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Ammonia is a precursor to trichloramine, which causes an undesirable chlorinous odor. Granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration is used to biologically oxidize ammonia during drinking water purification; however, little information is available regarding the abundance and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) associated with GAC. In addition, their sources and fates in water purification process remain unknown. In this study, six GAC samples were collected from five full-scale drinking water purification plants in Tokyo during summer and winter, and the abundance and community structure of AOA and AOB associated with GAC were studied in these two seasons. In summer, archaeal and bacterial amoA genes on GACs were present at 3.7 × 10-3.9 × 10 gene copies/g-dry and 4.5 × 10-4.2 × 10 gene copies/g-dry, respectively. In winter, archaeal amoA genes remained at the same level, while bacterial amoA genes decreased significantly for all GACs. No differences were observed in the community diversity of AOA and AOB from summer to winter. Phylogenetic analysis revealed high AOA diversity in group I.1a and group I.1b in raw water. Terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of processed water samples revealed that AOA diversity decreased dramatically to only two OTUs in group I.1a after ozonation, which were identical to those detected on GAC. It suggests that ozonation plays an important role in determining AOA diversity on GAC. Further study on the cell-specific activity of AOA and AOB is necessary to understand their contributions to in situ nitrification performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of different placements of rapid sand filtration on nitrification performance of BAC treatment in a pilot-scale plant were evaluated. In this plant, rapid sand filtration was placed after ozonation-BAC treatment in Process (A), while it preceded ozonation-BAC treatment in Process (B). Analysis of amoA genes of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) combined with nitrification potential test was conducted. BAC from Process (A) demonstrated slightly higher nitrification potential at every sampling occasion. This might be due to higher abundances of AOB on BAC from Process (A) than those on BAC from Process (B). However, AOA rather than AOB could be predominant ammonia-oxidizers in BAC treatment regardless of the position of rapid sand filtration. The highest nitrification potential was observed for BAC from both processes in February when the highest abundances of AOA-amoA and AOB-amoA genes were detected. Since rapid sand filtration was placed after BAC treatment in Process (A), residual aluminum concentration in BAC influent was higher in Process (A). However, adverse effects of aluminum on nitrification activity were not observed. These results suggest that factors other than aluminum concentration in different treatment processes could possibly have some influence on abundances of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms on BAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous carbons are well-known efficient adsorbents for a variety of organic and inorganic pollutants; however, they have difficulty in virus removal. In this study, novel porous carbons (NPCs) (NPC-A, NPC-B, and NPC-C) derived from rice husks were compared with commercially available activated carbons (ACs) for their ability to remove MS2 bacteriophages (MS2) in a batch experiment. NPC-A was produced by the silica removal process. NPC-B was prepared with an additional steam activation applied to NPC-A. NPC-C was obtained with an additional acid rinse applied to NPC-B. The NPCs (particularly NPC-C) exhibited effective removal of up to 5.3 log10 of MS2, which was greater than that of less than 2.7 log10 obtained by other ACs under 10 g/L during the same contact time (60 min). The pore size distribution of the porous carbon adsorbents was found to influence their virus removal performance. The adsorbents with a larger proportion of pores ranging from 200–4500 nm in diameter were able to achieve higher virus removal rates. Thus, NPCs (particularly NPC-C), which had a larger volume of pores ranging from 200–4500 nm in size, demonstrated the potential for use as efficient adsorbents for removing viruses during water purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Granular activated carbon (GAC) has been widely introduced to advanced drinking water purification plants to remove organic matter and ammonium. Backwashing, which is the routine practice for GAC maintenance, is an important operational factor influencing the performance of GAC and its microbial biomass. In this study, the effects of backwashing on the ammonium removal potential of GAC were evaluated. In addition, abundances of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) on GAC were analyzed. GAC samples before and after backwashing were collected from a full-scale drinking water purification plant. Samplings were conducted before and after implementation of prechlorination of raw water. The results showed that the ammonium removal potential of the GAC increased by 12% after backwashing before prechlorination (p < 0.01). After implementing the prechlorination, the ammonium removal potential of the GAC decreased by 12% even after backwashing (p < 0.01). The AOA was predominant on the GAC in the two samplings. Regardless of prechlorination, the amounts of the AOA and the AOB remained at the same level before and after backwashing. Analysis of the backwashing water indicated that the amounts of the AOA and AOB washed out from the GAC were negligible (0.08%–0.26%) compared with their original amounts on the GAC. These results revealed the marginal role of backwashing on the biomass of ammonia oxidizers on GAC. However, the results also revealed that backwashing could have a negative impact on the ammonium removal potential of GAC during prechlorination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nitrification is an important biological function of granular activated carbon (GAC) used in advanced drinking water purification processes. Newly discovered ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) have challenged the traditional understanding of ammonia oxidation, which considered ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) as the sole ammonia-oxidizers. Previous studies demonstrated the predominance of AOA on GAC, but the contributions of AOA and AOB to ammonia oxidation remain unclear. In the present study, DNA-stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) was used to investigate the autotrophic growth of AOA and AOB associated with GAC at two different ammonium concentrations (0.14 mg N/L and 1.4 mg N/L). GAC samples collected from three full-scale drinking water purification plants in Tokyo, Japan, had different abundance of AOA and AOB. These samples were fed continuously with ammonium and 13C-bicarbonate for 14 days. The DNA-SIP analysis demonstrated that only AOA assimilated 13C-bicarbonate at low ammonium concentration, whereas AOA and AOB exhibited autotrophic growth at high ammonium concentration. This indicates that a lower ammonium concentration is preferable for AOA growth. Since AOA could not grow without ammonium, their autotrophic growth was coupled with ammonia oxidation. Overall, our results point towards an important role of AOA in nitrification in GAC filters treating low concentration of ammonium. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Ozonation followed by granular activated carbon (GAC) is one of the advanced drinking water treatments. During GAC treatment, ammonia can be oxidized by ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms associated with GAC. However, there is little information on the abundance and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms on GAC. In this study, the nitrification activity of GAC and the settlement of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) in GAC were monitored at a new full-scale advanced drinking water treatment plant in Japan for 1 year after plant start-up. Prechlorination was implemented at the receiving well for the first 10 months of operation to treat ammonia in raw water. During this prechlorination period, levels of both AOA and AOB associated with GAC were below the quantification limit. After prechlorination was stopped, 105 copies g-dry−1 of AOA amoA genes were detected within 3 weeks and the quantities ultimately reached 106–107 copies g-dry−1, while levels of AOB amoA genes still remained below the quantification limit. This observation indicates that AOA can settle in GAC rapidly without prechlorination. The nitrification activity of GAC increased concurrently with the settlement of AOA after prechlorination was stopped. Estimation of in situ cell-specific ammonia-oxidation activity for AOA on the assumption that only AOA and AOB determined can contribute to nitrification suggests that AOA may account for most of the ammonia-oxidation. However, further validation on AOB contribution is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image 1 • Orbitrap MS explores BOM compositions in drinking water. • BOM compositions in ozonated water and finished water differ. • Chlorine disinfection generates residual BOM in drinking water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]