AbstractA hybrid pre-treatment process was developed, which integrated permanganate composite chemicals (PPC) and biological aerated filters (BAF) together to enhance pollutants removal and guarantee drinking water safety. The hybrid pre-treatment process presented a high removal rate of dissolved organic matter (DOC), ammonium and nitrite, with average removal rates at 34.92, 86.10, and 97.70%, respectively. PPC changed the structure of organic matter making it more biodegradable, thus increasing the biologically removal efficiency of organic matter and greatly decreasing the disinfection byproducts formation potential. Introduction of PPC would increase the manganese concentration, but the following BAF could reduce the manganese concentration to a satisfactory level (below 0.05 mg/L). Scanning electronic microscopy and PCR-DGGE demonstrated that biodegradation should be the main mechanism for impurities removal. Jar tests results indicated that combination of the hybrid pre-treatment process and coagul...