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Updated: Dec 27, 2025

A Novel Bioreactor for High Density Cultivation of Diverse Microbial Communities
Published on: December 25, 2015
Impact of backwash on biofiltration-related nitrogenous disinfection by-product formation
Fei Feng1, Liz Taylor-Edmonds1, Susan A Andrews1
1Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, 35 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A4, Canada.
Abstract:
Previous studies have reported that biofilm extracted from full-scale biofilters can serve as nitrogenous disinfection by-product (N-DBP) precursors. Detached biofilm materials could escape during filter ripening and form N-DBP upon chloramination. This study examined the potential breakthrough of biofilm and N-DBP precursors during filter ripening at two water treatment plants (WTPs). The presence of biofilm material in aqueous samples was estimated by total adenosine triphosphate (tATP) levels; N-DBP formation potential (FP) tests were conducted under uniform formation conditions to quantify N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and haloacetonitrile (HAN4) precursors. While tATP peaks in filter effluent were observed post backwash at both WTPs, temporary increases of effluent NDMA FP were only observed during filter ripening where particle-associated NDMA precursors served as the dominant contributor. Overall, biofilters examined in this study demonstrated a consistent removal of NDMA FP regardless of the filter ripening process.
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