Effective removal of MIB and geosmin using MBBR for drinking water treatment

Katrin Doederer; Deb Gale; Jurg Keller

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2018.11.034

Effective removal of MIB and geosmin using MBBR for drinking water treatment

Water Res. 2019 Feb 1:149:440-447. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.11.034. Epub 2018 Nov 16.

Authors

Katrin Doederer¹, Deb Gale², Jurg Keller³

Affiliations

¹ The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, Level 4 Gehrman Building 60, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia. Electronic address: k.doederer@awmc.uq.edu.au.
² Seqwater, 117 Brisbane Street, Ipswich, QLD, 4305, Australia. Electronic address: deb.gale@seqwater.com.au.
³ The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, Level 4 Gehrman Building 60, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.

PMID: 30472546
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.11.034

Abstract

Biodegradation is an effective method for the removal of taste and odour (T&O) compounds from drinking water sources. In this study, the applicability of a moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) as biological treatment step for the control of MIB and geosmin was studied at pilot-scale. After a 3.5 month acclimation period both T&O compounds could be reliably removed by at least 80%. Biodegradation was found to be the dominant removal mechanism with air stripping contributing up to 25% at shorter HRTs. Also sorption of MIB and geosmin onto carriers and biofilm did occur, simultaneously facilitating the biodegradation process. The biodegradation of MIB and geosmin followed pseudo-first-order kinetics.

Keywords: Biodegradation; Drinking water; Geosmin; MBBR; MIB.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biofilms
Bioreactors
Camphanes
Naphthols
Water Pollutants, Chemical*
Water Purification*

Substances

Camphanes
Naphthols
Water Pollutants, Chemical
geosmin