Effect of Ozone and GAC Process for the Treatment of Micropollutants and DBPs Control in Drinking Water: Pilot Scale Evaluation

To improve the quality of water supplied to the City of Seoul in Korea, a pilot-scale evaluation of how the conventional treatment process could be upgraded was conducted. Three candidate processes were evaluated and compared: a conventional process (consisting of coagulation, sedimentation, and rapid sand filtration) plus GAC (Train A); a conventional process plus ozone and GAC (Train B); and a process consisting of coagulation, sedimentation, intermediate ozone, sand filtration, and GAC (Train C). Treatment efficiency of the unit process and overall treatment trains were evaluated using several parameters such as turbidity, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), UV absorbance at 254 nm (UV₂₅₄), specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA), micropollutants (pesticides, benzenes, and phenols), disinfection by-products (trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs) and aldehydes), and total organic halogen (TOX). Results showed that ozone and/or GAC was effective for removing micropollutants and controlling chlorinated by-products such as THMs and HAAs. However, any synergistic effect of ozonation (adsorption and biodegradation) on GAC was observed due to the low concentration of aldehydes in raw and process water.