Potable Water Treatment Plant Research Articles

Presence of artificial radionuclides in samples from potable water and wastewater treatment plants

Human activity, such as the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) and the use of radionuclides in nuclear medicine, results in the presence of artificial radionuclides in surface waters, which may even reach potable water treatment plants (PWTPs) and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).In this study, water and sludge samples from a PWTP are radiologically monitored. The incoming water of the plant is influenced by the presence of an NPP upstream. Two WWTPs receiving wastewater from medical centres and other origins are also studied. As a result, 131I, 60Co and 137Cs have been determined in the dewatered sludge samples from the PWTP, while 131I, 99mTc, 67Ga and 111In were detected in the sludge samples from the WWTPs. The radionuclide activities in the influent water from the WWTPs studied were lower than the minimum detectable activity values. Therefore, on the basis of our results, the analysis of sludge samples is very useful as it enables the concentration of any radionuclides that may be present in the incoming water.Lastly, as higher activity of 131I was detected in the samples studied, the total effective dose was assessed for WWTP workers, as they handle dewatered sludge containing this radionuclide. It can be concluded that there is no risk in terms of total exposure.

Wastewater discharge impact on drinking water sources along the Yangtze River (China)

Unplanned indirect (de facto) wastewater reuse occurs when wastewater is discharged into surface waters upstream of potable drinking water treatment plant intakes. This paper aims to predict percentages and trends of de facto reuse throughout the Yangtze River watershed in order to understand the relative contribution of wastewater discharges into the river and its tributaries towards averting water scarcity concerns. The Yangtze River is the third longest in the world and supports more than 1/15 of the world's population, yet the importance of wastewater on the river remains ill-defined. Municipal wastewater produced in the Yangtze River Basin increased by 41% between 1998 and 2014, from 2580m3/s to 3646m3/s. Under low flow conditions in the Yangtze River near Shanghai, treated wastewater contributions to river flows increased from 8% in 1998 to 14% in 2014. The highest levels of de facto reuse appeared along a major tributary (Han River) of the Yangtze River, where de facto reuse can exceed 20%. While this initial analysis of de facto reuse used water supply and wastewater data from 110 cities in the basin and 11 gauging stations with >50years of historic streamflow data, the outcome was limited by the lack of gauging stations at more locations (i.e., data had to be predicted using digital elevation mapping) and lack of precise geospatial location of drinking water intakes or wastewater discharges. This limited the predictive capability of the model relative to larger datasets available in other countries (e.g., USA). This assessment is the first analysis of de facto wastewater reuse in the Yangtze River Basin. It will help identify sections of the river at higher risk for wastewater-related pollutants due to presence of—and reliance on—wastewater discharge that could be the focus of field studies and model predictions of higher spatial and temporal resolution.

Ozone Plant Operations Under Drought Conditions

ABSTRACTThe Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan) owns and operates five potable water treatment plants. Currently four of the treatment plants utilize ozone as the primary disinfectant. The Metropolitan ozone contactors are over-under baffled and include 10 chambers, an afterbay, and an effluent channel. Ozone is generally added in either the first countercurrent gas/liquid flow chamber (Chamber 1) or the first and second (co-current gas/liquid flow) chambers. Disinfection credit is received from ozone residuals in Chambers 2 through 6. An ozone destruct system collects and destroys ozone off-gases from Chambers 1 through 9 and an ozone quenching system is used to minimize dissolved ozone from leaving the contactors. Severe drought in California, and resulting water supply limitations, have created significant operational issues ranging from reduced plant flows to source water changes and water quality challenges. The combination of reduced flow and different source water conditions resulted in the ozone systems being operated occasionally under unfamiliar conditions. This article discusses some of the challenges faced in operating the ozone plants at low flows and low ozone production rates. Further, water quality issues required prudent management of operations to meet regulatory requirements. From the lessons learned, several recommendations are offered in preparation for similar conditions in the future.

