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This work provides a screening of organic contaminants and characterization of the dissolved organic matter in the sewer network until the municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), identifying the network areas with a higher degree of contamination and their impact on the WWTP performance, particularly in the activated sludge reactor. Three monitoring campaigns were carried out at six selected locations of the sewage system (PVZ-1, PVZ-2, PS-F, PS-VC, CP-VC, and PS-T), influent (WWTP INF ) and effluent (WWTP EFF ) of the WWTP. Advanced analytical techniques were employed, namely excitation/emission matrix fluorescence-parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC), size exclusion chromatography with organic carbon detector (SEC-OCD), and liquid chromatography with high-resolution-mass spectrometric detection (LC-HRMS). EEM-PARAFAC showed higher fluorescence intensity for the protein-like component (C2), particularly at CP-VC (near seafood industries) associated with the presence of surfactants (~50 mg/L). SEC-OCD highlighted the WWTP efficiency in removing low molecular weight acids and neutrals. LC-HRMS tentatively identified 108 compounds of emerging concern (CEC) and similar detection patterns were obtained for all wastewater samples, except for PVZ-2 (lower detection), many of which occurred in the effluent. Eight CECs included on relevant Watch-Lists were detected in all WWTP EFF samples. Furthermore, 111 surfactants were detected, the classes more frequently found being alcohol ethoxylates (AEOs), nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NPEOs) and linear alkylbenzene sulphonates (LAS). The continuous presence of LAS and NPEOs allied to surfactants concentrations in the WWTP INF of 15-20 mg/L, with CP-VC location (linked with food industries) as an important contributor, explain the morphological changes in the activated sludge and high LAS content in the dewatered sludge, which may have impacted WWTP performance., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

UV-based water treatment processes have been reported to induce genotoxicity during the treatments of surface water, drinking water and artificial water with natural organic matters (NOMs), causing genotoxicity concerns for the drinking water safety. Nitrogenous disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs) were generally reported to be much more genotoxic than their non-nitrogenous analogues, and might be responsible for the genotoxicity in UV processes. Although nitrate-rich water was getting attention for the possibility of genotoxicity and N-DBPs during UV treatments, the impact mechanism of nitrate on the degradation of NOMs, the formation of N-DBPs and genotoxicity has not been explicated. Here simulation experiments of NOM degradation under medium-pressure (MP) UV and MP UV/H 2 O 2 treatments were conducted to explore the effect of nitrate on the molecular characteristics of NOM, the nitrate-derived N-DBPs and the potential genotoxicity through non-targeted analysis and CALUX® reporter gene assays. The results showed that nitrate can accelerate the degradation of NOMs in the MP UV process but inhibit the degradation of NOMs in the MP UV/H 2 O 2 process. During the degradation of NOMs, the molecular compositions varied by the effect of nitrate on oxygen atoms, molecule analogs, and saturation. A total of 105 and 374 nitrate-derived N-DBPs were identified in the MP UV and MP UV/H 2 O 2 treatment, respectively. Most of these N-DBPs contain one nitrogen atom, and the representative features are nitro-, methoxy- (or hydroxyl-) and ester- groups on benzene. No genotoxicity was observed without nitrate spiking, whereas genotoxicity was induced after both MP UV and MP UV/H 2 O 2 treatments when nitrate was spiked, which is worthy of attention for the drinking water safety management., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Different groups of disinfection by-products (DBPs) were studied through the degradation of iopamidol by the sequential oxidation process of ozone-low pressure ultraviolet light (O 3 -LPUV) followed by chlorination. This paper investigates the attenuation of iopamidol under this sequential treatment and the effect of chlorine contact time (30 min versus 3 days) to control the formation potential of DBPs: trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetonitriles (HANs) and haloacetamides (HAMs). Thirty target DBPs among the 9 iodinated-DBPs (I-DBPs), were monitored throughout the sequential treatment. Results showed that O 3 -LPUV removed up to 99% of iopamidol, while ozone and LPUV alone removed only 90% and 76% respectively. After chlorine addition, O 3 -LPUV yielded 56% lower