Issue 3, 2016

Emerging investigators series: prediction of trace organic contaminant abatement with UV/H2O2: development and validation of semi-empirical models for municipal wastewater effluents

Abstract

Recent evaluations of potable reuse treatment trains suggest that the use of UV and UV/H2O2 may become increasingly common, particularly in systems employing ozone and/or biofiltration. This study provides a summary of photolysis rate constants and ˙OH rate constants and demonstrates the applicability of semi-empirical relationships predicting ˙OH exposure and trace organic contaminant (TOrC) abatement with UV/H2O2 in matrices with low UV transmittance (e.g., <80%). The data are based on bench-scale experiments with 17 target compounds in 10 laboratory-filtered secondary wastewater effluents. As an alternative to ˙OH exposure measurements with probe compounds, three different approaches for considering the impacts of matrix-specific ˙OH scavenging on TOrC abatement are proposed: (1) estimation of R˙OH,UV (i.e., ˙OH exposure per UV dose); (2) estimation of kUV/DOC, the pseudo first order rate constant based on the UV/DOC (dissolved organic carbon) ratio; and (3) assessment of TOrC abatement based on differential UV254 absorbance or fluorescence. The level of laboratory investment varies with each approach, but there is a tradeoff in the accuracy of the predictions and whether they typically overestimate or underestimate actual TOrC abatement.

Graphical abstract: Emerging investigators series: prediction of trace organic contaminant abatement with UV/H2O2: development and validation of semi-empirical models for municipal wastewater effluents

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 2 2016
Accepted
14 4 2016
First published
15 4 2016

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2016,2, 460-473

Emerging investigators series: prediction of trace organic contaminant abatement with UV/H2O2: development and validation of semi-empirical models for municipal wastewater effluents

D. Gerrity, Y. Lee, S. Gamage, M. Lee, A. N. Pisarenko, R. A. Trenholm, U. von Gunten and S. A. Snyder, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2016, 2, 460 DOI: 10.1039/C6EW00051G

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