New threats to the safety of drinking water by natural organic matter
Bing Tang
Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control and School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Bing Tang, Prof. Dr. in field of Environemntal Engineering. He graduated from South China University of Technology and got Ph. D in 1998, now works as a Professor in Guangdong University of Technology, whose research interests focus on water pollution control, mass transfer of non-Newtonian fluid and new techniques in water and wastewater treatment. In the past ten years, Dr. Bing Tang involved in these several fields including water and wastewater treatment, disposal of sewage sludge, sludge rheology.
Abstract
Most of the organics contained in dead plants and animals are very easily degraded by microorganisms in natural world. However, some of the organics are non-degradable, and they eventually dissolve in water to form a kind of... [ view full abstract ]
Most of the organics contained in dead plants and animals are very easily degraded by microorganisms in natural world. However, some of the organics are non-degradable, and they eventually dissolve in water to form a kind of biorefractory organic compounds, which is called natural organic matter (NOM) and is found in all surface, ground and soil waters. The concentration and characteristics of NOM not only differ with climate and region, but also vary with other factors (such as the emission from the adjacent residential area). For numerous reasons from both natural world and human society, the types and characteristics of NOM have changed profoundly and exhibited an increasingly complex trend in the past decades. The reasons leading to the changes of NOM in its chemical composition and amount are quite complex, and cause considerable difficulties in recognizing its characteristic and designing a suitable process to achieve effective purification to the contained NOM. These issues have brought about great challenges to the traditional methods to characterize and purify these complex compounds, including: (1) accurate and convenient methods to measure and characterize the type and concentration of NOM; (2) high efficient process to remove the contained NOM. Obviously, these challenges are also potential threats to the safety of drinking water and human health. The aim of the present article is to give a systematic review to the literature about NOM published in recent years, including the difficulties of characterizing and removing NOM.
Authors
-
Bing Tang
(Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control and School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China)
Topic Area
Choose your Organised Session from the list below: Safety of drinking water: Challenge and
Session
OS-3B » Water Quality (17:15 - Monday, 15th August, Larmor Theatre)
