Removal of dissolved organic carbon in filtered water complemented with treatment by pre-oxidation with ozone and adsorption on activated carbon

The objective of this study was to evaluate the removal of dissolved organic carbon in filtered water followed by pre-oxidation with ozone and adsorption on granular activated carbon. The rapid small-scale column test was used for the adsorption essays with activated carbon produced from coconut shells. A comparison was made between the breakthrough curves for tests performed with and without pre-oxidation with ozone. The results showed reductions in dissolved organic carbon concentrations after initial passage of water with and without ozone through the rapid small-scale column test column, followed by progressive increases in concentrations along with the number of the bed volumes. In the final phase of the tests, increases in bed volumes did not cause significative changes in effluent dissolved organic carbon concentrations. The same behavior was also observed with respect to ultra-violet absorbance at 254 nm. The use of ozone prior to adsorption on GAC, using the ERC ER method, caused greater reductions on UV, 4 absorbance than in concentrations of dissolved organic carbon. The specific ultraviolet absorbance values of samples that received ozone were lower than those that were not ozonized.