A comparison of trichloromethane formation from two algae species during two pre-oxidation-coagulation-chlorination processes

Microcystis aeruginosa ( M. aeruginosa ) commonly blooms in summer while Cyclotella meneghiniana ( C. meneghiniana ) outbreaks in fall in water reservoirs of Southeast China. Pre-oxidation has been demonstrated to enhance the algae removal from chemical coagulation processes. However, excessive dosage of pre-oxidant can increase the disinfection by-products formation potential (DBPsFP). Additionally, the DBPs formation mechanisms from algae during the pre-oxidation-coagulation-chlorination processes have not well elucidated. In this study, the objectives were to investigate the trichloromethane (TCM) formation, the changes of water quality indexes, and the morphology changes of algal cells from M. aeruginosa or C. meneghiniana contaminated water during potassium permanganate (KMnO 4 ) or chlorine (Cl 2 ) pre-oxidation-coagulation-chlorination disinfection. The results showed that the TCM yield for two algal species decreased with the dosage increase of KMnO 4 pre-oxidation, but increased with the dosage increase of pre-chlorination. Therefore, the 2.0 mg/L KMnO 4 or 0.5 mg/L Cl 2 was proposed as the optimal dosage for preventing both M. aeruginosa blooms in summer and for C. meneghiniana outbreaks in fall. M. aeruginosa exhibited a slightly higher TCM yield than C. meneghiniana in these treatment processes. Based on the release of potassium (K) ion and SEM analysis, KMnO 4 had less damage on cell integrity than Cl 2 at the dosage ≤2.0 mg/L. In addition, C. meneghiniana was easier to be disrupted by both pre-oxidants than M. aeruginosa , combining with subsequent coagulation led to different value of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), UV–visible absorbance (UV 254 ) and turbidity .