AWWA JAW39585

Conventional (e.g., coagulation, flocculation, and filtration) or membrane filtration treatment trains were used to remove organic compounds from groundwater. For the conventional train with sand-anthracite columns, the assimilable organic carbon (AOC) of the groundwater was reduced from 349 plus or minus 127 ug/L C to 54 plus or minus 51 ug/L C. For the membrane filtration train, there was no statistical difference between the AOC of the raw water influent (388 plus or minus 126 ug C) and that of the membrane permeate (344 plus or minus 156 ug/L C), suggesting that this treatment produced biologically unstable water. Similar results were obtained using the heterotrophic growth response (HGR) method. Comparison of the biostability methods showed that HGR was positively correlated with AOC (r=0.52; P<0.0001; n=156), indicating that AOC only partially explains the ability of heterotrophic bacteria to grow in water samples. Includes 19 references, tables, figures.