FORMATION AND REMOVAL OF ASSIMILABLE ORGANIC-CARBON DURING BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT

Within the last few years techniques have been developed to measure the easily biodegradable organic material in drinking water. One way of expressing these measurements is as concentration of assimilable organic carbon (AOC). This article presents data obtained in a pilot-plant study of biological treatment in Edmonton, Alta., using the van der Kooij AOC method. Expected increases in AOC concentrations were seen following ozonation, but some inhibition was also observed. In the dual-media filters, lower hydraulic loading led to better AOC removals. AOC levels were generally quite low following granular activated carbon treatment. In the absence of broadly accepted criteria for AOC in finished water, several criteria were proposed and used to evaluate plant performance.