Life cycle assessment of four potable water treatment plants in northeastern Colombia

There is currently great concern about the processes that directly or indirectly contribute to the potential for global warming, such as stratospheric ozone depletion or acidification. In this context, and provided that treated water is a basic public utility in urban centers around the world as well as in some rural areas, its impact on the environment is of great interest. Therefore, this study applied the environmental methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental loads of four potable water treatment plants (PWTPs) located in northeastern Colombia following the international guidelines delineated in ISO 14040. The different stages of the drinking water process were thoroughly assessed, from the catchment point through pumping to the distribution network. The functional unit was defined as 1 m3 of drinking water produced at the plant. The data were analyzed through the database Ecoinvent v.3.01, and modeled and processed in the software LCA-Data Manager. The results showed that in plants PLA-CA and PLA-PO, the flocculation process has the highest environmental load, which is mostly attributable to the coagulant agent, with a range between 47-73% of the total impact. In plants PLA-TON and PLA-BOS, electricity consumption was identified as the greatest impact source, with percentages ranging from 67 to 85%. Treatment processes and techniques, bioclimatic conditions and culturally driven consumption behavior varied from region to region. Furthermore, changes in treatment processes and techniques are likely to affect the environment during all stages of a plant’s operational cycle.

Model based control of filter run time on potable water treatment plant

Control of potable water treatment plant (PWTP) is nowadays based on experience. The aim of this article is to show that model based control of treatment process is more efficient than process operation based on experience. Stimela environment is used for modeling of processes of potable water treatment. Application of the model was conducted on PWTP "Crkvice" in Zenica (BiH). This plant has used conventional rapid sand filters. By effective application of the model it is determined the optimal filter run time for different input turbidity of raw water. This results in the possibility of reducing the consumption of backwashing water, lower costs for its pumping and reducing the amount of coagulants. In the existing practice, based on experience, these benefits are not used.

Spatial and temporal variation in de facto wastewater reuse in drinking water systems across the U.S.A.

De facto potable reuse occurs when treated wastewater is discharged into surface waters upstream of potable drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) intakes. Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharges may pose water quality risks at the downstream DWTP, but additional flow aids in providing a reliable water supply source. In this work de facto reuse is analyzed for 2056 surface water intakes serving 1210 DWTPs across the U.S.A. that serve greater than 10,000 people, covering approximately 82% of the nation’s population. An ArcGIS model is developed to assess spatial relationships between DWTPs and WWTPs, with a python script designed to perform a network analysis by hydrologic region. A high frequency of de facto reuse occurrence was observed; 50% of the DWTP intakes are potentially impacted by upstream WWTP discharges. However, the magnitude of de facto reuse was seen to be relatively low, where 50% of the impacted intakes contained less than 1% treated municipal wastewater under average streamflow conditions. De facto reuse increased greatly under low streamflow conditions (modeled by Q95), with 32 of the 80 sites yielding at least 50% treated wastewater, this portion of the analysis is limited to sites where stream gauge data was readily available.

Sludge Treatment Analysis in Potable Water Treatment Plant (PWTP) in Logroño (Spain)

In a Drinking Water Plant the first step in purifying water is the removal of the suspended solids and other organic or inorganic compounds (silts, clays and very fine particles). The separation is based on settling processes that is carried out through coagulation and sand filtration and the resultant product in the process is sent to sludge line. In this line, the sludge is flocculated, decanted and then thickened. As the water obtained is recirculated to first-stage treatment, the concentrated sludge is dehydrated for later use. The sludge contains a large amount of flocculants and as a result, the sludge recirculation would be possible so as to reduce the dosages of the chemical polymer streamlining the process of dehydration. This study shows the inefficiency of the sludge recirculation, and therefore proposes sludge removal process for future designs and sludge lines projects.

