10/4/2018 Improved Temperature Compensation for In Situ Humic-Like and Tryptophan-Like Fluorescence Acquisition in Diverse Water Types …

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Environmental Engineering Science, Ahead of Print

| Original Article

Improved Temperature Compensation for In Situ

Humic-Like and Tryptophan-Like Fluorescence
Acquisition in Diverse Water Types
Wasswa Joseph and Mladenov Natalie

Published Online: 5 Apr 2018 https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2017.0315

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Abstract
The use of in situ uorescence sensors is gaining popularity in water and wastewater treatment and water reuse
industries. Tryptophan-like (TRP-like) uorescence is particularly well suited to tracking uorescent compounds derived
from bacteria as well as a wide range of chemicals of concern for drinking water. Despite the merits of uorescence
sensors, they are affected by environmental factors such as temperature, which can in uence photophysical properties of
uorescence. Although temperature correction factors have been well established for humic-like uorescent dissolved
organic matter (fDOM) sensors, there is a need to assess the suitability of existing temperature compensation models in
diverse water types and derive new corrections that apply speci cally to TRP-like uorescence. Temperature experiments
were conducted using a submersible uorometer and a range of water types, including creek water, water from different
treatment stages at a water reuse facility, synthetic wastewater, and prepared samples containing TRP and fulvic acids.
Results from this study revealed that at low uorescence intensities, no temperature corrections were needed for TRP-like
and fDOM uorescence sensors. For most water types, a published temperature compensation constant for fDOM
uorescence produced a fairly good t to the reference temperature, but had limited applicability for TRP-like
uorescence. The best t to the reference temperature for TRP-like uorescence was achieved using a method to
minimize the root mean square error (RMSE) between modeled and measured TRP-like uorescence. The application of
temperature corrections resulted in a difference of as much as 2500 RFU in water types with high DOC concentrations at
high (>30°C) and low (<10°C) temperatures, which has important implications for the use of uorescence sensors for
source water protection and other monitoring applications in these conditions. For TRP-like uorescence, empirical
relationships and temperature compensation constants were also derived and recommended for samples with varying
tryptophan and organic carbon concentrations.

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