| This work deals with the analysis of Natural Organic Matter (NOM) in wastewaters. The introduction of this work (Chapter 1) is a general literature review on NOM in natural water, the concepts of NOM, the major findings, the shortcomings of fluorescence analysis on NOM, and how it has been linked to traditional chemistry and other parameters, such as the impact of bacteria in solution. Our specific applications and experimental parts are distinct from one another and are grouped separately into separate chapters (articles), designed to be sent for publication.;For the first paper (Chapter 2), samples were collected bi-weekly from a Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) for a period of 16 months. These samples were analysed with a spectrofluorometer to monitor the variations in the fluorescent NOM. The monitored components include humic-like (C1), fulvic-like (C2) and protein-like (C3) material. The allochtonous matter (C1 & C2) is related to compounds originating from the natural environment, whereas the autochtonous matter (C3) is associated to anthropogenic activity. The differences in signal intensity between the incoming raw sewage (RS) samples and the outgoing effluent (E) samples were measured and used to determine the efficacy of the WWTP process. Furthermore, additional information was collected from the WWTP monthly and annual reports, and the Canadian National Climate Data and Information Archive to examine any potential link between the optical components mentioned above and the more traditional chemical and environmental data.;In the second paper (Chapter 3), three different types of solutions were analysed to assess the effects that bacteria have on the wastewater NOM under incubation. Since wastewater is assumed to carry more bacterial biodiversity than the average natural aquatic system, it was expected that the effects would be amplified. The first sample consisted of filtered wastewater (0.45 mum filter), the second sample was wastewater left in its original state, and the third sample consisted of filtered wastewater, spiked with a highly concentrated solution of wastewater bacteria. The fluorescent NOM monitored in this experiment were the humic-like (Cl), fulvic-like (C2), tryptophan-like (C3-tryp) and tyrosine-like (C3-tyr) components. The samples were monitored during three separate 96 hour trial periods.;These experiments were aimed at determining how conditions affect each individual NOM component. The results demonstrated differences in NOM fluorescent properties which could be assigned to both the wastewater treatment process and the presence of larger amounts of bacteria in solution. Synopses of both the aforementioned works, and a list of contributions to other scientific projects, are summarized in the final section (Chapter 4). |