Comparison of advanced water purification operations and performance for San Diego’s demonstration facility

The City of San Diego (City) evaluated the option of indirect potable reuse with reservoir augmentation (IPR/RA), as a way to reduce dependence on imported water. The City’s concurrent Recycled Water Study evaluated ways to increase recycling, while reducing flows to the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant (Point Loma). A 68 megaliters per day (MLD) capacity full scale advanced water purification facility (full scale facility) has been proposed to supply this water from the North City Water Reclamation Plant (North City). If reservoir augmentation is pursued, purified water would be blended with existing raw water supplies within San Vicente Reservoir and pass through an existing potable water treatment plant before use in the City’s drinking water supply (). As part of the City’s reservoir augmentation program, they commissioned a 3·8 MLD demonstration scale advanced water purification facility (demonstration facility) to verify consistent achievement of water quality criteria, facilitate public support, and aid in optimization of the proposed treatment processes. In June 2011, CDM Smith and team member MWH began a 12-month testing period followed by a 9-month operation period to determine the effectiveness of a three-step treatment process, including membrane filtration, through microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF), reverse osmosis (RO), and ultraviolet light (UV) with advanced oxidation. The major objectives of the testing program included: demonstrate to the California Department of Public Health (now the State Water Resource Control Board Division of Drinking Water) and the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) that the proposed advanced water purification (AWP) technology will produce a final product water quality that meets public health and surface water augmentation criteria; evaluate nutrient removal performance of the baseline AWP process train; implement a monitoring plan for Constituents of Emerging Concern (CECs) tailored to North City tertiary water characteristics and current recommendations of the State Water Resources Control Board; demonstrate integrity monitoring techniques and performance reliability measures for the AWP process train, which can be implemented at the full scale facility; and monitor and collect operational performance and maintenance requirements of the AWP equipment. This paper focuses on the membrane filtration and RO systems, evaluating the design criteria and operating performance, while comparing the performance of parallel treatment trains operating with different equipment and operating conditions.

Headspace stir bar sorptive extraction followed by thermal desorption and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry to determine musk fragrances in sludge samples without sample pretreatment

A direct, simple and solvent-free method based on headspace stir bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption gas chromatography with mass spectroscopy was developed to determine 13 musk fragrances (six polycyclic musks, three nitro musks and four macrocyclic musks) in sludge without sample treatment. The optimal headspace stir bar sorptive extraction conditions were achieved when a polydimethylsiloxane stir bar was exposed for 45 min in the headspace of a 10 mL vial filled with 100 mg of sludge mixed with 0.2 mL of water stirred at 750 rpm at 80°C. The stir bar was then desorbed in the thermal desorption gas chromatography and mass spectrometry system, obtaining limits of detection between 5 and 30 ng/g. The method applicability was tested with sewage sludge from two urban wastewater treatment plants and from a potable water treatment plant. Results showed galaxolide and tonalide to be the most abundant musk fragrances found in wastewater treatment plants with maximal concentrations of 9240 and 7500 ng/g, respectively. Maximum concentration levels between 35 and 635 ng/g were found for musk ketone, musk moskene, traseolide, phantolide and celestolide in this kind of samples. Concentrations below the limits of quantitation of phantolide, galaxolide, tonalide and musk ketone were found in sludge from a potable water treatment plant.

Microcystins in potable surface waters: toxic effects and removal strategies

In freshwater, harmful cyanobacterial blooms threaten to increase with global climate change and eutrophication of surface waters. In addition to the burden and necessity of removal of algal material during water treatment processes, bloom-forming cyanobacteria can produce a class of remarkably stable toxins, microcystins, difficult to remove from drinking water sources. A number of animal intoxications over the past 20 years have served as sentinels for widespread risk presented by microcystins. Cyanobacterial blooms have the potential to threaten severely both public health and the regional economy of affected communities, particularly those with limited infrastructure or resources. Our main objectives were to assess whether existing water treatment infrastructure provides sufficient protection against microcystin exposure, identify available options feasible to implement in resource-limited communities in bloom scenarios and to identify strategies for improved solutions. Finally, interventions at the watershed level aimed at bloom prevention and risk reduction for entry into potable water sources were outlined. We evaluated primary studies, reviews and reports for treatment options for microcystins in surface waters, potable water sources and treatment plants. Because of the difficulty of removal of microcystins, prevention is ideal; once in the public water supply, the coarse removal of cyanobacterial cells combined with secondary carbon filtration of dissolved toxins currently provides the greatest potential for protection of public health. Options for point of use filtration must be optimized to provide affordable and adequate protection for affected communities.

