Phytoplankton Drivers of Dissolved Organic Material Production in Colorado Reservoirs and the Formation of Disinfection By-Products

Alia L Khan,Eric R Sokol,Diane M Mcknight,Amanda K Hohner,R Scott Summers,James F Saunders

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2021.673627

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that algal-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) has a strong influence on the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) during the treatment of drinking water. In the summer of 2010, we evaluated the role of nitrogen and phosphorus loading and phytoplankton abundance as drivers of the concentrations and quality of DOM and the associated DBP formation in 30 reservoirs in the mountains and plains of the State of Colorado. Optical properties such as Specific Ultraviolet Absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA254) and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to characterize DOM quality. Nutrient concentrations such as total nitrogen were also assessed and were associated with high concentrations of chlorophyll a (Chl-a). In turn, high total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations were associated with high concentrations of Chl-a, and the DOM in these reservoirs had a fluorescence signature indicative of contributions from phytoplankton growth. The reservoirs with TOC concentrations above 4 mgC/L were predominantly located in the plains and many are impacted by agricultural runoff and wastewater discharges, rather than in the mountains and are characterized by warm water conditions and shallow depths. For a subset of fourteen reservoirs, we characterized the composition of the phytoplankton using a rapid imaging microscopy technique and observed a dominance by filamentous Cyanobacteria in reservoirs with TOC concentrations above 4 mgC/L. The combination of high TOC concentrations with microbial characteristics resulted in high potential for production of two major classes of regulated DBPs, trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. While fluorescence spectroscopy was useful in confirming the contribution of phytoplankton growth to high TOC concentrations, evaluation of predictive models for DBP yields found that all equally predictive models included SUVA254 and some of these models also included fluorescence indices or logTOC. These findings provide a limnological context in support of the recent guidelines that have been implemented for protection of high-quality drinking water supplies in the State of Colorado.

Highlights

In recent years, increases in total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations have been observed in surface waters (e.g. Rosén, 2005; Monteith et al, 2007; Erlandsson et al, 2008; O’Beirne et al, 2009; Ouehle and Hruska, 2009; SanClements et al, 2012; Meyer-Jacob et al, 2015; De Wit et al, 2016) including the State of Colorado (Beggs et al, 2013)
Higher total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) concentrations were associated with greater algal biomass as measured by Chl-a concentrations (Figure 3), with the strongest log-log relationship being between NH4+ and Chl-a
As Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorous (TP) concentrations increased, the ratios decreased consistent with notable that the phytoplankton community was dominated by filamentous cyanobacteria, which commonly thrive in warm lakes in the summer (Goldman and Horne, 1983), for 8 of the 11 reservoirs in the high and moderate TOC groups for which the phytoplankton community was characterized

Summary

Introduction

Increases in total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations have been observed in surface waters (e.g. Rosén, 2005; Monteith et al, 2007; Erlandsson et al, 2008; O’Beirne et al, 2009; Ouehle and Hruska, 2009; SanClements et al, 2012; Meyer-Jacob et al, 2015; De Wit et al, 2016) including the State of Colorado (Beggs et al, 2013). For surface water sources with TOC > 2 mgC/L, the 1998 Stage DBP-Rule requires TOC removal prior to chlorination and the required percent TOC removal are a function of source water alkalinity and are applied in increments as >2.0–4.0, >4.0–8.0, and >8.0 mgC/L (U.S EPA, 2006). For mountainous regions such as Colorado, United States, systems of interconnected raw water storage reservoirs in the mountains and plains regions allow utilities to optimize water supply by capturing water during the spring snowmelt to maintain water supplies during drought and meet peak demands throughout the year. Laboratory studies have shown that algal-derived DOM is reactive in forming DBPs (e.g., Huang et al, 2009; Fang et al, 2010; Yang et al, 2011; Zamyadi et al, 2012; Wert and Rosario-Ortiz 2013; Zhou et al, 2014; Gonsior et al, 2019; Hua et al, 2019)

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Conclusion