Amino acids and amino sugars (AAAS) are important for drinking water treatment,
because they can serve as substrate for biological activity, can serve as indicators for soluble
microbial products, and may be precursors for the formation of nitrogenous disinfection byproducts.
Despite these important needs, very little work is available to understand the nature of
amino acids in drinking waters. The goal of this project was to measure amino acids in dissolved
organic matter (DOM) isolates and bulk waters from drinking water sources.
The samples, both bulk water and DOM, were collected from waters affected by seasonal
algal blooms or wastewater discharges. Bulk water samples were collected from 10 full scale
water treatment plants (WTPs) across the country during the summer/fall of 2006. The samples
were analyzed for a multitude of water quality including: dissolved organic carbon (DOC),
ultraviolet absorbance (UVA), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), dissolved inorganic nitrogen
(DIN), and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). A 500 milliliter (mL) aliquot was concentrated
and freeze dried for determination of AAAS.
DOM was fractionated and isolated from two wastewater discharges, a drinking water
reservoir, and two laboratory cultures of algae and bacteria. DOM was fractionated according to
Leenheer et. al (2007), which enriched selected fractions with organic nitrogen. The isolates
were characterized by the following methods: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR); solid-state nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR); and, elemental analysis. The isolated DOM fractions were freeze
dried and stored in a desiccator. For this study, the nitrogen rich colloidal organic matter
fraction is discussed. Includes 8 references, tables, figure.