Pressurised hot water extraction followed by headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of N-nitrosamines in sewage sludge

A method for the quantitative determination of the nine EPA N-nitrosamines in sewage sludge was developed by using pressurised hot water extraction (PHWE) followed by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography coupled to chemical ionization ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (GC–CI-MS–MS).The pressurised hot water extraction was optimized using a central composite design with regard to operational parameters such as temperature, extraction time and pH of water as extracting solvent. The optimum conditions were: water at pH 7.5 as extracting solvent, temperature of 125°C and extraction time of 5min. The sewage sludge extract was automatically analyzed by HS-SPME using a divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) fiber and GC–CI-MS–MS.The limits of detection of all compounds were lower than 0.15μg/kg of dry weight (d.w.) of sewage sludge. The repeatability and reproducibility between days (10μg/kg d.w.) expressed as relative standard deviation were lower than 16 and 19%, respectively. The method was applied to determine the N-nitrosamines in sewage sludge from urban and industrial sewage treatment plants (STPs) and from a potable water treatment plant. Some N-nitrosamines were determined in the samples and N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) and N-nitrosodi-n-butylamine (NDBA) showed the highest values (371 and 305μg/kg (d.w.), respectively) in sewage from industrial STPs.

Geosmin degradation by seasonal biofilm from a biological treatment facility

Initial geosmin degradation was closely related to water temperature and natural geosmin concentration of sampling environment. Here, for the first time, we evaluated the biodegradation of geosmin by microorganisms in biofilm from biological treatment unit of actual potable water treatment plant. At an initial geosmin concentration of 2,500 ng/l, efficient geosmin removal was confirmed throughout the year. Furthermore, in the presence of mixed musty odor compounds (geosmin and MIB) as carbon source, geosmin degradation was enhanced compared to sole carbon source (geosmin alone). PCR-DGGE analysis revealed a rich community structure within the biofilm during rapid geosmin removal period, April. PCA revealed that the significant change in bacterial communities occurred from day 1 to day 2. Two novel geosmin-degrading bacteria were isolated from the biofilm of the biological treatment unit of Kasumigaura Water Purification, Waterworks Department, Japan. They belong to Methylobacterium sp. and Oxalobacteraceae bacterium, respectively. These studies provide further insights into the unknown microbiological processes that occur during the biological removal of geosmin through water treatment and could facilitate the geosmin bioremediation in contaminated habitats.

Photocatalytic reactors for environmental remediation: a review

AbstractResearch in the field of photocatalytic reactors in the past three decades has been an area of extensive and diverse activity with an extensive range of suspended and fixed film photocatalyst configurations being reported. The key considerations for photocatalytic reactors, however, remain the same; effective mass transfer of pollutants to the photocatalyst surface and effective deployments and illumination of the photocatalyst. Photocatalytic reactors have the potential versatility to be applied to the remediation of a range of water and gaseous effluents. Furthermore they have also been applied to the treatment of potable waters. The scale‐up of photocatalytic reactors for waste and potable water treatment plants has also been demonstrated. Systems for the reduction of carbon dioxide to fuel products have also been reported. This paper considers the main photocatalytic reactor configurations that have been reported to date. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry

Fully automated determination of N‐nitrosamines in environmental waters by headspace solid‐phase microextraction followed by GC–MS–MS

