Groundwater from the middle Banat region (Serbia) which is used as a drinking water supply for Zrenjanin town contains a high amount of natural organic matter and a high content of arsenic. In this study a pilot-scale system was used to investigate the influence of different ozone doses (0.4-0.9 mg O3/mg DOC) during a pre-ozonation process on NOM removal by coagulation. Ferric chloride coagulant was chosen at a dose of 100 g/cubic meter, as a traditional coagulant which can also help in arsenic removal. The obtained results indicate that an ozone dose of 0.4 mg O3/mg DOC has the best influence on structural changes of NOM. The coagulation process with ferric chloride as coagulant had a significant influence on the arsenic content of the water, with the measured values in the water after coagulation in all three investigated treatment trains being below 10 microgram/l, which is the standard MCL in Serbian legislation.

The paper presents the results of laboratory research and application of continuous electro-coagulation and electro-flotation (ECEF) to remove natural organic matter (NOM) from groundwater in the treatment of drinking water. The highest NOM removal efficiency for current density of 5.78 mA/ cm square according to UV254 absorbance and dissolved organic matter (DOC) was 77% and 71% respectively. The specific energy and aluminum electrode consumption was 2.01 kWh/cubic m, 80 g Al/cubic m, respectively.

Removal of colour by coagulation in the drinking water treatment is described. Optimal results are obtained by pH correction. Buffer capacity of raw water is dominant on efficiency and rentability of the process.

This work considers the possibility of enhancing the iron (III) chloride coagulation process in natural organic matter removal by flocculation sludge recirculation. The results show that flocculation sludge has the potential to coagulate organic matter, and shows a dependence on the depth in the precipitator (0, 30 or 70 cm). Recirculation of flocculation sludge at a dose of 1.6 g/l (from a depth of 30 cm), results in a reduction of required coagulant by 25%.

This work considers the effect of the ozonation process on formation of aldehydes in groundwater pretreated by aeration/preozonation (2.0 g O3/cubic meter) and coagulation with polyaluminium-chloride (5 and 10 g Al/cubic meter). Experiments were carried out on a semi-industrial plant of 2 cubic meter/h capacity. It was found that in the course of ozonation NOM content shows a decrease (up to 54% TOC), whereas content of aldehydes increases by 1.0-14 microgram/L, depending on the water pretreatment and applied ozone dose. The most prominent changes in specific aldehydes content during ozonation were detected after applying ozone dosages of 0.5-2.0 mg O3/mg TOC.