Removal of micropollutants from Sakarya River water by ozone and membrane processes Fatma Büşra Yaman & Mehmet Çakmakcı & Ebubekir Yüksel & İsmail Özen & Erhan Gengeç Received: 22 April 2016 /Accepted: 18 July 2017 # Springer International Publishing AG 2017 Abstract The removal of some pollutants in the Sakar- ya River was investigated in this study. Sakarya River located in Turkey flows from the northeast of Afyonka- rahisar City to the Black Sea. Nineteen different micropollutants including trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), endocrine disrupting com- pound (EDC) and pharmaceuticals personal care prod- uct (PPCP) groups, and water quality parameters such as dissolved organic carbon (DOC), ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm wavelength (UV 254 ), hardness, and conduc- tivity values were examined. To remove the micropollutants and improve the water quality, the treatment was performed with ozone, microfiltration (MF), and ultra-filtration (UF) membranes. The highest treatment efficiency was obtained with 1 mg/L ozone dosage and UP005 UF membrane. The trihalomethan formation potential (THMFP) and haloacetic acid for- mation potential (HAAFP) decreased with ozone + membrane at a concentration of 79 and 75%, respective- ly. After the treatment with ozone + membrane, the concentration of the micropollutants in the EDC and PPCP group remained below the detection limit. It was found that by using only membrane and only ozone, the maximum DOC removal efficiency achieved was 46 and 18%, respectively; and with ozone + membrane, this efficiency increased up to 82%. The results from the High-Pressure Size Exclusion Chromatography (HPSEC) analyses pointed that the substances with high molecular weight were converted into substances with low molecular weight after the treatment. The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis results showed that the aromatic and aliphatic functional groups in water changed after the treatment with ozone and that the peak values decreased more after the ozone + membrane treatment. Keywords Disinfection by-products . Endocrine disrupting compounds . Pharmaceuticals personal care products . Membrane . Ozone Introduction Surface and groundwaters are used to supply drinking water. Even if drinking water is of high quality, Environ Monit Assess (2017) 189:438 DOI 10.1007/s10661-017-6128-7 F. B. Yaman (*) : M. Çakmakcı Department of Environmental Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey e-mail: fbyaman@yildiz.edu.tr M. Çakmakcı e-mail: cakmakci1974@gmail.com E. Yüksel : İ. Özen Department of Environmental Engineering, Gebze Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey E. Yüksel e-mail: yuksel@gyte.edu.tr İ. Özen e-mail: analitikcozumler@hotmail.com E. Gengeç Department of Environmental Engineering, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey e-mail: erhangen@hotmail.com