I-DBPs than LPUV. Increasing chlorine contact time resulted in higher concentrations of all DBP groups (THMs, HANs, and HAMs), with the exception of I-DBPs. One new iodinated-haloacetamide, namely chloroiodoacetamide (CIACM) and one iodoacetonitrile (IACN) were detected. These results suggest the iodine incorporated in iopamidol may be a precursor for iodinated-nitrogenous-DBPs, which are currently not well studied., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a well-known xenoestrogen, and UV/H 2 O 2 advanced oxidation process (AOP) is one of the most effective technologies to remove BPA from water. Using BPA spiked tap water, a batch-scale photochemical experiment was conducted to investigate whether BPA can pose a genotoxicity concern during the medium pressure (MP) UV/H 2 O 2 treatment and the post-chloramination. Samples at different UV exposure and post-chloramination durations were collected and analyzed by CALUX® gene reporter assays regarding estrogen receptor α (ERα) and p53 transcriptional activity. MP UV/H 2 O 2 process did not cause extra estrogenic effects from the degradation of BPA, whereas genotoxicity occurred when the treated water was exposed with monochloramine. Seven frequently reported nitrogenous disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs) were detected, but none of them were responsible for the observed genotoxicity. Employed with gas chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-QTOF-MS), four compounds possibly contributed to the genotoxicity were tentatively identified and two of them with aminooxy- or cyano- group were considered as "new" N-DBPs. This study demonstrated that by-products differ from their parent compounds in toxicity can be formed in the UV oxidation with post-disinfection process, which should become a cause for concern., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, magnetic ion exchange (MIEX) resin was evaluated to remove six carboxylic and three sulfonic PFAS at environmentally relevant concentrations (∼300 ng/L) in groundwater with low organic content and aromaticity (0.78 mg/L of dissolved organic carbon, DOC and 0.96 L mg -1 m -1 of specific UV absorbance, SUVA). In order to evaluate PFAS adsorption, the apparent equilibrium constant for PFAS adsorption in a dilute system was derived as an indicator of the adsorption capacity of MIEX. In adsorption of PFAS, hydrophobic interactions induced by difluoromethylene and trifluoromethyl groups are known to be effective. However, the hydrophobic and charge interactions caused by such functional groups are not easily differentiable from each other since both are additive with respect to the chain length. In this study, the total negative atomic charge [∑Q i (-)] was calculated using density functional theory (DFT) calculation and correlated with the apparent equilibrium constants. The negative atomic charge showed better correlation than the hydrophobicity (log D ow at pH 7) of PFAS, suggesting that the charge interaction would be a more plausible role of fluorinated moieties for adsorption in the MIEX process than the hydrophobic interaction. This was also bolstered by the similar adsorption kinetics and equilibrium of PFOS (log D ow  = 3.05) and its less hydrophobic isomer (log D ow  = 2.79), but with almost identical total negative atomic charge (8.05 and 8.06 of ∑Q i (-), respectively). The regeneration efficiency of MIEX was also assessed. Almost complete restoration of PFAS adsorption capacity was achieved after 30 min of a regeneration process with a 10% w/w NaCl solution as a regenerant. The efficient regeneration was attributed to the effective desorption of dissolved organic matter that occupied sorptive sites predominantly., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study demonstrated statistical profiling consisting of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and fold change to efficiently identify transformation products of an organic model compound (i.e., carbamazepine, CBZ) in ozonation. To this end, liquid chromatography (LC)-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS) was employed to measure the accurate masses of CBZ transformation products. Subsequently, statistical profiling was applied to differentiating features that are uniquely present in the ozonated samples from those in blanks and control (i.e., CBZ sample without ozonation). The identified transformation products had significant statistical power (i.e., power, 1-β > 0.8) in post hoc power analysis, which suggests that the profiling procedure can be an efficient means of reducing false negative in data analysis. 