Decreased natural organic matter in water distribution decreases nitrite formation in non-disinfected conditions, via enhanced nitrite oxidation
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Rantanen, Pirjo LiisaEditorial
Elsevier
Materia
Nitrite Nitrification Natural organic matter Water distribution systems Non-disinfected conditions
Date
2020-09-30Referencia bibliográfica
Rantanen, P. L., Keinänen-Toivola, M. M., Ahonen, M., González-Martínez, A., Mellin, I., & Vahala, R. (2020). Decreased natural organic matter in water distribution decreases nitrite formation in non-disinfected conditions, via enhanced nitrite oxidation. Water research X, 9, 100069. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wroa.2020.100069]
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Maa- ja vesitekniikan tuki ry. 33297 35211 390668Abstract
Nitrite in drinking water is a potentially harmful substance for humans, and controlling nitrite formation
in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) is highly important. The effect of natural organic matter
(NOM) on the formation of nitrite in simulated distribution systems was studied. The objective was to
inspect how a reduced NOM concentration affected nitrite development via nitrification, separated from
the effects of disinfection. We observed that nitrite formation was noticeably sensitive to the changes in
the NOM concentrations. Nitrite declined with reduced NOM (TOC 1.0 mg L-1) but increased with the
normal NOM concentration of tap water (TOC 1.6 mg L-1). Ammonium oxidation was not altered by the
reduced NOM, however, nitrite oxidation was enhanced significantly according to the pseudo-first order
reaction rate model interpretation. The enhanced nitrite oxidation was observed with both ammonium
and nitrite as the initial nitrogen source. The theoretical maximum nitrite concentrations were higher
with the normal concentration of NOM than with reduced NOM. The results suggest that the role of
nitrite oxidation may be quite important in nitrite formation in DWDSs and worth further studies. As a
practical result, our study supported enhanced NOM removal in non-disinfected DWDSs.