The Drinking Water Taste and Odor Wheel for the Millennium: Beyond Geosmin and 2-Methylisoborneol

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

et al. 2013

A comprehensive investigation into the occurrence of odor problem at 111 drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) in major cities across China was undertaken using both flavor profile analysis (FPA) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Eighty percent of source water samples exhibited odor problems, characterized by earthy/musty (41%) and swampy/septic (36%) odors, while the occurrence rate was lower (45%) in the finished water. Source water from rivers exhibited more pollution-origin odors, such as the swampy/septic odor, while that from lakes and reservoirs exhibited more algaeorigin odors, such as earthy/musty odors. The occurrence rate of 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) in the surface source water samples was 75%, with 7% of samples containing 2-MIB concentrations of over 10 ng$L -1 . The earthy/musty odor in the lake/reservoir water samples was mainly caused by 2-MIB (linear regression coefficient, R 2 = 0.69), while the correlation between 2-MIB concentration and the earthy/musty odor intensity in the river-source water samples was weak (R 2 = 0.35). These results will be useful for the management of odor-quality problems in drinking water of China.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The odor problems in drinking water have now been categorized into eight groups according to the odor profile. The earthy/musty, swampy/septic and fishy odors are the most frequently encountered odor category in drinking water industry [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence of odor problems in drinking water of major cities across China

Sun

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

et al. 2013

“…For example, twenty odorants of eight categories with 2e3 orders of magnitude difference in odor threshold concentrations (OTCs) have been detected with a wide range of differences in concentration levels in Huangpu (HP) River source water in a water quality survey (Guo et al, 2015). Therefore, most odor events in drinking waters have been caused by multiple odorants (Khiari et al, 1995;Suffet et al, 1999). However, studies to explore the effectiveness of the O 3 -BAC process in the mitigation of odors in source waters containing widely varying OTCs and concentration levels are still very limited (Srinivasan and Sorial, 2011;Antonopoulou et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simultaneous removal of multiple odorants from source water suffering from septic and musty odors: Verification in a full-scale water treatment plant with ozonation

Guo

et al. 2016

Water Research

a b s t r a c tOzonation is known to be very effective in the removal of odorants from source water. However, it is not known if ozonation is effective in the removal of multiple odorants causing different types of odors. In this study, the removal performance for odors and odorants were evaluated in a Water Treatment Plant (WTP), which was equipped with coagulation, sedimentation, ozonation, biological activated carbon (BAC) filtration, sand filtration, and chlorination in succession and located in the downstream of the Huangpu (HP) River, over the period from April, 2014 to April, 2015. Flavor profile analysis (FPA) results showed that the source water was constantly associated with septic and musty odors. Geosmin and 2-MIB, with an average OAV of 4.54 and 1.38, respectively, were the major odorants for musty odor, while bis(2-chloroisopropyl) ether, DEDS and DMDS with an average OAV of 2.35, 1.65 and 0.78, respectively, might be responsible for the septic odor. While the musty odor could be removed effectively through the combination of ozonation and BAC, the septic odor and associated odorants required further treatment with sand filtration and chlorination for complete removal. It is clear that the advanced treatment process was effective for the treatment of source water containing complicated odorants. It should be noted that the sedimentation process needs careful management because release of odorants may occur during the treatment. The result of this study will be helpful for the mitigation of odors in WTP using source waters suffering from complicated odor problems.

“…Odor problems have been a major concern for drinking water in many countries (Vaughn, 1967;Suffet et al, 1999;Yang et al, 2008). Among different types of odors, septic and musty/earthy odors are the ones most frequently reported worldwide Watson, 2004;Yang et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of complex septic odorants in Huangpu River source water by combining the data from gas chromatography-olfactometry and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography using retention indices

Guo

Science of The Total Environment

Wen

et al. 2016

Identification of the trace odorants causing the septic odors in source waters with complex matrixes has long been a big challenge. The Huangpu (HP) River, an important source water for Shanghai, has long been suffering from septic and musty odors, although major odorants have not been identified. In this study, combining the data from gas chromatography-olfactometry with mass spectrometry (GC-O/MS) and comprehensive twodimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-TOFMS) using retention indices (RIs) was used for the identification of odorants in HP source water. Olfactometry peaks detected in water extracts by GC-O/MS were combined with the chromatography peaks detected by GC × GC-TOFMS based on the RIs determined using the retention times (RTs) of alkanes C7-C30. A total of thirteen olfactometry peaks were obtained though GC-O/MS analysis, and potential odorants corresponding to each of the olfactometry peaks were screened based on the odor characteristics and match similarity using GC × GC-TOFMS. Finally, fourteen odorants (one odorant was detected in GC × GC-TOFMS without an olfactometry peak), including three septic odorants (bis(2-chloroisopropyl) ether, diethyl disulfide and dimethyl disulfide) and two musty ones (geosmin and 2-MIB), were confirmed by using authentic standards. The septic and musty odorants in six Contents lists available at ScienceDirectScience of the Total Environment j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / s c i t o t e n v source water samples taken over a period of six months were quantified. Bis(2-chloroisopropyl) ether, with an odor activity value (OAV) of 1.84-3.2, was found to be a major septic odorant in HP source water, followed by diethyl disulfide (OAV 1.56-1.96) and dimethyl disulfide (OAV 0.37-2.42), while geosmin (OAV 4.37-11.44) was the major musty odorant, followed by 2-MIB (OAV 1.13-1.89). This is the first comprehensive study focusing on the identification of odorants in a complex source water. The integrated approach used in this study could be applied for the identification of odorants in other complex source waters suffering similar odor problems.