Improving the Analysis of Nitrogen-Containing Organics in Source Water

Abstract

Drinking water treatment is a necessary practice for the elimination of waterborne disease. The study of drinking water treatment can be challenging as large portions of the composition of the source water used by treatment plants remains unknown. In Chapter 1, I review the importance of drinking water treatment, and potential challenges and concerns it faces. I then review current methods used for the analysis of water. While analytical methods are becoming well developed, a remaining challenge is in the data analysis for the identification of new compounds in water. I draw attention to available platforms and some limitations that remain. I emphasize the importance of the careful application of available data analysis programs and important considerations when they are developed. In Chapter 2, a stable isotopic labelling, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) – high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) method is applied for the analysis of amine containing species in source water. Previously, data analysis for this method had been done manually. Here, I compare the manual data analysis with a pilot program we developed, HDPairFinder. Two source water samples were analyzed and the various parameters to select peaks on considered. I reviewed the benefits of each type of data analysis, differences between the pairs selected, and the possibility for further application of this program to source water samples. In Chapter 3, I first review the final development of HDPairFinder and the merits it can provide to the data analysis procedure. Following the development of HDPairFinder, I applied it to analyze various groups of samples. Using HDPairFinder, I was able to analyze the composition of the samples over the course of spring runoff. Differences between sampling locations, sampling years, and stage of the water disinfection process were observed. Additionally, I investigated the potential use of pooled samples for the ability to be used as quality controls in the future. Overall, the application of HDPairFinder was able to help in the analysis of temporal trends in amine containing compounds in source water. This thesis worked to improve the complete analysis procedure for amine containing compounds in source water. Through the development of HDPairFinder many improvements to data analysis were made. These improvements included automated data processing, reduced time for data analysis, and additional data cleaning steps. Additionally, multiple samples can be processed and therefore HDPairFinder is applied to study changes over time. In the application, HDPairFinder helped to provide insight into the composition and changes in composition over the course of spring runoff. This work will help to lay a foundation for future identification of amine containing compounds in the future. In the identification of these compounds, we hope to provide insight into how to improve water treatment in the future.