2-quinazolinone was newly reported here as a tentative transformation of CBZ during ozonation. In addition, a transformation product with one less carbon than CBZ, often called "anomalous" transformation product, was also found. While statistical profiling was applied to a model experiment, such an approach can be further utilized to screen many features with a higher data complexity such as non-targeted screening (NTS) and non-target analysis (NTA) for environmental samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The adsorption breakthrough behavior of nine perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in groundwaters by four bituminous coal-based granular activated carbons (F400, Carbsorb 40, HPC and CMR400) was studied using rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCTs). The half breakthrough bed volume (BV 50 ), an indicator of apparent adsorption capacity, correlated with the hydrophobicity of PFAS at a given pH (i.e., Log D ow ) for F400, indicating that hydrophobic interaction is important for apparent adsorption capacity of PFAS in groundwater with low dissolved organic concentrations (DOC < 1 mg C/L) and low specific UV absorbances at 254 nm (SUVA 254  < 2 L mg -1 m -1 ). Higher empty bed contact time (EBCT) caused steeper PFAS breakthrough curves with respect to throughput, but did not affect apparent adsorption capacity. Three different sizes of F400 (0.13, 0.17, and 0.20 mm) exhibited similar breakthrough profiles of PFAS, indicating that the intraparticle diffusivity was independent of adsorbent diameter in the given conditions. Among the tested carbons, the positively charged adsorbents (F400, HPC, and CMR400) showed higher apparent adsorption capacities for hydrophilic (Log D ow at pH 7 < 0) and marginally hydrophobic PFAS (Log D ow at pH 7 between 0 and 1) than the negatively charged adsorbent (Carbsorb 40). In addition, activated carbons with higher micropore surface areas exhibited higher apparent adsorption capacities of hydrophilic and marginally hydrophobic PFAS among the positively-charged activated carbons, whereas the mesoporous carbon (HPC) exhibited an increasingly larger adsorption capacity for more hydrophobic PFAS compared to the microporous carbon (F400) at a later breakthrough possibly due to less pore blockage., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A ranking system for monitoring-based process control was developed to select indicator compounds that can predict the attenuation of a broader range of trace organic compounds (TOrCs) in reclaimed water by low pressure (LP) and medium pressure (MP)-UV advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). The selected TOrCs were classified into three groups depending on their relative reactivity to UV direct photolysis and •OH oxidation. Group 1 includes the photolabile TOrCs, which are easily photodegraded with no additional oxidants by either LP or MP-UV light and include acesulfame, diclofenac, and sulfamethoxazole. Group 2 consists of the moderate photodegradable compounds with high reactivity of •OH oxidation, which include benzotriazole, fluoxetine, and hydrochlorothiazide as indicator compounds for assessing LP-UV AOP and propranolol, diltiazem, and diphenhydramine for MP-UV AOP. Group 3 is photo-resistant TOrCs, but highly reactive with •OH radicals and includes carbamazepine and DEET as appropriate indicator compounds. Therefore, the proposed ranking system is expected to provide a comprehensive monitoring tool to water reuse utilities for prioritizing a list of indicators to assess the treatment efficacy of UV AOPs that allows for subsequent operational control to achieve the treatment goal. This is the first strategic framework and guidelines for building a customizable tool of process control that depend on the site-specific occurrence profile of wastewater effluents and the UV system (UV lamp spectral output and power density)., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

As freshwater sources continue to be influenced by wastewater effluents, there is a dire need to develop advanced water treatment processes capable of treating the wastewater-derived contaminants, especially for pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs). Ultraviolet light (UV) combined with calcium peroxide (CaO 2 ) as an advanced oxidation process (AOP) to attenuate five widespread PhACs (carbamazepine (CBZ), primidone (PMD), phenobarbital (PBB), thiamphenicol (TAP) and florfenicol (FF)) was investigated in this paper. The degradation of these compounds followed pseudo-first-order kinetics (R 2  > 0.96). The optimum CaO 2 dosage was 0.1 g L -1 and lower initial contaminants concentration was beneficial to their degradation. The UV/CaO 2 treatment of test PhACs was attributed to the combination of UV/H 2 O 2 and UV-base-photolysis (UV/Ca(OH) 2 ), and the degradation mechanism was recognized as both UV