Biological Layer in Household Slow Sand Filters: Characterization and Evaluation of the Impact on Systems Efficiency

Helen Lubarsky; Natália de Melo Nasser Fava; Bárbara Luíza Souza Freitas; Ulisses Costa Terin; Milina Oliveira; Atônio Wagner Lamon; Natalia Pichel; John Anthony Byrne; Lyda Patricia Sabogal-Paz; Pilar Fernandez-Ibañez

doi:10.3390/w14071078

Biological Layer in Household Slow Sand Filters: Characterization and Evaluation of the Impact on Systems Efficiency

Helen Lubarsky, Natália de Melo Nasser Fava, Bárbara Luíza Souza Freitas, Ulisses Costa Terin, Milina Oliveira, Atônio Wagner Lamon, Natalia Pichel, John Anthony Byrne, Lyda Patricia Sabogal-Paz, Pilar Fernandez-Ibañez

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Abstract

Schmutzdecke, the biofilm formed on the top of the sand bed in household slow sand filters (HSSF) is a key factor for the filters’ high efficiency in removing particles and microorganisms from water. This paper aims to investigate the extracellular polymeric substances composition (carbohydrates and proteins), biomass, dissolved oxygen, and microbial community in two types of HSSFs and identify a correlation between them and their efficiency. A continuous- and an intermittent-HSSF (C-HSSF and I-HSSF) were studied to treat river water for 48 days. Their efficiencies for bacteria (E. coli and total coliforms), turbidity, and apparent color removals were analyzed. Results clearly showed an increase of carbohydrates (from 21.4/22.5 to 101.2/93.9 mg·g−1 for C-/I-HSSF) and proteins (from 34.9 to 217/307.8 mg g−1 for C-/I-HSSF), total solids (from 0.03/<0.03 to 0.11/0.19 g L−1 for C-/I-HSSF), dissolved oxygen depletion inside the filter (6.00 and 5.15 mg L−1 for C- and I-HSSF) and diversity of microorganisms over time, pointing out the schmutzdecke development. A clear improvement on the HSSFs’ efficiency was observed during operation, i.e., E. coli removal of 3.23 log and 2.98 log for total coliforms, turbidity from 60 to 95%, and apparent color from 50 to 90%.

Original language	English
Article number	1078
Pages (from-to)	1-17
Number of pages	17
Journal	Water
Volume	14
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/w14071078
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - 29 Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We acknowledge the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) UK Research and Innovation for funding SAFEWATER; EPSRC Grant Reference EP/P032427/1 and the Royal Society for funding the project reference ICA/R1/201373 under the International Collaboration Awards 2020. The authors would also like to thank Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES-PROEX—Brazil, Financial code 001) for the MSc and PhD scholarships awarded and to Amanco-Mexichem (São Paulo, Brazil) for donating the materials to make the filters.

Funding Information:
Funding: We acknowledge the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) UK Research and Innovation for funding SAFEWATER; EPSRC Grant Reference EP/P032427/1 and the Royal Society for funding the project reference ICA/R1/201373 under the International Collaboration Awards 2020. The authors would also like to thank Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES-PROEX—Brazil, Financial code 001) for the MSc and PhD scholarships awarded and to Amanco-Mexichem (São Paulo, Brazil) for donating the materials to make the filters.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.

Keywords

drinking water
schmutzdecke
extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)
Drinking water
Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)
Schmutzdecke

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

@article{082f5498a8e341b0b5bc0e952bb209f1,

title = "Biological Layer in Household Slow Sand Filters: Characterization and Evaluation of the Impact on Systems Efficiency",

abstract = "Schmutzdecke, the biofilm formed on the top of the sand bed in household slow sand filters (HSSF) is a key factor for the filters{\textquoteright} high efficiency in removing particles and microorganisms from water. This paper aims to investigate the extracellular polymeric substances composition (carbohydrates and proteins), biomass, dissolved oxygen, and microbial community in two types of HSSFs and identify a correlation between them and their efficiency. A continuous- and an intermittent-HSSF (C-HSSF and I-HSSF) were studied to treat river water for 48 days. Their efficiencies for bacteria (E. coli and total coliforms), turbidity, and apparent color removals were analyzed. Results clearly showed an increase of carbohydrates (from 21.4/22.5 to 101.2/93.9 mg·g−1 for C-/I-HSSF) and proteins (from 34.9 to 217/307.8 mg g−1 for C-/I-HSSF), total solids (from 0.03/<0.03 to 0.11/0.19 g L−1 for C-/I-HSSF), dissolved oxygen depletion inside the filter (6.00 and 5.15 mg L−1 for C- and I-HSSF) and diversity of microorganisms over time, pointing out the schmutzdecke development. A clear improvement on the HSSFs{\textquoteright} efficiency was observed during operation, i.e., E. coli removal of 3.23 log and 2.98 log for total coliforms, turbidity from 60 to 95%, and apparent color from 50 to 90%.",

keywords = "drinking water, schmutzdecke, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), Drinking water, Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), Schmutzdecke",

author = "Helen Lubarsky and Fava, {Nat{\'a}lia de Melo Nasser} and {Souza Freitas}, {B{\'a}rbara Lu{\'i}za} and Terin, {Ulisses Costa} and Milina Oliveira and Lamon, {At{\^o}nio Wagner} and Natalia Pichel and Byrne, {John Anthony} and Sabogal-Paz, {Lyda Patricia} and Pilar Fernandez-Iba{\~n}ez",

