The Impact of the Character of Natural Organic Matter in Conventional Treatment with Alum

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine if the removal of NOM in reservoir waters in conventional treatment with alum is limited by the character of the NOM. A sequential jar test procedure, which included five treatment steps was employed to study the character of the NOM which could not be removed by flocculation/sedimentation. The NOM in the raw and treated waters was characterised by techniques including dissolved organic carbon (DOC), UV absorbance (UVA), high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) and diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFT). HPSEC analysis of the reservoir waters from three sources indicated that the organic fraction remaining after alum treatment was of lower molecular weight than that in the original raw waters. Pyrolysis of freeze dried material (FDM) from one raw water source (Hope Valley Reservoir) and following treatment with a high alum dose at pH 5 (coagulated and non coagulated material) gave by-products that indicated the presence of proteins, polyhydroxyaromatics and polysaccharides.