• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.849-855
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• 2006

Taste and odor (T&O) problems in drinking water supplies caused by eutrophication have become increasingly important because aesthetic qualities are the primary measures by which consumers estimate the quality of their drinking water. In order to overcome T&O problem, it is necessary to early detection method for T&O compounds before these compounds enter to water treatment plant. In this background, a early waming device for T&O compounds was developed and its performance tested under different operating condition. According to the experimental results on the adsorption efficiency of T&O compounds, when the raw water flowrate was 5 mL/min, the optimum stripping time and air flowrate were 5 hrs and 0.5 L/min, respectively. Comparison of activated carbon showed that foreign activated carbon was better than domestic activated carbon in terms of adsorption efficiency.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.598-602
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• 2008

The Daecheong Reservoir is the largest multi-purpose reservoir in the Keum River basin. This water supply is subject to some of the most serious taste and odor (T&O) problems in the region. The intensity of T&O events increased due to eutrophication during the 1990s. In this study, the temporal occurrence of T&O in raw water from the main Daecheong Reservoir and its regulating reservoir was compared using both an instrumental method (CLSA+GC/MS) and threshold odor number (TON) test from April to December 2006. In addition, biofilms on the submerged macrophytes and rocks were analyzed for two typical T&O causing compounds, Geosmin and 2-MIB. The maximum concentration of Geosmin in the main reservoir was almost two times higher than that in the regulating reservoir. Interestingly, 2-MIB was only detected in water samples from the main reservoir. In the case of T&O causing compounds present in the biofilm on the submerged macrophytes and rocks, the regulating reservoir had lower concentrations compared to those of the main reservoir. It was found that both Geosmin and 2-MIB were detected from the biofilms much earlier than from the water samples. This result suggests that the occurrence of T&O compounds in the biofilms could be used as an early warning indicator of an imminent T&O outbreak in the water body.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.32 no.4 s.91
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• pp.262-267
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• 2006

DBPs and T&O(taste-and-odor) compounds in drinking water is one of main source to deteriorate water quality. So, these compounds can cause adverse health effects and result in many consumer complaints aesthetically. This experiments carried out to investigate the effect of boiling water on DBPs and T&O compounds in the tap water. THMs and TCM concentration were reduced by 91.3%, 88.9% after 5 min of boiling, respectively. It is certainly, resulted from volatilization of TCM. TCAA concentration decreased when the water was boiled, too. By contrast, the concentration of DCAA was increased with duration time from boiling-point. The reduction of TCAA from the boiled water can be attributed to chemical transformation like decarboxylation. T&O compounds such as geosmin and 2-MIB was effectively removed by boiling of water, resulting in the removal efficiency of 97.1%, 94.4% after 5 min of boiling, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.13-25
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• 2007

The water treatment plants in Seoul Metropolitan Area, which are under Korea Water Resources Corporation(KOWACO)'s management, take water from Paldang Reservoir in Han River System for drinking water supply. There are taste and odor (T&O) problems in the finished water because the conventional treatment processes do not effectively remove the T&O compounds. As part of countermeasures for taste and odor control, KOWACO is planning to introduce advanced water treatment process such as ozone and GAC in near future. This study evaluated the removal characteristics of T&O and dissolved organic matter (DOM) to find design and operation parameters of advanced water treatment processes in a pilot-scale treatment plant. The GAC adsorption capacity for DOC in the two GAC system (GAC and $O_3$-GAC) at an EBCT of 14min was mostly exhausted after 9months. The differency of the removal efficiency of DOC between $O_3$-GAC and GAC increased with increasing operation time because the bioactivity in $O_3$-GAC process was enhanced by post-ozone process. Removal by conventional treatment was unable to reach the target TON(threshold odor number) of 3 but GAC systems at an EBCT(empty bed contact time) of 14 min were able to archive the target with few exception. During the high T&O episodes, PAC as a pretreatment together with GAC could be useful option for T&O control. However, substantial TON removal continued for more than two year (> 90,000 bed volumes). At the spiking of less concentration 26 to 61 ng/L in the influent of GAC systems, GAC absorber and $O_3$-GAC processes could meet the treatment target. The better spike control after 12 and 19 months of operation compared to that after 7 months of operation is a strong indication of biological control. The results presented in this study had shown that $O_3$-GAC process was found to be more effective for T&O control than GAC process. And the main removal mechanism in GAC systems were adsorption capacity and biodegradation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.227-232
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• 2008

The masking effect of chlorine on algae-related taste and odor(T&O) compounds has long been an important issue for water suppliers. In this study, masking experiments with chlorine were performed on two kinds of treated water and one of raw water. After adding chlorine(0 to 0.8 mg/L) to water samples, odor intensity was evaluated by a newly developed sensory method(2-out-of-5 odor test) for three days along with the measurement of residual chlorine concentration. Even though the relationship between the residual chlorine concentration and odor reported by the sensory analysts was not always coincident, it was proved that residual chlorine more than a certain concentration could completely mask both added geosmin and naturally occurring T&O compounds. For the sand-filtered water spiked with 10 ng/L of geosmin, 0.12-0.18 mg/L of residual chlorine was necessary to achieve complete masking. In the case of GAC-filtered water, 10 ng/L of spiked geosmin was completely masked by 0.15-0.1 mg/L of residual chlorine. Combined ozone and GAC was not enough to treat raw water spiked with 300 ng/L of geosmin. In this experiment, sensory analysts were able to detect earthy or musty odors from the treated water. From a masking experiment with raw water taken from the Daechung Reservoir, it was found that fishy odor was more difficult to mask with chlorine than earthy odor. As the chlorine residual declined, the analysts began to notice the original odor and the fishy odor was noticed earlier than the earthy odor.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.719-726
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• 2006