direct photolysis and indirect photolysis caused by reactive radicals (•OH, triplet states of dissolved organic matter ( 3 DOM*), and 1 O 2 ). Furthermore, the tentative transformation pathways of the five PhACs were proposed based on the detected intermediates and the degradation mechanisms. The final products of inorganic carbon and nitrogen indicate UV/CaO 2 treatment can significantly mineralize test PhACs. Also, the CaO 2 addition significantly reduced the energy consumption of UV irradiation according to electrical energy per order. The effective removal of CBZ and PMD in a secondary wastewater effluent by UV/CaO 2 treatment demonstrates the potential use of this AOP technology in advanced treatment of wastewater-derived PhACs., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Formation of genotoxic byproducts during different ultraviolet (UV) -related water/wastewater treatment processes (including medium pressure (MP) UV oxidation, LP UV oxidation, chlorination, biological activated carbon (BAC) treatment, H 2 O 2 oxidation, and two or more combined processes) was investigated by Ames fluctuation test using Salmonella strains TA98 and TA100 with and without rat liver enzyme extract S9. Byproducts responsible for genotoxicity were identified. The results showed that MP UV can induce mutagenicity and LP UV treatment does not induce mutagenicity. H 2 O 2 oxidation could degrade part of genotoxic compounds. Compared with chlorination, BAC treatment is more effective in removing genotoxicity. Mutagenicity was found mostly in samples tested with TA100 instead of TA98, especially with TA100 without S9, indicating that guanosine and/or cytosine adducts contribute to mutation or toxicological effects in MP UV treated samples. Potential genotoxic byproducts were selected, most of which were nitrogenous organic compounds with more than 10 carbon atoms. Nitrosamines and histidine were excluded from potential genotoxic candidates. The results could contribute to evaluation of mutagenicity of various UV-based water treatment processes., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Wastewater reclamation has increasingly become popular to secure potable water supply. Low-pressure membrane processes such as microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) play imperative roles as a barrier of macromolecules for such purpose, but are often limited by membrane fouling. Effluent organic matter (EfOM), including biopolymers and particulates, in secondary wastewater effluents have been known to be major foulants in low-pressure membrane processes. Hence, the primary aim of this study was to investigate the effects of pre-ozonation as a pre-treatment for UF on the membrane fouling caused by EfOM in secondary wastewater effluents for hydrophilic regenerated cellulose (RC) and hydrophobic polyethersulfone (PES) UF membranes. It was found that greater fouling reduction was achieved by pre-ozonation for the hydrophilic RC membrane than the hydrophobic PES membrane at increasing ozone doses. In addition, the physicochemical property changes of EfOM, including biopolymer fractions, by pre-ozonation were systemically investigated. The classical pore blocking model and the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) theories were employed to scrutinize the fouling alleviation mechanism by pre-ozonation. As a result, the overarching mechanisms of fouling reduction were attributed to the following key reasons: (1) Ozone degraded macromolecules such as biopolymers like proteins and polysaccharides into smaller fractions, thereby increasing free energy of cohesion of EfOM and rendering them more hydrophilic and stable; (2) pre-ozonation augmented the interfacial free energy of adhesion between foulants and the RC/PES membranes, leading to the increase of repulsions and/or the decrease of attractions; and (3) pre-ozonation prolonged the transition from pore blocking to cake filtration that was a dominant fouling mechanism, thereby reducing fouling., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Ozone oxidation has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment process for the attenuation of trace organic compounds (TOrCs); however, predicting TOrC attenuation by ozone processes is challenging in wastewaters. Since ozone is rapidly consumed, determining the exposure times of ozone and hydroxyl radical proves to be difficult. As direct potable reuse schemes continue to gain traction, there is an increasing need for the development of real-time monitoring strategies for TOrC abatement in ozone oxidation processes. Hence, this study is primarily aimed at developing indicator and surrogate models for the prediction of TOrC attenuation by ozone oxidation. To this end, the second-order