Spectroscopic and Chromatographic Characterization of Wastewater Organic Matter from a Biological Treatment Plant

Abstract

Spectroscopic and chromatographic changes in dissolved organic matter (DOM) characteristics of influent and treated sewage were investigated for a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) with a biological advanced process. Refractory DOM (R-DOM) was defined as the dissolved organic carbon concentrations of the samples after 28-day incubation for this study. Specific UV absorbance (SUVA), hydrophobicity, synchronous fluorescence spectra and molecular weight (MW) distributions were selected as DOM characteristics. The percent distribution of R-DOM for the effluent was much higher than that of the influent, indicating that biodegradable DOM was selectively removed during the process. Comparison of the influent versus the effluent sewage revealed that SUVA, fulvic-like fluorescence (FLF), humic-like fluorescence (HLF), the apparent MW values were enhanced during the treatment. This suggests that more aromatic and humic-like compounds were enriched during the biological process. No significant difference in the DOM characteristics was observed between the original effluent (i.e., prior to the incubation) and the influent sewage after the incubation. This result suggests that the major changes in wastewater DOM characteristics occurring during the biological advanced process were similar to those for simple microbial incubation.

Estimation of Biological Oxygen Demand and Chemical Oxygen Demand for Combined Sewer Systems Using Synchronous Fluorescence Spectra

“…Another peak was found at a wavelength of ∼375 nm, which is designated to HLF for this study. The two observed fluorescence features have been often reported for other sewage samples [9,11,16,17]. The prominent peak in the PLF region is known to be a representative fluorescence characteristic of sewage, serving to discriminate clean river water [18].…”

The effect of advanced secondary municipal wastewater treatment on the molecular composition of dissolved organic matter

“…For example, SUVA 254 is higher in secondary effluent compared to raw sewage or primary effluent (Barber et al, 2001; Park et al, 2010). Likewise, treatment plants with nitrification systems produce secondary effluent with higher SUVA 254 values compared to plants with poor or no nitrification (Krasner et al, 2009).…”

“…For example, effluent organic matter is generally considered to contain recalcitrant organic matter from drinking water sources (i.e., lignin-like compounds), synthetic organic compounds produced during domestic use and disinfection, and soluble microbial products from biological processes (e.g., proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids; Shon et al, 2006). In addition, primary effluent contains a mixture of biodegradable and recalcitrant organic matter derived from human and industrial waste (Park et al, 2010). In contrast, terrestrially-derived aquatic DOM is generally comprised primarily of lignin- and tannin-like compounds, with nearly all formulas with H:C < 1.5 (Hertkorn et al, 2008; Maizel and Remucal, 2017).…”

A fingerprint analysis method for characterization of dissolved organic matter in secondary effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plant

“…Each sector with specific color and pattern represents corresponding subfraction in total DOM of the sample corresponded to humic substances and extracellular substances (Levine et al 1985). Fractions with high MW were also suggested to be due to the microbial transformation of DOM during bio-treatment (Park et al 2010). Additionally, peaks with MW less than 3,000 Da, especially in those hydrophilic resin fractions, may be related to metabolic products, carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins, and chlorophyll according to a previous research (Shon et al 2006).…”