Effect of ozonation on chemical, physical, and biological removal of natural organic matter in granular filters

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Many Canadian water facilities are unable to meet the regulations governing potentially carcinogenic disinfection by-products. The amount of organic carbon in the water affects the amount of by-products formed. Conventional water treatment plants use extensive amounts of chemicals to remove organic carbon from the water. Membrane filtration-based plants use chemical pre-treatments to reduce membrane fouling caused by organic compounds. Chemical costs represent about 50% of the total operating cost of a conventional lime/soda softening plant. Additionally, filters exposed to organic-rich water require frequent cleaning or replacement, and many communities simply cannot afford it.This project is part of a global strategy to improve water quality by investigating mechanisms of removal of organic carbon by granular filtration. Ozone is incorporated into the filtration process to improve organics removal. However, even with ozone addition, the effectiveness of organics removal by filtration is low. The proposed work will investigate the effects of water oxidation with ozone prior to granular filtration on the removal of organic carbon. I will address this objective by investigating mechanisms of organic carbon attachment to the filter media and conditions required to achieve biodegradation of this carbon.Biological processes, that utilize local microbial communities and require little or no chemical amendments, offer a cheaper approach to water treatment for communities of all sizes. This work will provide insight on optimized operation and maintenance of biological filters that will benefit our industrial partner, the Portage la Prairie water treatment plant. The other partner (Consulting industry AECOM), will be able to offer strategies for organic carbon removal to other water plants with a similar problem.Two Ph.D. students will be trained during this research. These students will obtain a unique set of skills in applications biological filtration for production of drinking water, which are urgently needed by the Canadian water treatment industry.