Organic Chemistry: Current Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0401
+44 1478 350008
ISSN: 2161-0401
+44 1478 350008
Cheryl Bertelkamp
Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Ghent University, Belgium
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Organic Chem Curr Res
River bank filtration (RBF) in The Netherlands was originally designed for the removal of parameters such as viruses, bacteria, and natural organic matter. Since the discovery of Organic Micropollutants (OMPs; pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial waste products) in Dutch surface waters, questions have been raised about the capability of RBF systems to remove OMPs. Microbial communities present in RBF soils are responsible for OMP biodegradation and the activity of composition of this community which is influenced by the quantity and quality of organic carbon in the feed water. However, for RBF very few studies have investigated the effect of these parameters on OMP removal. This study investigated the effect of different organic carbon fractions in the feed water on the microbial community composition and accompanying OMP removal (firstorder degradation rates). In addition, the effect of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and OMP shock-loads was investigated and it was observed that four different organic carbon fractions fed to soil columns did not show any signficiant differences in microbial population and OMP removal. A DOC shock-load did not affect OMP removal, but an OMP shock-load resulted in an increased OMP biodegradation rate for the hydrophilic and river water organic carbon. These results show that RBF systems are resilient towards differences in organic carbon fractions in the feed water and not negatively impacted by temporarily DOC and OMP shock-loads.
Email: cherylbertelkamp@hotmail.com