Adsorption isotherms and kinetics for taste and odor (T&O) compounds and natural organic matters (NOMs) were performed to evaluate the impacts of activated carbon particle size on coagulation and adsorption. Adsorption capacities for iodine, T&O compounds, and NOM of all the activated carbons under #325 mesh were more excellent than those of virgin activated carbons. Small activated carbon particles were more rapidly adsorbed low molecular weight T&O compounds in the water, while those were slowly adsorbed high molecular weight NOM. When the activated carbon and alum were added simultaneously, the adsorption capacity for organics was better than alum was added alone.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.341-348
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• 2007

The efficiency of powdered activated carbon (PAC) for removing taste and odor (T&O) in drinking water supplies is dependent on the contact time, quality of mixing, and the presence of competing compounds. All of these are strongly influenced by the stage in the treatment process at which the PAC is added. In conventional water treatment plants (WTPs), PAC is commonly added into the rapid mixing basin where chemicals such as coagulants, alkaline chemicals, and chlorine, are simultaneously applied. In order to prevent interference between PAC and other water treatment chemicals, alternative locations for addition of PAC, such as at transmission pipe in the water intake tower or into a separated PAC contactor, were investigated. Whatever the location, addition of PAC apart from other water treatment chemicals was more effective for geosmin removal than simultaneous addition. Among several combinations, the sequence 'chlorine-PAC-coagulant' produced the best result with respect to geosmin removal efficiency. Consequently, when PAC has to be applied to cope with T&O problems in conventional WTPs, it is very important to prevent interference with other water treatment chemicals, such as chlorine and coagulant. Adequate contact time should also be given for adsorption of the T&O compounds onto the PAC. To satisfy these conditions, installation of a separated PAC contactor would be the superior alternative if there is space available in the WTP. If necessary, PAC could be added at transmission pipe in the water intake tower and still provide some benefit for T&O treatment.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.326-331
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• 2012

In this study, rejection behavior of 2-MIB (methylisoborneal) and geosmin which are known as taste-and-odor (T & O) causing micropollutants in drinking water source was investigated using hydrophobic polyethersulfone (PES) nanofiltration "loose" membrane (MWCO : 400 Da). It was found that the rejection of the geosmin was higher than that of the 2-MIB in all experimental conditions tested. This study also showed that the rejections of 2-MIB and geosmin were increased by increasing solution pH due to enhancing electrostatic repulsions between micropollutants and membrane surface. The presence of natural organic matter led to increase the rejection of the hydrophobic 2-MIB and geosmin and the effectiveness was more pronounced at higher solution pH. Increasing hydrophilicity of the hydrophobic membrane surface by coating with $TiO_2$ particles resulted in the significant increase in the rejection of 2-MIB and geosmin. In addition to the charge repulsion, this result suggests that hydrophobic-hydrophobic interaction should be one of main rejection mechanisms of T & O compounds by NF membrane.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.313-319
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• 2021

Menthol (M) is a cyclic monoterpenode and is a major component of essential oils. Menthol, along with menthol, isomenton, etc., gives taste and odor of the mint plant, and when it comes to menthol in general, L- or (-) -menthol is usually used. Included in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and pesticides. It has antimicrobial, antibacterial, antioxidant properties. It is also known that the licorice plant (Glycyrrhiza Glabra L.) differs from other types of plants by its medicinal properties. For many years it has been used in folk medicine. Extraction of licorice root revealed up to 25% glycyrrhizinic acid (GA). Its aglycone - glycyrrhizic acid is notable for its structural similarity to the adrenal cortex hormones. Currently, GA and glycyrrhizic acid are widely used in medicine as a remedy for colds, allergies, viral diseases, tumors. The biological activity of menthol and GA-based supramolecular compounds has been poorly studied, and their effect on the functional parameters of rat liver mitochondria has been studied little. For this purpose, in our experiments, the effect of menthol (M), glycyrrhizinic acid (GA) and their supramolecular complexes obtained in different proportions on in vitro and in vivo studies on rat liver mitochondria was studied.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2015

Recently, the production of taste and odor (T&O) compounds is a common problem in water industry. Geosmin is one of the T&O components in drinking water. However, geosmin is hardly eliminated through the conventional water treatment systems. Among various advanced processes capable of removing geosmin, adsorption process using granular activated carbon (GAC) is the most commonly used process. As time passes, however GAC process changes into biological activated carbon (BAC) process. There is little information on the BAC process in the literature. In this study, we isolated and identified microorganisms existing within various BAC processes. The microbial concentrations of BAC processes examined were $3.5{\times}10^5$ colony forming units (CFU/g), $2.2{\times}10^6CFU/g$ and $7.0{\times}10^5CFU/g$ in the Seongnam plant, Goyang plant and Goryeong pilot plant, respectively. The dominant bacterial species were found to be Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Novosphingobium rosa and Afipia broomeae in each plants. Removal efficiencies of $3{\mu}g/L$ geosmin by the dominant species were 36.1%, 36.5% and 34.3% in mineral salts medium(MSM) where geosmin was a sole carbon source.