A fully automated method for determining nine Environmental Protection Agency N-nitrosamines in several types of environmental waters at ng/L levels is presented. The method is based on a headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by GC-MS-MS using chemical ionization. Three different fibers (carboxen/PDMS, divinylbenzene/carboxen/PDMS, and PEG) were tested. Solid-phase microextraction conditions were best when a divinylbenzene/carboxen/PDMS fiber was exposed for 60 min in the headspace of 10 mL water samples at pH 7 containing 360 g/L of NaCl, at 45°C. All compounds were analyzed by GC-MS-MS within 18 min. The method was validated using effluent from an urban wastewater treatment plant and the LODs ranged from 1 to 5 ng/L. The method was then applied to determine the N-nitrosamines in samples of different complexities, such as tap water and several influent and effluent wastewater samples from urban and industrial wastewater treatment plants and a potable water treatment plant. Although the analysis of influent industrial wastewater revealed high concentrations of some compounds (N-nitrosomorpholine and N-nitrosodimethylamine at μg/L levels), in industrial effluents and other samples, the concentrations were substantially lower (ng/L levels). The new method is suitable for the simple and reliable determination of N-nitrosamines in highly complex water samples in a completely automated procedure.

Hazard and risk assessment for indirect potable reuse schemes: An approach for use in developing Water Safety Plans

This paper describes research undertaken to develop an approach for facilitating an initial hazard assessment and risk characterisation for a proposed indirect potable reuse scheme, as part of the water safety plan recommended by the World Health Organization. The process involved a description and evaluation of the catchment, which was the sewerage system supplying the sewage treatment works that would provide the effluent to supply the pilot scale indirect potable reuse water treatment plant. Hazards, sources and barriers throughout the proposed system were identified and evaluated. An initial assessment of the possible hazards, highlighted chemical hazards as predominating, and assessment of risks, using a heat map as output, categorised most hazards as medium or high risk. However, this outcome has been influenced by a precautionary approach which assigned a high likelihood to the occurrence of hazards where no data was available on their occurrence in the system. As more data becomes available, and the waster safety plan develops, it is anticipated that the risk heat map will become more specific. Additionally, high quality targets, to drinking water standards, have been set, although water from the potable reuse plant will be discharged to receiving waters where it will undergo natural attenuation prior to further treatment to potable standards before distribution. The assessment has demonstrated the usefulness of the approach where data is initially limited, in generating a heat map allowing for prioritisation of hazards to a practical level.

Presence of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials in sludge samples from several Spanish water treatment plants

Sludge samples from eleven potable water treatment plants (PWTP), three waste water treatment plants (WWTP) and an industrial water treatment plant (IWTP), located in different areas of Spain, mainly in Catalonia, were analyzed for their radiological content in order to determine whether they could be considered as industries affected by naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). In general, samples from the PWTPs showed higher activity values for the alpha and gamma emitting isotopes than the WWTPs and the IWTP. For example, samples from the area located in the north of Catalonia show values of 234U, 235U and 238U in the range of 84.4-792.1 Bq/kg, 3.3-26.8 Bq/kg and 63.8-585.9 Bq/kg, respectively. In general, for PWTP, the values obtained for the gamma emitter and alpha emitter isotopes showed that both the geology and the industrial activities correlate with the values measured. The magnitude of these results demonstrates the need to measure the radionuclide content of these samples before reaching a decision about their final disposal.

Predicting disinfection by-product formation potential in water

Formation of regulated and non-regulated disinfection by-products (DBPs) is an issue at both potable water and wastewater treatment plants (W/WWTPs). Water samples from W/WWTPs across the USA were collected and DBP formation potentials (DBPFPs) in the presence of free chlorine and chloramine were obtained for trihalomethane (THM), haloacetic acid (HAA), haloacetonitrile (HAN), and N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). With nearly 200 samples covering a range of dissolved organic carbon (0.6–23 mg/L), ultraviolet absorbance (0.01–0.48 cm −1 at 254 nm wavelength), and bromide (0–1.0 mg/L) levels, power function models were developed to predict the carbonaceous DBP (C-DBP) and nitrogenous DBP (N-DBP) precursors spanning 3 orders of magnitudes. The predicted THM and HAA formation potentials fitted well with the measured data (analytical variance of less than 22%). Inclusion of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) into the HANFP model improved the predictions. NDMAFP was the most difficult one to predict based upon the selected water quality parameters, perhaps suggesting that bulk measurements such as DOC or UVA 254 were not appropriate for tracking NDMAFP. These are the first such DBPFP models for wastewater systems, and among the few models that consider both C-DBPs and N-DBPs formation potentials from the same water sources.

