Fate of geosmin and XXXX in full-scale water treatment plants.

@entity505 @entity5931 @entity38804
UNASSIGNED: The increasing frequency and intensity of taste and odour (T_O) producing cyanobacteria in water sources is a growing global issue. Geosmin and @entity38804 ( @entity5931 ) are the main cyanobacterial T_O compounds and can cause complaints from consumers at levels as low as 10  ng/L. However, literature concerning the performance of full-scale treatment processes for geosmin and @entity5931 removal is rare. Hence, the objectives of this study were to: 1) estimate the accumulation and breakthrough of geosmin and @entity5931 inside full-scale water treatment plants; 2) verify the potential impact of sludge recycling practice on performance of plants; and, 3) assess the effectiveness of aged GAC for the removal of these compounds. Sampling after full-scale treatment processes and GAC pilot assays were conducted to achieve these goals. Geosmin and @entity5931 monitoring in full-scale plants provided the opportunity to rank the performance of studied treatment processes with filtration and granular activated @entity505 providing the best barriers for removal of total and extracellular compounds, correspondingly. Geosmin was removed to a greater extent than @entity5931 using GAC. Geosmin and @entity5931 residuals in water post GAC contactors after two years of operation was 20% and 40% of initial concentrations, correspondingly. Biological activity on the GAC surface enhanced the removal of T_O compounds. These observations demonstrated that a multi-barrier treatment approach is required to ensure cyanobacteria and their T_O compounds are effectively removed from drinking water.
