Peter M Huck

• University of Waterloo

Robustness is the ability of a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) to achieve the desired finished water quality even during adverse raw water quality events. Increasing the robustness of a DWTP is beneficial for regular operations and especially for extreme weather adaptation. This paper proposes three robustness frameworks: (a) a general framew...

Full‐scale sampling at 16 facilities illustrated that NDMA precursor concentrations, measured by adding chloramine under Uniform Formation Conditions (NDMAUFC), increased across biofiltration at 7 of 16 facilities (by 3–48 ng/L or 12%–296%) but stayed the same or decreased (by up to 5 ng/L or 24%) at the other nine facilities. Increases in NDMAUFC...

The removal of three perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs)--PFHpA, PFOA, and PFNA--in ultrapure and river water was evaluated using two anion-exchange resins--previously unreported macroporous polystyrenic A-500P and a more widely studied macroporous polyacrylic A-860. Both resins had similar properties, allowing direct comparison of PFCA removal...

Suwannee river natural organic matter greatly increased dissolved lead release from galvanic corrosion due to complexation with humic acid-like substances.

Microplastics are an emerging issue in water systems, and an understanding of their occurrence and behavior is complicated by a high diversity in physical (i.e., size and shape) and chemical characteristics. To date, there have been limited studies on microplastics in drinking water treatment processes. As the coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation...

A batch test procedure was investigated to provide insight into the microbial contribution to disinfectant decay in drinking water distribution systems using chloramines. A modified method for determining the critical threshold residual (CTR), the intersection point on a semi-log plot between first-order total chlorine fitted decay curves before an...

Sodium silicate is thought to mitigate lead release via two mechanisms: by increasing pH and by forming a protective silica film. A pilot-scale study using an excavated lead service line (LSL) fed with water from a Great Lakes source was undertaken to: (1) clearly distinguish the pH effect and the silica effect; (2) compare sodium silicate to ortho...

Pilot-scale granular activated carbon (GAC)-sand and anthracite-sand biofilters were operated in parallel to study the effect of media type and operating conditions on N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) precursor change across the biofilters. Precursor concentrations were assessed by quantifying NDMA formation under simulated distribution system (NDMASD...

Low pressure membranes are attracting attention for their potential to improve secondary effluent quality, but membrane fouling can limit their widespread applicability. In this study, in-line coagulation as pre-treatment to ultrafiltration was investigated using a bench-scale hollow fiber membrane at a constant flux of 33 L/m2 h (LMH). Membrane fo...

Managed aquifer recharge with reclaimed water is a promising strategy for indirect potable reuse. However, residual contaminants in the treated wastewater effluent could potentially have adverse effects on human health. Hence, adequate water pretreatment is required. A multi-criteria approach was used to select and evaluate suitable water pretreatm...

Biofiltration has been observed to increase or decrease the concentrations of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) precursors in the effluents of full-scale drinking water facilities, but these changes have been inconsistent over time. Bench-scale tests comparing biofiltration columns side-by-side exposed to different conditions were employed to character...

This article was published in the new journal 'AWWA Water Science' (new AWWA journal-not JAWWA): Adsorption of the cyanotoxin anatoxin‐a (ANTX) in ultrapure water by five virgin and preloaded granular activated carbons (GACs) was examined using the bottle‐point technique; this article presents baseline adsorption data for ANTX not yet available in...

The objectives of this research were to investigate biofiltration prior to ultrafiltration (UF) for treatment of secondary effluent. Biofiltration with and without prior in-line coagulation was assessed for UF membrane fouling reduction. Two parallel pilot-scale biofilters, each with different media (sand vs. anthracite), were operated under identi...

The decay rates of enteric waterborne pathogens were evaluated following the introduction of Yersinia enterocolitica, Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter jejuni and Arcobacter butzleri into river water at different temperatures (5, 15 and 25WC) for a period of 28 days. To improve the accuracy of the results a molecular viability assay, long amplicon...