kinetic equations with a second-phase R ct value (ratio of hydroxyl radical exposure to molecular ozone exposure) were used to calculate comparative kinetics of TOrC attenuation and the reduction of indicator and spectroscopic surrogate parameters, including UV absorbance at 254 nm (UVA 254 ) and total fluorescence (TF). The developed indicator model using meprobamate as an indicator compound and the surrogate models with UVA 254 and TF exhibited good predictive power for the attenuation of 13 kinetically distinct TOrCs in five filtered and unfiltered wastewater effluents (R 2 values > 0.8). This study is intended to help provide a guideline for the implementation of indicator/surrogate models for real-time monitoring of TOrC abatement with ozone processes and integrate them into a regulatory framework in water reuse., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The removal of trace organic compounds (TOrCs) is of growing interest in water research and society. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) has been proven to be an effective method of removal for TOrCs in water, with the degree of effectiveness depending on dosage, contact time, and activated carbon type. In this study, the attenuation of TOrCs in three different secondary wastewater effluents using four PAC materials was studied in order to elucidate the effectiveness and efficacy of PAC for TOrC removal. With the notable exception of hydrochlorothiazide, all 14 TOrC indicators tested in this study exhibited a positive correlation of removal rate with their log Dow values, demonstrating that the main adsorption mechanism was hydrophobic interaction. As a predictive model, the modified Chick-Watson model, often used for the prediction of microorganism inactivation by disinfectants, was applied. The applied model exhibited good predictive power for TOrC attenuation by PAC in wastewater. In addition, surrogate models based upon spectroscopic measurements including UV absorbance at 254 nm and total fluorescence were applied to predict TOrC removal by PAC. The surrogate model was found to provide an excellent prediction of TOrC attenuation for all combinations of water quality and PAC type included in this study. The success of spectrometric parameters as surrogates in predicting TOrC attenuation by PAC are particularly useful because of their potential application in real-time on-line sensor monitoring and process control at full-scale water treatment plants, which could lead to significantly reduced operator response times and PAC operational optimization., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The presence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides and industrial contaminants collectively termed as trace organic compounds (TOrCs) in wastewater has been well-documented in USA, Europe, China and other regions. However, data from India, the second most populous country in the world is severely lacking. This study investigated the occurrence and concentrations of twenty-two indicator TOrCs at three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in South India serving diverse communities across three sampling campaigns. Samples were collected after each WWTP treatment unit and removal efficiencies for TOrCs were determined. Eleven TOrCs were detected in every sample from every location at all sites, while only five TOrCs were detected consistently in effluent samples. Caffeine was present at greatest concentration in the influent of all three plants with average concentrations ranging between 56 and 65μg/L. In contrast, the x-ray contrast media pharmaceutical, iohexol, was the highest detected compound on average in the effluent at all three WWTPs (2.1-8.7μg/L). TOrCs were not completely removed in the WWTPs with removal efficiencies being compound specific and most of the attenuation being attributed to the biological treatment processes. Caffeine and triclocarban were well removed (>80%), while other compounds were poorly removed (acesulfame, sucralose, iohexol) or maybe even formed (carbamazepine) within the WWTPs. The effluent composition of the 22 TOrCs were similar within the three WWTPs but quite different to those seen in the US, indicating the importance of region-specific monitoring. Diurnal trends indicated that variability is compound specific but trended within certain classes of compounds (artificial sweeteners, and pharmaceuticals). The data collected on TOrCs from this study can be used as a baseline to identify potential remediation and regulatory strategies in this understudied region of India., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A combination of surrogate parameters and indicator compounds were measured to predict the removal efficiency of trace