Formation of disinfection byproducts in an ammonia-polluted source water with UV/chlorine treatment followed by post-chlorination: A pilot-scale study

Abstract

This study investigated the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) from a real ammonia-polluted source water treated by a pilot-scale ultraviolet (UV)/chlorine process with subsequent post-chlorination. The experimental results indicated that UV/chlorine treatment enhanced the formation of trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), and haloacetonitriles (HANs) in post-chlorination, compared to UV or chlorine applied alone under parallel experimental conditions. DBP formation was observed to depend on pH values, chlorine doses, and reaction times. THM formation was higher at pH 9.0 than pH 6.0, while HAAs and HANs were produced more readily at pH 6.0 rather than 9.0. A higher chlorine dose led to a higher amount of DBPs formed after the treatment of UV/chlorine followed by post-chlorination. The concentration of DBPs increased with the UV/chlorine treatment time increasing from 2 to 15 s and then presented a decrease trend with the reaction time prolonging to 30 s. In addition, changes in natural organic matter (NOM) properties were evaluated using three-dimensional fluorescence spectra and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) UV/chlorine treatment effectively destroyed humic-like and tyrosine-like components in waters with the maximum fluorescence intensity ( FI m a x ) reduced by 51.4% and 64.6%, respectively, compared to the raw water sample. The decrease of fluorescence of waters exhibited a positive correlation with the formation of DBP-FP in UV/chlorine treatment. Overall, DBP formation from the ammonia-polluted source water caused by UV/chlorine treatment could be managed by carefully determining chlorine doses and contact times to be used in the UV/chlorine process. • Micro-polluted water was treated by a pilot-scale UV/chlorine process. • DBP formation potential in UV/chlorine was strongly pH dependent. • Reducing chlorine dosage offset the increase of DBP formation. • The destruction of fluorescence components related with the formation of DBPs. • Fulvic-like components could be used as an indicator for DBP formation.