Removal of individual off-flavour compounds in water during artificial groundwater recharge and during treatment by alum coagulation/sand filtration

Abstract

The removal of individual off-flavour compounds during artificial groundwater recharge has been compared to the removal of such compounds during conventional alum coagulation/sand filtration. By using an evaluation technique based on gas chromatography with both instrumental and sensory detection (“column sniffing”) it was shown that alum coagulation/sand filtration had no significant effect on any of the off-flavour compounds that could be detected in the raw water samples (geosmin, 2-methylisoborneol, 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, 1-octen-3-one, 1-nonen-3-one, dimethyl trisulphide and a number of unidentified muddy or musty odours). During artificial groundwater recharge in sand and gravel ridges, however, the concentrations of all these compounds were substantially reduced, thus proving that artificial groundwater recharge is not only a suitable method for water storage but can also be an effective method for removing muddy and musty odours. The successful use of the column-sniffing technique for evaluating water treatment methods has shown the potential of this technique in resolving some of the present disagreements concerning the effectiveness of different treatment methods for removing tastes and odours from water.