Sarah Ortbal graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor's of Environmental Engineering in December of 2022 and is now a Master's student in Dr. Leigh Terry's lab. In her free time, Sarah serves as the President for the University of Alabama's student chapter of AWWA and WEF, known as the Young Water Professionals

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Melanie Vines is a third-year Ph.D. candidate at the University of Alabama studying treatment technologies for disinfection byproducts in drinking water treatment under Dr. Leigh Terry. Melanie is also an intern with the Research and Innovation Team at the Birmingham Water Works in Birmingham, AL, where this work is taking place. In her free time, Melanie serves as the Vice President for the University of Alabama's student chapter of AWWA and WEF, known as the Young Water Professionals.

The prevention and mitigation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in drinking water utilities is a pressing issue facing the water industry today. During the drinking water treatment process, water is disinfected to prevent waterborne illness. DBPs are compounds that form as a result of disinfectants reacting with organic matter and other constituents present in the water, and some DBPs are carcinogenic or otherwise toxic to human health. Two such classes are the trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs), both of which are regulated in the United States. With deteriorating global water quality, increasing water scarcity issues, and increasing operational costs, many utilities are having to blend water sources with increasing frequency, which leads to complex water chemistry that can make treatment more complicated. To produce clean, safe water, utilities may need to adjust their practices to optimize organics removal, thus preventing and mitigating DBP occurrence in the future.

One novel treatment technology on the market is magnetic ion exchange (MIEX) resin. MIEX consists of a magnetic resin which removes negatively charged organic matter in the water and is intended to either supplement or replace traditional coagulation practices. Bulk organic measurements like total organic carbon (TOC) reveal some information about what compounds are removed by these processes, but they do not provide any method by which to characterize the matter removed. Fluorescence spectroscopy is a tool that has been used in recent years to characterize organic matter. A small portion of organic matter fluoresces when excited by light, and the wavelengths at which this organic matter is excited and at which it reemits light via fluorescence can be used to learn more about the character of the compounds that are present.

This study is underway in a pilot-scale water treatment plant in Birmingham, AL that is mimicking the full-scale plant.  The full-scale plant utilizes water blended from two different sources and experiences peaks in DBPs during the months of August and September. A pilot-scale MIEX mobile unit will precede a pilot-scale traditional treatment train using ferric sulfate coagulant. Fluorescence spectroscopy will be used to assess whether organic matter of a specific character is preferentially removed. THM and HAA formation potentials will be tested after MIEX treatment alone and after MIEX treatment combined with traditional treatment via simulated distribution system testing. The results of this study will be compared against those from the full-scale plant and assist the plant in determining an optimal treatment condition for the removal of DBP precursors.