Biofilms are central to the functioning of biologically active filters for drinking water production, and accurate biofilm characterization is crucial for elucidating biofiltration mechanisms and for identifying parameters indicative of biofilter performance. Drawing on recent findings in environmental engineering and microbiology, the objective wa...

The decay rates of enteric waterborne pathogens were evaluated following the introduction of Yersinia enterocolitica, Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter jejuni and Arcobacter butzleri into river water at different temperatures (5, 15 and 25WC) for a period of 28 days. To improve the accuracy of the results a molecular viability assay, long amplicon...

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) using highly treated effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants has been recognized as a promising strategy for indirect potable water reuse. Treated wastewater effluent can contain a number of residual contaminants that could have adverse effects on human health, and some jurisdictions have regulations in pl...

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) with reclaimed water is an important water reuse application. As an intentional way of recharging water into aquifers, MAR can be used to address water shortages and contribute to sustainable water resources management practices. The establishment of a MAR system depends on the source of recharge water, the selection...

Flow cytometry is an efficient monitoring tool for rapid cell counting, and can be applied to research on water quality and treatment. In this study, a method that employs flow cytometry and a natural microbial inoculum to determine assimilable organic carbon (AOC) was adapted for use with challenging surface waters that have a high organic and par...

To better understand biofiltration, concentration profiles of various natural organic matter (NOM) components throughout a pilot-scale drinking water biofilter were investigated using liquid chromatography – organic carbon detection (LC-OCD) and fluorescence excitation and emission matrices (FEEM). Over a 2 month period, water samples were collecte...

While traditional application of quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) models usually stops at analyzing the microbial risk under typical operating conditions, this paper proposes the use of scenario-based risk assessment to predict the impact of potential challenges on the expected risk. This study used a QMRA model developed by Health Can...

The performance of conventional and advanced processes with regard to the reduction of the biopolymer fraction of natural organic matter (NOM) at two large adjacent full-scale drinking water treatment plants was compared and evaluated. Both plants were fed with the same surface water source, however, they differed in configuration and type of coagu...

A pilot-scale study investigated the effect of phosphorus addition on a drinking water biofilter used to reduce fouling of an ultrafiltration membrane. Biofiltration without pre-treatment (BFwp) has been shown to be an effective pre-treatment for the removal of natural organic matter (NOM) components that cause membrane fouling. However, the river...

The potential for regrowth of nitrifying microorganisms was monitored in 2 full-scale chloraminated drinking water distribution systems in Ontario, Canada, over a 9-month period. Quantitative PCR was used to measure amoA genes from ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), and these values were compared with water qualit...

Performance of full-scale ozone-biofiltration was investigated over 14 months to determine the potential effects of seasonally related changes in water temperature and quality on the removal of natural organic matter fractions. The biofilters removed on average 12% of dissolved organic carbon, 31% of biopolymers, 6% of humic substances, 10% of humi...

This extensive study investigated the ability of rapid biofiltration to remove selected pharmaceuticals and endocrine-disrupting compounds. Two parallel biofilters with different empty bed contact times (EBCTs) treated municipally and agriculturally impacted river water with wide annual temperature variation. Following acclimation, the biofilters w...

Quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) models which predict hydroxyl radical rate constants (kOH) for a wide range of emerging micropollutants are a cost effective approach to assess the susceptibility of these contaminants to advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). A QSPR model for the prediction of kOH of emerging micropollutants from t...

An adequate and secure drinking water supply is one of the key components of infrastructure in developed countries. This infrastructure has been developed over a number of decades and will continue to evolve. For those who provide this vital service, it is important to think about what things may look like several decades from now, to facilitate in...

A cell viability assay was applied to measure bacterial enteric pathogens in a river in southern Ontario, Canada that is used as a source of drinking water. Pathogen concentrations were measured using both propidium monoazide (PMA)-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative PCR (qPCR) without PMA pretreatment to compare viable an...

