Effect of biofilm, temperature and type of source water on the formation of haloanisoles in a pilot drinking water distribution system

IF 11.4 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL

Water Research Pub Date : 2025-06-22 DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2025.124078

Zoë Mol, Fien Waegenaar, Thomas Pluym, Pieter Vermeir, Herman Van Langenhove, Bart De Gusseme, Nico Boon, Christophe Walgraeve, Kristof Demeestere

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Abstract

Taste and odor deviations in tap water affect many consumers and cause a preference for bottled water. However, since tap water is more sustainable than bottled water, these issues should be solved and prevented rapidly. Haloanisoles (HAs) have a very low odor threshold concentration (sub ng.L^-1) and are of considerable concern since they are mainly formed in drinking water distribution systems (DWDS). Understanding their formation and influencing factors is a crucial aspect of addressing these odor problems. Therefore, this study uses a DWDS pilot to closely mimic the complex situation in real DWDS and investigates the (microbial) formation of six HAs regarding biofilm cell density and composition, temperature, and type of source water. Ten to thirty times higher formation was observed when a stable biofilm (5 months, 10 times more biomass) was present, compared to a young biofilm (2 weeks). With a spiked halophenol (HP) concentration of 0.1 mg.L^-1, the HA concentrations produced by a young biofilm were already within the OTC range. The mature biofilm contained a higher variety of HA-producing microorganisms and more O-methyltransferase genes to convert the precursors (HPs) into HAs. Higher temperatures (24°C instead of 16°C) increased the formation of each HA by a factor of 2 to 4, although still low HP-HA conversion ratios were observed (0.2%). Regardless of the temperature and the type of source water, a clear pattern is observed in the type of HAs formed, with 2,3,4-trichloroanisole being the most abundant. This study finally investigated the effectiveness of flushing to mitigate these odorous compounds in DWDS and concludes that their partitioning between the biofilm and water phase affects the performance of flushing procedures.

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中试饮用水分配系统中生物膜、温度和水源类型对氟虫腈形成的影响

自来水的味道和气味偏差影响了许多消费者，导致他们偏爱瓶装水。然而，由于自来水比瓶装水更具可持续性，这些问题应该迅速得到解决和预防。卤苯醚（HAs）具有非常低的气味阈值浓度（sub . l -1），由于它们主要形成于饮用水分配系统（DWDS）中，因此引起了相当大的关注。了解它们的形成和影响因素是解决这些气味问题的关键方面。因此，本研究采用DWDS试点，密切模拟真实DWDS中的复杂情况，研究六种HAs在生物膜细胞密度和组成、温度、水源水类型等方面的（微生物）形成。当一个稳定的生物膜（5个月，10倍的生物量）存在时，观察到的形成比一个年轻的生物膜（2周）高10到30倍。加标氟氯酚（HP）浓度为0.1 mg。L-1时，年轻生物膜产生的HA浓度已经在OTC范围内。成熟的生物膜含有更多种类的ha产生微生物和更多的o -甲基转移酶基因来将前体（hp）转化为ha。较高的温度（24°C而不是16°C）使每种HA的形成增加了2到4倍，尽管观察到的HP-HA转化率仍然很低（0.2%）。无论温度和水源的类型如何，在形成的HAs类型中可以观察到一个清晰的模式，其中2,3,4-三氯苯甲醚含量最多。本研究最终调查了冲洗对减轻DWDS中这些恶臭化合物的有效性，并得出结论，它们在生物膜和水相之间的分配影响冲洗过程的性能。

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来源期刊

Water Research 环境科学-工程：环境

CiteScore

20.80

自引率

9.40%

发文量

1307

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Water Research, along with its open access companion journal Water Research X, serves as a platform for publishing original research papers covering various aspects of the science and technology related to the anthropogenic water cycle, water quality, and its management worldwide. The audience targeted by the journal comprises biologists, chemical engineers, chemists, civil engineers, environmental engineers, limnologists, and microbiologists. The scope of the journal include: •Treatment processes for water and wastewaters (municipal, agricultural, industrial, and on-site treatment), including resource recovery and residuals management; •Urban hydrology including sewer systems, stormwater management, and green infrastructure; •Drinking water treatment and distribution; •Potable and non-potable water reuse; •Sanitation, public health, and risk assessment; •Anaerobic digestion, solid and hazardous waste management, including source characterization and the effects and control of leachates and gaseous emissions; •Contaminants (chemical, microbial, anthropogenic particles such as nanoparticles or microplastics) and related water quality sensing, monitoring, fate, and assessment; •Anthropogenic impacts on inland, tidal, coastal and urban waters, focusing on surface and ground waters, and point and non-point sources of pollution; •Environmental restoration, linked to surface water, groundwater and groundwater remediation; •Analysis of the interfaces between sediments and water, and between water and atmosphere, focusing specifically on anthropogenic impacts; •Mathematical modelling, systems analysis, machine learning, and beneficial use of big data related to the anthropogenic water cycle; •Socio-economic, policy, and regulations studies.