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The presence of taste and odors in drinking water is an increasingly frequent problem for waterutilities across Canada, the United States and the world. The earthy/musty odors produced bygeosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) are one of the most problematic types of taste and odors.Both compounds are resistant to chemical oxidation and are difficult to remove by conventionalwater treatment methods. Ozonation followed by biological filtration may offer an alternativemeans of effective removal. In this research, bench scale experiments were conducted using fourparallel filter columns containing biologically active anthracite and granular activated carbon(GAC) media and sand. The factors under investigation were temperature and media type. Sourcewater consisted of dechlorinated tap water to which geosmin and MIB were added as well as acocktail of easily biodegradable organic matter (i.e. typical ozonation byproducts) in order tosimulate water that had been subjected to ozonation prior to filtration. The results indicated thatboth temperature and media (GAC vs. anthracite) were important factors. Temperature had asignificant effect on geosmin removals, especially in GAC filters. A decrease in temperature from20oC to 8oC resulted in a decrease in removals as high as 37 percentage points. Media had asignificant effect on geosmin and MIB removals at both 20oC and 8oC. The difference in geosminremovals between the two types of filters was much greater at 20oC (e.g. geosmin removalsreached a maximum of 30 percentage points higher in GAC filters than in anthracite filters). Thedifferences in MIB removals between the two types of filters was quite similar at bothtemperatures. Includes 20 references, table, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 11/02/2003 Number of Pages: 11File Size: 1 file , 320 KB