Most taste and odor events in drinking water are source specific and while odor
compound detection can help identify tastes and odors, there remains the need to identify
the organism(s) believed to be the cause of the problem. In cooperation with a major Utah
water utility, samples from the Provo River drainage district were monitored monthly for
the past two years. Treatment plant personnel conducted flavor profile analysis and odor
compound quantification was performed by solid phase extraction (SPE) coupled with
GC-MS. When odors were detected at significant levels, the sampling interval was
increased and samples were split for chemical and microbial characterization. In order to
cover the wide range of microbes associated with taste and odor events, cultures for both
actinomycetes and algae were conducted. Isolation of microbial byproducts and analysis
by GC-MS confirmed compounds detected in the sample were produced by microbial
contaminants. This approach enabled us to determine the cause-and-effect relationship of
the taste and odor event. Data indicated that actinomycetes were responsible for taste and
odor in the water, not cyanobacteria. The chemical and microbial characterization of taste
and odor events helped this Utah water utility develop a logical treatment Includes 8 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 680 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 12 |
| Published : | 11/02/2003 |
