Pre-chlorination contact time and the removal and control of Microcystis aeroginosa in coagulation

The use of pre-oxidation is known to improve algae removal by coagulation and control the growth of algae. The contact time between oxidants and algae in pre-oxidation stage has been found as important parameter. This study investigated the effect of pre-chlorination contact time on the control and removal of cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa by coagulation. The results showed that when the alum dose was sufficient, increasing contact time showed an improvement in algae removal by coagulation in case of high chlorine dose. The algae removal ratio at high chlorine dose, 3 mg L-1 increased when contact time increased and it decreased after 30 minutes of contact time. In contrast, the result from chlorine dose, 2 mg L-1, showed an unclear trend when contact time increased. Adding 2 mg L-1 of pre-chlorination with 10 minutes of contact time was enough to control the regrowth of M. aeruginosa. In addition, dissolve organic carbon (DOC) and UV absorbance at 254 nm, which particulary indicates aromatic compounds, tended to increase when the contact time increased. The increased of DOC and UV 254 indicated the release of intracellular organic matter (IOM) from M. aeruginosa. High level of DOC, 0.68 mg L-1 in this study showed negative effect on M. aeruginosa removal by coagulation and could not be removed by coagulation process.