A quick test method for predicting the adsorption of organic micropollutants on activated carbon

• A quick test method to evaluate the adsorption of OMP onto activated carbon. • The removal of DOM, UV 254 , and 14 popular OMPs were investigated. • Removal of UV 254 was strongly correlated to that of individual OMP. • The quick test method can accurately predict the results of the conventional batch test. Controlling the contamination of water cycles with organic micropollutants (OMPs) has been targeted in many regions. Adsorption with activated carbon is an effective technology to remove OMPs from different water matrices. To efficiently design or operate the adsorption process, the adsorption of OMPs should be properly assessed, usually with time-consuming batch adsorption tests and sophisticated analyses. In this study, a quick adsorption test method has been developed by loading powdered activated carbon (PAC) into a syringe filter which can be used subsequently to filtrate the water sample in short time (<60 s). Treated wastewater was applied to compare the quick test method and conventional batch test regarding the adsorption of 14 frequently detected OMPs, the abatement of UV 254 , and changes in fractions of dissolved organic matter (DOM). Similar adsorption patterns of individual OMPs, total OMPs, and DOM fractions was found with two methods. UV 254 can predict the removal of total OMPs and most individual OMPs in both methods. Both the abatement of UV 254 or the removal of OMPs determined in the quick test led to a highly accurate prediction of OMP adsorption in the conventional adsorption tests. The novel quick test method thus could help operators and researchers quickly monitor the adsorption capacity of PAC products.