Moody, C.S. orcid.org/0000-0002-0371-7416, Bell, N.G.A., Mackay, C.L. et al. (1 more author) (2025) Spatial and temporal variations in aquatic organic matter composition in UK surface waters. ACS ES&T Engineering, 5 (5). pp. 2233-2243. ISSN 2690-0645
Abstract
Drinking water is becoming more difficult to treat, especially in the UK, due to the changing concentration and composition of aquatic dissolved organic matter (DOM). The spatial and temporal variations in the DOM composition are not well understood. This study investigated how DOM composition varies along a north/south gradient in the UK, over four years, and between headwaters and reservoirs. There were trends in DOM composition metrics from north to south; carbohydrate and peptide-like compounds were lower in northern sites, while lipid-like compounds were lower further south, suggesting different sources of DOM in north/south catchments. DOM collected in Autumn 2021, after a Summer of low rainfall, was more aromatic, less oxidized, and more diverse than DOM collected in 2018–2020. Decreased lipid content and increased oxy-aromatic content occurred in Autumn, at the end of the plant growing season, when increased rainfall rewets catchments and mobilizes soil OM into surface waters. These seasonal changes in DOM composition coincide with increased DOM concentrations in raw drinking water, leading to more challenges for drinking water treatment, especially as climate change alters rainfall distribution in the UK.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This publication is licensed under CC-BY 4.0 . |
Keywords: | FT-ICR MS, dissolved organic matter, elemental analysis, drinking water treatment, carbon |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/R013365/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 15 Apr 2025 09:30 |
Last Modified: | 04 Jun 2025 19:36 |
Published Version: | https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsestwater.4c011... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acsestwater.4c01113 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:225499 |