Wastewater dissolved organic matter （DOM） from different processing stages of a sewage treatment plant in Xiamen was characterized using fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy. Parallel factor analysis modeling of excitation-emission matrix spectra revealed five fluorescent components occurring in sewage DOM： one protein-like （C1）, three humic-like （C2, C4 and C5） and one xenobiotic-like （C3） components. During the aerated grit chamber and primary sedimentation tank stage, there was only a slight decrease in fluorescence intensity and the absorption coefficient at 350 nm （a 350 ）. During the second aeration stage, high concentration of protein-like and short-wavelength-excited humic-like components were significantly degraded accompanied by significant loss of DOC （80%） and a 350 （30%）, indicating that C1 and C2 were the dominant constituents of sewage DOM. As a result, long-wavelength- excited C4 and C5 became the dominant humic-like components and the DOM molecular size inferred from the variation of spectral slope S （300–650 nm） and specific absorption （a 280 /DOC） increased. Combination use of F max of C1 and the ratio of C1/C5, or a 350 may provide a quantitative indication for the relative amount of raw or treated sewage in aquatic environment.
Weidong GuoJing XuJiangping WangYingrou WenJianfu ZhuoYuchao Yan
