Removal and transformation of organic matter during soil-aquifer treatment

This study investigated the removal and transformation of organic matter through laboratory-scale soil-aquifer treatment (SAT) soil columns over a 110-day period. Reductions in total organic carbon (TOC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC), nonbiodegradable dissolved organic carbon (NBDOC) and absorbance of ul-traviolet light at 254 nm (UV-254) averaged 71.46%, 68.05%, 99.31%, 33.27% and 38.96% across the soil columns, respectively. DOC/TOC ratios increased slightly with depth while BDOC/DOC ratios showed a converse trend. DOC exiting the soil-column system contained only a very small biodegradable fraction. SAT decreased the concentration of DOC present in feed water but increased its aromaticity, as indicated by specific ultraviolet light absorbance (SUVA), which increased by 50%～115% across the soil columns, indicating preferential removal of non-aromatic DOC during SAT. Overall, laboratory-scale SAT reduced triha-lomethane formation potential (THMFP), although specific THMFP increased. THMFP reduction was dominated by removal in chloroform. All samples exhibited a common general relationship with respect to weight: chloroform>dichlorobromomethane >dibromochloromethane>bromoform.