Evaluating the Performance of Continuous Flow Biofilm Reactors for the Rapid Determination of Biodegradable Dissolved Organic Carbon in Drinking Water

This study was undertaken to evaluate the newly developed biofilm reactor for the measurement of biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) in drinking water. This method enables rapid BDOC determination which would be ideally suited for the dynamic measurement of treatment plant BDOC variations in cases where reactor performance is stable with changing water quality. The biofilm reactors were found to best operate at constant temperature (19–23 °C). BDOC performance was found to be unhindered in low substrate, oligotrophic waters. BDOC values obtained using a suspended-inoculum BDOC measurement technique correlated positively with biofilm reactor BDOC values, although significant scatter was observed.