Integrated Filtration Systems for the Treatment of Algae Impacted Waters

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Increasing contaminant loads to the environment and recent warmer and longer summers/fall seasons are affecting the concentration and composition Natural Organic Mater (NOM), especially in algae impacted raw water sources. NOM is of importance because it can lead to the formation of Disinfection By-Products (DBPs) of concern and can negatively impact the performance of water treatment processes. Some algae derived NOM can also lead to taste, odor and toxicity problems. Combined with increasing water demands, these stressors have forced many communities to increasing rely on water sources that are of poorer quality and/or located remotely. Although it is possible with 'advanced' technologies to produce and convey high quality drinking water to consumers from these sources, the cost of doing so is as much as 20 times more than that from pristine/local sources. Therefore for many Canadian communities, especially for small and remote communities that do not have the financial and technical resources to implement the needed technologies, it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide high quality drinking water. This is of particular importance in Canada where water systems in small and remote communities account for over 75% of all water entities. The overall objective of the research program is to enable Canadian communities to provide high quality drinking water to consumers from algae impacted raw waters. Three intermediate objectives are proposed to address the overall research objective: 1) characterize NOM in algae impacted waters, 2) assess the fate and biodegradation of NOM in algae impacted waters, and 3) develop a simple approach to treat water from algae impacted sources.