본 연구에서는 pilot 규모의 활성탄 공정을 운전하면서 입상활성탄(granular activated carbon: GAC) 단계에서부터 생물활성탄(biological activated carbon: BAC) 단계로 전환되고 난 후 까지 활성탄 재질별로 유기물 제거능과 미생물 군집특성을 함께 조사하였다. 활성탄 재질별 유기물 흡착능은 석탄계 재질의 활성탄이 가장 우수하였고, bed volume 20,000 이후부터는 3가지 활성탄들이 정성상태에 도달하였다. 부착세균의 생체량과 생산력 또한 석탄계 재질 활성탄에서 가장 높은 것으로 나타났으며, heterotrophic plate count(HPC), eubacteria(EUB), 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole(DAPI) 및 생산력은 각각 $0.95{ imes}10^7{sim}52.4{ imes}10^7$ CFU/g, $3.8{ imes}10^8{sim}134.2{ imes}10^8$ cell/g, $7.0{ imes}10^8{sim}250.2{ imes}10^8$ cell/g 및 $1.2{sim}3.4;mg{cdot}C/m^3{cdot}h$의 범위로 나타났다. 그리고 부착세균의 생체량과 생산력은 모두 bed volume 20,000 이후부터 증가하는 경향을 보였다. 활성탄 재질별 부착세균 생체량과 세균 생산력에 대한 동화가능한 유기탄소(assimilable organic carbon: AOC) 제거율과의 상관성 평가에서는 석탄계 재질 활성탄이 가장 양호한 상관성을 보였으며, 항목별로는 세균 생산력에 대한 상관성이 상대적으로 높은 것으로 나타났다. Fluorescent in situ hybridization(FISH)에 의한 세균군집 구조 조사결과, bed volume 20,000까지는 모든 활성탄에서 $alpha$ 그룹($alpha$-proteobacteria)과 other bacteria가 우점하였고, bed volume 20,000 이상에서는 석탄계 재질 환성탄에서는 $eta$ 그룹($eta$-proteobacteria)과 $gamma$ 그룹($gamma$-proteobacteria)의 우점비율이 상승하였으나, 야자계와 목탄계에서는 $alpha,;eta$ 및 $gamma$ 그룹의 우점비율이 상승하는 것으로 조사되었다.
The purpose of this research is to survey characteristics of microbial community and the removal efficiency of organic materials for biological activated carbon in water treatment plant. Coal based activated carbon retained more attached bacterial biomass on the surface of the activated carbon than the other activated carbon with operating time and materials. The heterotrophic plate count(HPC), eubacteria(EUB) and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole(DAPI) counts were ranged from $0.95{ imes}10^7$ to $52.4{ imes}10^7$ CFU/g, from $3.8{ imes}10^8$ to $134.2{ imes}10^8$ cells/g and from $7.0{ imes}10^8$ to $250.2{ imes}10^8$ cells/g, respectively. The biomass of EUB and DAPI appeared to be much more $10^2$ than HPC, which were increasing in bed volume of 20,000 at the stage of steady-state. The change of microbial community by analyzing fluorescent in situ hybridization(FISH) method with rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes, the dominant group was $alpha$-proteobacteria($alpha$ group) and high G+C content bacteria(HGC) the lowest distributing rate before reaching the bed volume of 20,000. After reaching the bed volume of 20,000, $alpha$ group and other groups of bacteria became decreased, on the other hand, the proportion of both $eta$-proteobacteria($eta$ group) and $gamma$-proteobacteri($gamma$ group) were increasing. Coconut and wood based activated carbons had similar trend with coal based activated carbon, but the rate of $alpha$ group on coal based activated carbon had gradually increased. Bacterial production with the operating period appeared highest in coal based activated carbon at the range of $1.2{sim}3.4;mg-C/m^3{cdot}h$ while the coconut and wood based activated carbon were ranged from 1.1 to 2.6 $mg-C/m^3{cdot}h$ and from 0.7 to 3.5 $mg-C/m^3{cdot}h$ respectively. The removal efficiency of assimilable organic carbon(AOC) showed to be highly correlated with bacterial production. The correlation coefficient between removal efficiency of AOC and bacterial production were 0.679 at wood based activated carbon, 0.291 at coconut based activated carbon and 0.762 at coal based activated carbon, respectively.