organic compounds (TOrCs) using low pressure (LP)-UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation process (AOP), engaged with online sensor-based monitoring system. Thirty-nine TOrCs were evaluated in two distinct secondary wastewater effluents in terms of estimated photochemical reactivity, as a function of the rate constants of UV direct photolysis (kUV) and hydroxyl radical (OH) oxidation (kOH). The selected eighteen TOrCs were classified into three groups that served as indicator compounds: Group 1 for photo-susceptible TOrCs but with minor degradation by OH oxidation (diclofenac, fluoxetine, iohexol, iopamidol, iopromide, simazine and sulfamethoxazole); Group 2 for TOrCs susceptible to both direct photolysis and OH oxidation (benzotriazole, diphenhydramine, ibuprofen, naproxen and sucralose); and Group 3 for photo-resistant TOrCs showing dominant degradation by OH oxidation (atenolol, carbamazepine, DEET, gemfibrozil, primidone and trimethoprim). The results indicate that TOC (optical-based measurement), UVA254 or UVT254 (UV absorbance or transmittance at 254 nm), and total fluorescence can all be used as suitable on-line organic surrogate parameters to predict the attenuation of TOrCs. Furthermore, the automated real-time monitoring via on-line surrogate sensors and equipped with the developed degradation profiles between sensor response and a group of TOrCs removal can provide a diagnostic tool for process control during advanced treatment of reclaimed waters., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study investigated the applicability of bulk organic parameters like dissolved organic carbon (DOC), UV absorbance at 254 nm (UV254), and total fluorescence (TF) to act as surrogates in predicting trace organic compound (TOrC) removal by granular activated carbon in water reuse applications. Using rapid small-scale column testing, empirical linear correlations for thirteen TOrCs were determined with DOC, UV254, and TF in four wastewater effluents. Linear correlations (R(2) > 0.7) were obtained for eight TOrCs in each water quality in the UV254 model, while ten TOrCs had R(2) > 0.7 in the TF model. Conversely, DOC was shown to be a poor surrogate for TOrC breakthrough prediction. When the data from all four water qualities was combined, good linear correlations were still obtained with TF having higher R(2) than UV254 especially for TOrCs with log Dow>1. Excellent linear relationship (R(2) > 0.9) between log Dow and the removal of TOrC at 0% surrogate removal (y-intercept) were obtained for the five neutral TOrCs tested in this study. Positively charged TOrCs had enhanced removals due to electrostatic interactions with negatively charged GAC that caused them to deviate from removals that would be expected with their log Dow. Application of the empirical linear correlation models to full-scale samples provided good results for six of seven TOrCs (except meprobamate) tested when comparing predicted TOrC removal by UV254 and TF with actual removals for GAC in all the five samples tested. Surrogate predictions using UV254 and TF provide valuable tools for rapid or on-line monitoring of GAC performance and can result in cost savings by extended GAC run times as compared to using DOC breakthrough to trigger regeneration or replacement., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study demonstrated the use of nanofiltration (NF) membrane with pre-ozonation for surface water brine treatment. Pre-ozonation, used for fouling control, with relatively low ozone doses (0.1−0.4 mg O 3 /mg DOC ratios) significantly reduced organic fouling potential. A classical pore blocking model revealed that the dominant fouling mechanism was cake filtration. Based on a statistical correlation test, macromolecules (apparent molecular weight >10 k Da) of typtophan-like aromatic protein and soluble microbial-like matter exhibited strong correlation to fouling potential. Small molecules (<1600 Da) of UV-absorbing matter were also correlated with fouling potential whereas bulk parameters such as SUVA displayed relatively lower correlation with fouling potential. Trace organic compound (TOrC) attenuation by ozone, membranes, and combination of ozone and membranes were also examined. Greater than 70% removal of the 17 TOrCs was achieved at 0.4 mg O 3 /mg DOC ratio. The NF membrane (NF90) alone also could remove more than 90% of TOrCs. When pre-ozonation was performed with the NF membrane, all TOrCs tested were removed to less than the limits of detection. In conclusion, the application of pre-ozonation to NF membrane not only can alleviate organic fouling potential, but also can function as a dual barrier for ensuring removal of TOrCs for water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]