[Investigation of the microbial diversity and structure of biological activated carbon from different sources in...

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technology was used to investigate the microbial diversity and structure of biological activated carbon (BAC) from different sources in drinking water advanced treatment process. Diversity indices of samples A, B and C, with relatively high tannic acid and humic acid adsorption capacity, were close to each other, which meant higher microbial diversity. However, samples D and E had relatively lower diversity indices with the low tannic acid and humic acid adsorption capacity. There were five species including β-Proteobacteria, α-Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, γ-Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes in the phylogenetic tree of BAC samples. Among them, β-Proteobacteria and α-Proteobacteria were the dominant microbial species in these BAC samples, which played an important role in organic matter removal. Planctomycetes, γ-Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes were the non-dominant microbial species. Bacteroidetes only existed in samples A, B, C and D, while did not occur in sample E. The BAC samples with the higher tannic acid and humic acid adsorption capacity had higher microbial diversity. This research should deepen the understanding of microbial community in BAC, and provide a theoretical basis for the safety of drinking water.