EFFECT OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER IN TREATED WASTEWATER ON VIRUS ADSORPTION IN SOIL AQUIFER TREATMENT

Abstract

 The relationship between the characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in treated wastewater and viral adsorption to soil particle during soil aquifer treatment was evaluated. Firstly, batch adsorption experiments were conducted using three kinds of treated wastewater samples. Secondly, the characterization of DOM was performed by fractionating dissolved effluent organic matter into hydrophobic/hydrophilic subcomponents and two size fractions (with molecular weight cut off at 5000 Da), and then virus adsorption to sand was evaluated in the presence of each DOM fraction. The result indicated that DOM in all the tested wastewaters could inhibit virus adsorption and that hydrophobic and high molecular weight (> 5000 Da) fractions contributed to the inhibition of virus adsoption, suggesting the importance of DOM characteristcs on understanding the virus adsorption in soil aquifer treatment.