led to not only strong stochastic processes in the assembly process, but also a bacterial community with lower complexity in BAFs. Overall, this study provides deeper insights into BAF bacterial community structure, function, and assembly in response to HABs.

Formation and transformation of pre-chlorination-formed disinfection byproducts in drinking water treatment process

As pre-chlorination is increasingly adopted in drinking water treatment plant (DWTP), an attractive question emerged: how the disinfection by-products that formed during pre-chlorination (preformed DBPs) would be transformed in the drinking water treatment process? This study investigated the DBP formation kinetics and molecular characteristics in chlorinated source water, DBP transformation and removal in practical DWTP. It was found that the formation of trihalomethanes (THMs) followed pseudo first-order kinetic model and the intensified Br- exposure facilitated the transformation of TCM into TBM. As Br- concentration shifted from 0.5 mg L-1 to 2.0 mg L-1, the predicted maximum yield of TBM was doubled to 53.7 μg L-1 with the increase of formation rate constant (k-value) from 0.249 h-1 to 0.336 h-1. Besides known DBPs, the molecular-scale investigation unveiled that the preformed unknown Cl-DBPs were a cluster of unsaturated aromatic DBPs ((DBE-O)/Cwa = 0.16, AImod, wa = 0.36) with high H/C (H/Cwa = 1.25). Pre-ozonation exhibited a preferential removal pattern towards condensed aromatic preformed Cl-DBPs with high H/C (AImod ≥ 0.67, H/C > 1.2 and O/C < 0.3). However, the removal of Cl-DBPs in coagulation-clarification process was limited with 56 more unknown Cl-DBP formulas identified. O3-biological activated carbon process exhibited effective removal of preformed DBPs featured with low MW (carbon number ≤ 13), high unsaturation (DBE ≥ 7), condensed aromaticity (AImod ≥ 0.67), and higher H/C (H/C > 1.6). When the pre-chlorination process is adopted, the removal of preformed DBPs during the conventional treatment process is limited, while advanced treatment process can effectively remove these preformed DBPs.

Removal of disinfection by-product precursors in drinking water treatment processes: Is fluorescence parallel factor analysis a promising indicator?

This work investigated the removal efficiency of disinfection by-product (DBP) precursors by different drinking water treatment processes and evaluated the feasibility of using fluorescence components removal as an indicator. A four-component (including tryptophan-like, protein-bound, tyrosine-like, and humic-like components) parallel factor analysis model was developed basing on 288 fluorescence excitation-emission matrices. Among all treatment processes, coagulation-sedimentation process showed the best performance, with mean removal ratios of 30% in total fluorescence intensity and 31% in total formation potential (FP) of DBPs, respectively. It preferentially removed humic-like component C4 (43%). Advanced treatment processes were less effective in comparison. Ozone and biological activated carbon (BAC) combined process reduced 20% of total fluorescence intensity, while ultrafiltration process reduced < 3%. Ozonation and BAC filtration preferentially removed free amino acids (i.e., C1 and C3) and protein-bound (i.e., C2) components, with mean removal ratios of 12% and 17%, respectively. Significant correlations (p < 0.01, double-tailed) were observed between four fluorescence components removal and FPs reduction of three trihalomethanes, dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN), and 1,1-dichloropropanone (1,1-DCP). Specifically, the correlation coefficients for three trihalomethanes and 1,1-DCP followed the order of C4 > C1 > C2 > C3, while the order for DCAN was C2 > C4 > C1 > C3.

Field study on the transportation characteristics of PFASs from water source to tap water

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) can occur in water sources, pass through drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs), to the consumer taps. This investigation was carried out to present the transportation behaviors of 17 PFASs, involving seven DWTPs with different water sources, raw water transportation modes, treatment processes, and DWDS structures in eastern and northern China. The results showed that the long-distance raw water transportation pipelines removed a certain extent of PFASs from raw water, probably due to the accumulation of loose deposits. The long-distance, open-channel South-to-North water diversion increased PFAS contamination risk. In the DWTPs, granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption and ultraviolet radiation removed less than 25% of PFASs, but ozonation-biological activated carbon (O₃-BAC) was superior to GAC alone in removing PFASs. Loose deposits couldsignificantly influence PFAS accumulation and release within branch-structured DWDSs. In loop-structured DWDSs, finished water with different PFAS characteristics could mix along the pipeline, with the corresponding DWTP as the center, ultimately forming a relatively uniform distribution in the entire DWDS.