Pressurised hot water extraction followed by simultaneous derivatization and headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of aliphatic primary amines in sewage sludge

In this paper we describe an environmentally friendly and sensitive method for the determination of ten primary amines in sewage sludge. The method is based on pressurised hot water extraction (PHWE) followed by simultaneous derivatization with pentafluorobenzaldehyde (PFBAY) and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and subsequent gas-chromatography ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (GC-IT-MS–MS) analysis. The influence of the main factors on the PHWE of sludge was optimized by a central composite design. For all species the optimal conditions were water at pH 4 as the extracting solvent, an extraction temperature of 100 °C and an extraction time of 15 min. The separation and detection of the ten amines by GC-IT-MS–MS took just 10 min and the entire process took approximately 1 h. Repeatability and reproducibility between days, expressed as RSD (%) ( n = 5), were less than 19 and 24%, respectively. The average limit of detection (LOD) was of 65 μg kg −1 s (range found 9–135) and the average limit of quantification (LOQ) was of 230 μg kg −1 (range found 50–450) of dry weight (d.w.). Under optimized conditions we used this method to determine the compounds in industrial and municipal sewage sludge samples and in sludge from a potable water treatment plant. Methylamine and isobutylamine showed the highest levels in one of the industrial sewage sludge samples (404 and 543 mg kg −1 (d.w.), respectively). To our knowledge, this paper presents for the first time the determination of ten primary amines in sewage sludge samples using PHWE.

Automated determination of aliphatic primary amines in wastewater by simultaneous derivatization and headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

This paper presents a fully automated method for determining ten primary amines in wastewater at ng/L levels. The method is based on simultaneous derivatization with pentafluorobenzaldehyde (PFBAY) and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography coupled to ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (GC–IT-MS–MS). The influence of main factors on the efficiency of derivatization and of HS-SPME is described in detail and optimized by a central composite design. For all species, the highest enrichment factors were achieved using a 85 μm polyacrylate (PA) fiber exposed in the headspace of stirred water samples (750 rpm) at pH 12, containing 360 g/L of NaCl, at 40 °C for 15 min. Under optimized conditions, the proposed method achieved detection limits ranging from 10 to 100 ng/L (except for cyclohexylamine). The optimized method was then used to determine the presence of primary amines in various types of wastewater samples, such as influent and effluent wastewater from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and a potable water treatment plant. Although the analysis of these samples revealed the presence of up to 1500 μg/L of certain primary amines in influent industrial wastewater, the concentration of these compounds in the effluent and in municipal and potable water was substantially lower, at low μg/L levels. The new derivatization–HS-SPME–GC–IT-MS–MS method is suitable for the fast, reliable and inexpensive determination of primary amines in wastewater in an automated procedure.

Radioactivity evaluation of Ebro river water and sludge treated in a potable water treatment plant located in the South of Catalonia (Spain)

A potable water treatment plant with an average production rate of 4.3 m 3/s, providing several cities in the south of Catalonia (Spain) with drinking water, has been studied for a period of six years (2002–2007) regarding its capacity to remove several natural and anthropogenic radionuclides. First, gross alpha, gross beta and tritium activities were determined in ingoing and outgoing water samples. The values for all these parameters were below the Spanish normative limits established for waters for human consumption. For the sludge samples generated in the plant, we quantified some gamma emitting radioisotopes: natural ( 40K, 214Pb, etc.) and artificial ( 60Co, 110mAg, etc.) which may be related to the geological or/and industrial activities (such as a nuclear power plant) located upstream of the PWTP on the Ebro River. Finally, when the sludge samples were compared with those from other water treatment plants, the influence of the industrial activities on the radioisotopes found in the analysed samples was confirmed since the activity levels for some of the isotopes quantified were 10 times higher.