IMPROVING PRECURSOR REMOVAL

The purpose of this work was to determine whether dissolved organic ca rbon (DOC) could be feasibly removed by diatomaceous earth (DE) precoa t filters amended with powered activated carbon or anionic resin. In t he first series of experiments, various precoat configurations of DE s ize, amendment type and concentrations, and precoat weight were evalua ted for their initial removals of dissolved organic matter and turbidi ty from a synthetic raw water source. In the second series of experime nts, various body feed compositions were tested for their ability to m aintain or improve the turbidity and organic carbon removal achieved b y the optimum precoat while head loss through the filter was kept to a minimum. Amending the DE filter with a strong-base anionic resin in t he precoat and body feed achieved significant removals of UV absorbanc e and DOC (> 50 percent) with excellent turbidity reduction and accept able head loss development.