Dissolved organic nitrogen removal during water treatment by aluminum sulfate and cationic polymer coagulation

Coagulation of three surface waters was conducted with aluminum salt and/or cationic polymer to assess dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) removal. Coagulation with aluminum sulfate removed equal or slightly lower amounts of DON as compared to dissolved organic carbon (DOC). At aluminum sulfate dosages up to 5 mg per mg DOC, the cationic polymer improved DON removal by an additional 15% to 20% over aluminum sulfate alone. At very high aluminum sulfate dosages (>8 mg aluminum sulfate per mg DOC), however, the cationic polymer addition negligibly increased DON removal. Molecular weight fractionation before and after coagulation experiments indicated that cationic polymer addition can increase the removal of all molecular weight fractions of DON with the highest molecular weight fraction (>10,000 Da) being preferentially removed. Results indicated that the DON added as part of the cationic polymer was almost completely removed at optimum aluminum sulfate and polymer doses.