Natural organic matter (NOM) is present in source water worldwide, and it is composed of numerous organic compounds produced in natural processes. NOM has been drawing increasing concerns because it not only affects drinking water treatment on many aspects (e.g., the performance of treatment techniques, necessity of advanced treatment, the dose of treatment chemicals, etc.), but also acts as the main precursor of hazardous drinking water disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Accordingly, to optimize treatment processes and to control the formation of DBPs, it is vital to analyze and characterize NOM for a better understanding of its property and reactivity. In this review, a summary of methods used in NOM analysis and characterization during drinking water treatment was provided, including analysis methods for general parameters (e.g., dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic nitrogen, (specific) ultraviolet absorbance, fluorescence, polarity, and zeta potential) and characterization methods for elemental and structural identification (e.g., elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry). In addition, preparation and pretreatment methods for NOM were also covered in this review, including isolation and concentration methods (reverse osmosis, pressure-reducing evaporation, freeze-drying, and electrodialysis) as well as fractionation methods (size exclusion chromatography, resin fractionation, membrane filtration, polarity rapid assessment, field-flow fractionation, and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography).

全世界的水源中都存在天然有机物（NOM），它由自然过程中产生的多种有机化合物组成。NOM引起了越来越多的关注，因为它不仅在许多方面影响饮用水处理（例如，处理技术的性能，深度处理的必要性，处理化学品的剂量等），而且还成为有害物质的主要前兆。饮用水消毒副产品（DBP）。因此，为了优化处理过程并控制DBP的形成，分析和表征NOM对于更好地了解其性质和反应性至关重要。在这篇综述中，提供了饮用水处理过程中NOM分析和表征方法的摘要，包括一般参数的分析方法（例如，溶解的有机碳，溶解的有机氮，（特定的）紫外线吸收率，荧光，极性和ζ电位）以及用于元素和结构鉴定的表征方法（例如，元素分析，傅里叶变换红外光谱，核磁共振光谱，热解气相色谱法） /质谱，液相色谱/质谱和傅里叶变换离子回旋共振质谱。此外，本综述还介绍了NOM的制备和预处理方法，包括分离和浓缩方法（反渗透，减压蒸发，冷冻干燥和电渗析）以及分馏方法（尺寸排阻色谱，树脂分馏，膜过滤，极性快速评估，流场分馏，