Odorous compounds in the influent of a reclaimed water treatment plant （RWTP）, consisting of coagulation, sedimentation, continuous micro-filtration （CMF）, and chlorination in succession, in a north China city, were identified by combining flavor profile analysis （FPA） with sensory gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry （GC-MS）. The sewery/swampy/septic odor with an odor intensity of 6.4 was found to be the major odor group in the RWTP influent, and the existence of well-known odorant including dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, indole and skatole were confirmed using GC-MS. The result of a spiking test showed that the intensity （3.6） of the sewery/swampy/septic odor caused by these four chemicals contributed to over 50% of the odor intensity of the influent. The FPA intensity for sewery/swampy/septic odor in the RWTP effluent was 3.8, showing that the treatment process was not efficient for the removal of odorants, particularly indole and skatole.
Zhiming Yan Yu Zhang Jianwei Yu Hongying Yuan Min Yang
