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An improved biofilter to control the dissolved organic nitrogen concentration during drinking water treatment

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Abstract

Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) is a key precursor of numerous disinfection by-products (DBPs), especially nitrogenous DBPs (N-DBPs) formed during disinfection in drinking water treatment. To effectively control DBPs, reduction of the DON concentration before the disinfection process is critical. Traditional biofilters can increase the DON concentration in the effluent, so an improved biofilter is needed. In this study, an improved biofilter was set up with two-layer columns using activated carbon and quartz sand under different influent patterns. Compared with the single-layer filter, the two-layer biofilter controlled the DON concentration more efficiently. The two-point influent biofilter controlled the DON concentration more effectively than the single-point influent biofilter. The improved biofilter resulted in an environment (including matrix, DO, and pH) suitable for microbial growth. Along the depth of the biofilter column, the environment affected the microbial biomass and microbial activity and thus affected the DON concentration.

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Acknowledgments

This work was support by the Natural Science Foundation of China (51308498, 50678080), the National High-Tech R&D(863) Program of China (2012AA062607), Ningbo Natural Science Foundation (2014A610097, 2014A610093), Scientific Technological and Social Development Projects of Ningbo (2014C50008, 2014C50007), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation (LQ14E090003), and China Spark Program (2015GA701047, 2014GA701006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ningbo Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University, 1 Qianhu South Road, Ningbo, China

    Huining Zhang, Huihui Gan, Kefeng Zhang & Huixia Jin

  2. Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, China

    Huining Zhang & Xin Yu

  3. College of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazhengjie, Chongqing, China

    Li Gu

  4. Xinyang Normal University, No. 237 Nanhu Road, Xinyang, China

    Bing Liu

Authors
  1. Huining Zhang
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  2. Li Gu
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  3. Bing Liu
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  4. Huihui Gan
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  5. Kefeng Zhang
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  6. Huixia Jin
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  7. Xin Yu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xin Yu.

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Responsible editor: Angeles Blanco

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Zhang, H., Gu, L., Liu, B. et al. An improved biofilter to control the dissolved organic nitrogen concentration during drinking water treatment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 18137–18144 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6847-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6847-2

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