The Effects of Ozonation, Biological Filtration and Distribution on the Concentration of Easily Assimilable Organic Carbon (AOC) in Drinking Water

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Abstract
The concentration of easily assimilable organic carbon (AOC) as determined with growth measurements using wo bacterial cultures, increased linearly with ozone dosage at values below 1 mg O3/mg of C. Moreover, a linear relationship was found between AOC increase and the decrease of UV absorbance of water after ozonation with various dosages. Biological filtration in water treatment reduced AOC concentrations, but the remaining values were above the AOC concentration before ozonation. This AOC removal was attended with an increased colony count in the filtrate. The AOC concentration of drinking water produced by the application of ozone in water treatment decreased during distribution. The greatest decrease was observed with the highest AOC concentration. Also in this situation, the highest colony counts were found. To date, ozonation is applied in seven water treatment plants in the Netherlands.