note = "Funding Information: We acknowledge the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) UK Research and Innovation for funding SAFEWATER; EPSRC Grant Reference EP/P032427/1 and the Royal Society for funding the project reference ICA/R1/201373 under the International Collaboration Awards 2020. The authors would also like to thank Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES-PROEX—Brazil, Financial code 001) for the MSc and PhD scholarships awarded and to Amanco-Mexichem (S{\~a}o Paulo, Brazil) for donating the materials to make the filters. Funding Information: Funding: We acknowledge the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) UK Research and Innovation for funding SAFEWATER; EPSRC Grant Reference EP/P032427/1 and the Royal Society for funding the project reference ICA/R1/201373 under the International Collaboration Awards 2020. The authors would also like to thank Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES-PROEX—Brazil, Financial code 001) for the MSc and PhD scholarships awarded and to Amanco-Mexichem (S{\~a}o Paulo, Brazil) for donating the materials to make the filters. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 by the authors.",

year = "2022",

month = mar,

day = "29",

doi = "10.3390/w14071078",

language = "English",

volume = "14",

pages = "1--17",

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T1 - Biological Layer in Household Slow Sand Filters: Characterization and Evaluation of the Impact on Systems Efficiency

AU - Lubarsky, Helen

AU - Fava, Natália de Melo Nasser

AU - Souza Freitas, Bárbara Luíza

AU - Terin, Ulisses Costa

AU - Oliveira, Milina

AU - Lamon, Atônio Wagner

AU - Pichel, Natalia

AU - Byrne, John Anthony

AU - Sabogal-Paz, Lyda Patricia

AU - Fernandez-Ibañez, Pilar

N1 - Funding Information: We acknowledge the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) UK Research and Innovation for funding SAFEWATER; EPSRC Grant Reference EP/P032427/1 and the Royal Society for funding the project reference ICA/R1/201373 under the International Collaboration Awards 2020. The authors would also like to thank Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES-PROEX—Brazil, Financial code 001) for the MSc and PhD scholarships awarded and to Amanco-Mexichem (São Paulo, Brazil) for donating the materials to make the filters. Funding Information: Funding: We acknowledge the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) UK Research and Innovation for funding SAFEWATER; EPSRC Grant Reference EP/P032427/1 and the Royal Society for funding the project reference ICA/R1/201373 under the International Collaboration Awards 2020. The authors would also like to thank Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES-PROEX—Brazil, Financial code 001) for the MSc and PhD scholarships awarded and to Amanco-Mexichem (São Paulo, Brazil) for donating the materials to make the filters. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.

PY - 2022/3/29

Y1 - 2022/3/29

N2 - Schmutzdecke, the biofilm formed on the top of the sand bed in household slow sand filters (HSSF) is a key factor for the filters’ high efficiency in removing particles and microorganisms from water. This paper aims to investigate the extracellular polymeric substances composition (carbohydrates and proteins), biomass, dissolved oxygen, and microbial community in two types of HSSFs and identify a correlation between them and their efficiency. A continuous- and an intermittent-HSSF (C-HSSF and I-HSSF) were studied to treat river water for 48 days. Their efficiencies for bacteria (E. coli and total coliforms), turbidity, and apparent color removals were analyzed. Results clearly showed an increase of carbohydrates (from 21.4/22.5 to 101.2/93.9 mg·g−1 for C-/I-HSSF) and proteins (from 34.9 to 217/307.8 mg g−1 for C-/I-HSSF), total solids (from 0.03/<0.03 to 0.11/0.19 g L−1 for C-/I-HSSF), dissolved oxygen depletion inside the filter (6.00 and 5.15 mg L−1 for C- and I-HSSF) and diversity of microorganisms over time, pointing out the schmutzdecke development. A clear improvement on the HSSFs’ efficiency was observed during operation, i.e., E. coli removal of 3.23 log and 2.98 log for total coliforms, turbidity from 60 to 95%, and apparent color from 50 to 90%.

AB - Schmutzdecke, the biofilm formed on the top of the sand bed in household slow sand filters (HSSF) is a key factor for the filters’ high efficiency in removing particles and microorganisms from water. This paper aims to investigate the extracellular polymeric substances composition (carbohydrates and proteins), biomass, dissolved oxygen, and microbial community in two types of HSSFs and identify a correlation between them and their efficiency. A continuous- and an intermittent-HSSF (C-HSSF and I-HSSF) were studied to treat river water for 48 days. Their efficiencies for bacteria (E. coli and total coliforms), turbidity, and apparent color removals were analyzed. Results clearly showed an increase of carbohydrates (from 21.4/22.5 to 101.2/93.9 mg·g−1 for C-/I-HSSF) and proteins (from 34.9 to 217/307.8 mg g−1 for C-/I-HSSF), total solids (from 0.03/<0.03 to 0.11/0.19 g L−1 for C-/I-HSSF), dissolved oxygen depletion inside the filter (6.00 and 5.15 mg L−1 for C- and I-HSSF) and diversity of microorganisms over time, pointing out the schmutzdecke development. A clear improvement on the HSSFs’ efficiency was observed during operation, i.e., E. coli removal of 3.23 log and 2.98 log for total coliforms, turbidity from 60 to 95%, and apparent color from 50 to 90%.

KW - drinking water

KW - schmutzdecke

KW - extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)

KW - Drinking water

KW - Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)

KW - Schmutzdecke

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DO - 10.3390/w14071078

M3 - Article

SN - 2073-4441

VL - 14

SP - 1

EP - 17

JO - Water

JF - Water

IS - 7

M1 - 1078

ER -

Biological Layer in Household Slow Sand Filters: Characterization and Evaluation of the Impact on Systems Efficiency

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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