To increase membrane fouling resistance a new membrane post-treatment process, i.e. solvent induced microswelling, was used to increase membrane surface hydrophilicity and smoothness. Driven by interfacial free energy minimization, the surface of microporous membranes will reassemble when exposed to a dilute aqueous solution of a suitable solvent....

The focus of this full-scale study was to determine the effect of ozone on biopolymer concentrations in biofiltration and ultrafiltration (UF) processes treating surface water from Lake Ontario. Ozonation was out of service for maintenance for 9 months, hence, it was possible to investigate ozone's action on biologically active carbon contactors (B...

Biofilters have gained in popularity for drinking water treatment to reduce disinfectant demand, disinfection by-product formation, and regrowth in distribution systems. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) detection is being used more frequently as an easy and rapid method to quantify viable biomass in biofilters; however, there is little information on t...

Full-scale studies were conducted to determine the effects of the configuration or absence of pre-treatment on membrane performance at two full-scale ultrafiltration (UF) drinking water treatment plants sharing a common raw water source. One plant had no pre-treatment prior to the membranes and the other had ozone and biologically active carbon con...

Aqueous chlorination kinetics of the lipid regulator gemfibrozil and the formation of reaction products were investigated in deionized water over the pH range 3 to 9, and in two wastewater matrices. Chlorine oxidation of gemfibrozil was found to be highly dependent on pH. No statistically significant degradation of gemfibrozil was observed at pH va...

Anatoxin-a is a potent chlorine-resistant neurotoxin produced by several species of cyanobacteria which has been detected throughout North America at concentrations ranging from 0.5 -156 µg/L. Given the invulnerability of the toxin to chlorine oxidation, other treatment methods must be considered. Powdered or granular activated carbon adsorption (P...

Removal of selected perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) from drinking water using GAC and ion exchange resins *M. Feisal Rahman, Sigrid Peldszus, William B. Anderson and Peter M. Huck NSERC Chair in Water Treatment, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1 *Lead author contact e-mail: mf2rah...

WHAT DYNAMIC SIMULATION CAN ADD TO WATER UTILITY RISK ASSESSMENT Mohamed A. Hamouda, Postdoctoral Fellow Jared Best, MASc. Candidate William B. Anderson, Research Associate Professor Peter M. Huck, Professor and NSERC Chairholder NSERC Chair in Water Treatment, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 Univers...

Anatoxin-a, a potent alkaloid neurotoxin formerly known as Very Fast Death Factor (VFDF), is a cyanobacterial toxin of relevance to North American drinking water providers. It has been cited as the cause of animal deaths, both in Ontario and internationally, and its presence in drinking water sources is a potential risk to public health. No Health...

Anatoxin-a (ANTX-a) is a potent alkaloid neurotoxin, produced by several species of cyanobacteria and detected throughout the world. The presence of cyanotoxins, including ANTX-a, in drinking water sources is a potential risk to public health. This article presents a thorough examination of the cumulative body of research on the use of drinking wat...

Pilot tests were conducted to investigate the removal of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) by new and semi-exhausted granular activated carbon (GAC) extracted from full-scale filters located in the City of Toronto's drinking water treatment facilities. Four pilot filters containing core-sampled GAC and new sand were fed with settled water from a...

Knowledge of host specificity, combined with genomic sequencing of Giardia and Cryptosporidium spp., has demonstrated a microbial source tracking (MST) utility for these common waterborne microbes. To explore the source attribution potential of these pathogens, water samples were collected in a mixed rural-urban watershed in the Township of Langley...

A pilot-scale investigation of the performance of biofiltration as a pre-treatment to ultrafiltration for drinking water treatment was conducted between 2008 and 2010. The objective of this study was to further understand the fouling behaviour of ultrafiltration at pilot scale and assess the utility of different foulant monitoring tools. Various fr...

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##

##Assembly-Data-START## Sequencing Technology :: Sanger dideoxy sequencing ##Assembly-Data-END##