Removal of Natural Organic Matter from Groundwater Using Advanced Oxidation Processes at a Pilot Scale Drinking Water Treatment Plant in the Central Banat Region (Serbia)

Abstract

To improve water quality, a pilot-scale evaluation into upgrading the conventional treatment process was conducted. By following DOC content, UV254 absorbance, SUVA and by-products formation, three oxidative pre-treatments were evaluated: pre-ozonation (2.2 g O3/m3); O3/H2O2 process (2.2 g O3/m3; H2O2:O3 = 1:2) and O3/H2O2 process (2.2 g O3/m3; H2O2:O3 = 2:1). The second pre-treatment gave the best results, with a final average DOC content of 0.9 mg C/L, UV254 absorbance of 0.06 cm−1 and the lowest THMFP of 130 μg/L. UV254 absorbance can serve as a proper indicator for predicting THM and HAA formation, yielding a correlation coefficient ≥ 0.90.