A filtration and column-adsorption system for onsite concentration and fractionation of organic substances from large volumes of water

A portable filtration and column-adsorption system which can concentrate suspended sediment and dissolved-aqueous organic substances onsite was developed. Organic solutes also are fractionated into hydrophobic- and hydrophilic-acid, base, and neutral fractions. Subsequent isolation of organic solutes from fraction concentrates and extraction of organic constituents in suspended sediment entrained on filter tubes is performed by a variety of procedures in the laboratory. Three surface-water samples and one ground-water sample ranging in volume from 300 to 1,100 liters were processed through the filtration and column-adsorption system, yielding from about 0.8 to 3.0 grams of recovered organic carbon per sample.