Natural organic matter and formation of trihalomethanes in two water treatment processes

The investigation involved the study of performance of two local plants' slightly different treatment processes for the removal of natural organic matter (NOM) which comprises trihalomethane (THM) precursors. Ultrafiltration separated the contained NOM into various apparent molecular weight (AMW) fractions to reveal the two processes NOM removal efficiencies, in terms of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), UV absorbance (UV254) and THM formation potential (THMFP). DOC and UV254 levels of source water at both plants tested low and they concentrated in the portion with AMW less than 3,000 Daltons. The combined expression of UV254 with DOC as specific ultraviolet light absorbance (SUVA) indicated that the source water of Macau had a value less than 3 L/mg-m. Therefore the main DOC content was fulvic in character, which is difficult to remove and favors the formation of brominated THMs. Low DOC removal percentages recorded in both processes confirm this observation. However, both processes showed similar removal efficiency of around 50% on humic substances and THM precursors quantified by measurements of UV254 and THMFP, respectively.