Development and optimization of analytical methods for the detection of 18 taste and odor compounds in drinking water utilities

Taste and odor (T&O) issues have been a major concern among drinking water utilities as source waters are becoming increasingly vulnerable to compounds released during algal blooms as well as non-algal compounds. While most of the literature focuses on the two most common T&O compounds – 2-MIB and geosmin, there are other compounds that have the potential to cause T&O events. The aim of this study was to develop an advanced analytical method using solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) to identify 18 T&O compounds belonging to various odor classes. The developed method was optimized for the 18 analytes and implemented to determine the holding time of the compounds in raw and treated (distribution system point-of-entry or PoE) drinking water matrices. Compounds belonging to certain classes such as pyrazines and anisoles were found to be “stable” (< 30% loss) in all tested waters for up to two weeks, while aldehydes, ketones, esters and alkyl sulfides showed > 30% loss within 96 h in raw water. Preservation of samples at low pH (< 2) using hydrochloric acid increased the holding times and reduced losses within 96 h for aldehydes, ketones and esters. The paper also discusses the occurrence of these compounds with water utilities from the Midwest and Eastern US during the summer months. The study detected eight T&O compounds - 2-MIB, geosmin, β-cyclocitral, β-ionone, hexanal, indole, dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide. While five compounds were detected above their threshold concentrations in the raw water, two of them (2-MIB and geosmin) were detected above threshold in the PoE samples.