The carcinogenic nitrogenous disinfection by-product, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), is challenging to adsorb due to its high polarity and solubility. Our previous research demonstrated that the adsorptive removal of NDMA can be improved using surface-modified activated carbon (AC800). The current study evaluated the efficacy of AC800 in removing NDMA in a continuous-flow column over 75 days, using both granular activated carbon (GAC) and biologically activated carbon (BAC) columns. The AC800 GAC column demonstrated extended breakthrough and exhaustion times of 10 days and 22 days, respectively, compared to the conventional GAC column at 4 days and 10.5 days. The surface modification effect persisted for 25 days before the removal trends became indistinguishable. The AC800 BAC column outperformed the conventional BAC column with a longer breakthrough time of 11.3 days compared to 7.4 days. BAC columns consistently showed greater NDMA removal, emphasizing the role of biodegradation in NDMA removal on carbon. The higher NDMA removal in the inoculated columns was attributed to increased microbial diversity and the dominance of six specific genera, Methylobacterium, Phyllobacterium, Curvibacter, Acidovorax, Variovorax, and Rhodoferax. This study provides new insights into using modified activated carbon as GAC and BAC media in a real-world continuous-flow setup.

致癌的含氮消毒副产物N-亚硝基二甲胺 (NDMA) 由于其高极性和溶解度而难以吸附。我们之前的研究表明，使用表面改性活性炭（AC800）可以改善 NDMA 的吸附去除。当前的研究使用颗粒活性炭 (GAC) 和生物活性炭 (BAC) 柱评估了 AC800 在连续流动柱中去除 NDMA 75 天的功效。与传统 GAC 柱（4 天和 10.5 天）相比，AC800 GAC 柱的突破时间和耗尽时间分别延长了 10 天和 22 天。表面改性效果持续 25 天，然后去除趋势变得难以区分。AC800 BAC 色谱柱的性能优于传统 BAC 色谱柱，其突破时间为 11.3 天，而传统 BAC 色谱柱的突破时间为 7.4 天。BAC 柱始终表现出更高的 NDMA 去除率，强调了生物降解在碳上 NDMA 去除中的作用。接种柱中较高的 NDMA 去除率归因于微生物多样性的增加以及六个特定属（甲基杆菌属、叶杆菌属、曲线杆菌属、酸食菌属、Variovorax 属和红铁菌属）的优势。这项研究提供了在现实世界的连续流设置中使用改性活性炭作为 GAC 和 BAC 介质的新见解。