甲基叔丁基醚（MTBE）是最常见的含氧燃料添加剂，已在加利福尼亚州的几处饮用水中检测到。加利福尼亚州已将甲基叔丁基醚列为致癌物，规定饮用水的作用水平为35微克/升，二级饮用水标准为5 ppb。本研究调查了吸附的成本和效果，既作为从饮用水中去除MTBE的唯一过程，也作为高级氧化后的抛光过程。使用粒状活性炭（沥青、木材、泥炭和椰子）和XAD-4、XAD-8和XE-572树脂对1000 ppb MTBE进行等温线研究。非传统吸附剂，如改性粘土材料（经处理和未经处理的绿砂）也进行了测试。利用圣莫尼卡井水中的腐殖物质和MTBE主要氧化副产物叔丁醇（TBA）进行了竞争性研究。等温线显示，TBA和腐殖酸对MTBE在椰子碳上的吸附有明显的竞争效应，而对XE则有明显的竞争效应- 572树脂没有观察到竞争效应。椰子颗粒活性炭（GAC）是最具成本效益的吸附剂，用于鞋底处理和氧化后的抛光处理。然而，使用吸附作为抛光工艺比使用吸附作为唯一工艺成本更高。

Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), the most common oxygenated fuel additive, had been detected in several drinking water supplies in California. California has listed MTBE as a carcinogen, established an action level of 35 ug/L for drinking water, and a secondary drinking water standard of 5 ppb. The present study investigated the cost and effectiveness of sorption, both as a sole process to remove MTBE from drinking water and as a polishing process after advanced oxidation. Isotherm studies for 1,000 ppb MTBE were conducted using granular activated carbons (bituminous, wood, peat, and coconut) and XAD-4, XAD-8, and XE-572 resins. Non-traditional sorbents such as modified clay materials (treated and untreated greensand) were also tested. Competitive studies were conducted with humic materials from Santa Monica well water and with tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA), a major oxidation byproduct of MTBE. The isotherms showed clear competitive effect of TBA and humics on sorption of MTBE for coconut carbon, whereas for XE-572 resin the competitive effect was not observed. The coconut granular activated carbon (GAC) was the most cost-effective sorbent for use as a sole process and as a polishing process after oxidation. However, it was more expensive to use sorption as a polishing process than to use sorption as a sole process.