The function of advanced treatment process in a drinking water treatment plant with organic matter-polluted source water

To understand the relationship between chemical and microbial treatment at each treatment step, as well as the relationship between microbial community structure in biofilms in biofilters and their ecological functions, a drinking water plant with severe organic matter-polluted source water was investigated. The bacterial community dynamics of two drinking water supply systems (traditional and advanced treatment processes) in this plant were studied from the source to the product water. Analysis by 454 pyrosequencing was conducted to characterize the bacterial diversity in each step of the treatment processes. The bacterial communities in these two treatment processes were highly diverse. Proteobacteria, which mainly consisted of beta-proteobacteria, was the dominant phylum. The two treatment processes used in the plant could effectively remove organic pollutants and microbial polution, especially the advanced treatment process. Significant differences in the detection of the major groups were observed in the product water samples in the treatment processes. The treatment processes, particularly the biological pretreatment and O₃-biological activated carbon in the advanced treatment process, highly influenced the microbial community composition and the water quality. Some opportunistic pathogens were found in the water. Nitrogen-relative microorganisms found in the biofilm of filters may perform an important function on the microbial community composition and water quality improvement.

Applying the polarity rapid assessment method to characterize nitrosamine precursors and to understand their removal by drinking water treatment processes

Some N-nitrosamines (NAs) have been identified as emerging disinfection by-products during water treatment. Thus, it is essential to understand the characteristics of the NA precursors. In this study, the polarity rapid assessment method (PRAM) and the classical resin fractionation method were studied as methods to fractionate the NA precursors during drinking water treatment. The results showed that PRAM has much higher selectivity for NA precursors than the resin approach. The normalized N-nitrosodimethylamine formation potential (NDMA FP) and N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) FP of four resin fractions was at the same level as the average yield of the bulk organic matter whereas that of the cationic fraction by PRAM showed 50 times the average. Thus, the cationic fraction was shown to be the most important NDMA precursor contributor. The PRAM method also helped understand which portions of the NA precursor were removed by different water treatment processes. Activated carbon (AC) adsorption removed over 90% of the non-polar PRAM fraction (that sorbs onto the C18 solid phase extraction [SPE] cartridge) of NDMA and NDEA precursors. Bio-treatment removed 80-90% of the cationic fraction of PRAM (that is retained on the cation exchange SPE cartridge) and 40-60% of the non-cationic fractions. Ozonation removed 50-60% of the non-polar PRAM fraction of NA precursors and transformed part of them into the polar fraction. Coagulation and sedimentation had very limited removal of various PRAM fractions of NA precursors.

Diversity and dynamics of microbial communities at each step of treatment plant for potable water generation

The dynamics of bacterial and eukaryotic community associated with each step of a water purification plant in China was investigated using 454 pyrosequencing and qPCR based approaches. Analysis of pyrosequencing revealed that a high degree diversity of bacterial and eukaryotic communities is present in the drinking water treatment process before sand filtration. In addition, the microbial compositions of the biofilm in the sand filters and those of the water of the putatively clear tanks were distinct, suggesting that sand filtration and chlorination treatments played primary roles in removing exposed microbial communities. Potential pathogens including Acinetobacter, Clostridium, Legionella, and Mycobacterium, co-occurred with protozoa such as Rhizopoda (Hartmannellidae), and fungi such as Penicillium and Aspergillus. Furthermore, this study supported the ideas based on molecular level that biofilm communities were different from those in corresponding water samples, and that the concentrations of Mycobacterium spp., Legionella spp., and Naegleria spp. in the water samples declined with each step of the water treatment process by qPCR. Overall, this study provides the first detailed evaluation of bacterial and eukaryotic diversity at each step of an individual potable water treatment process located in China.