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Greywater treatment by UVC/H2O2.
W H Chin1, F A Roddick, J L Harris
1School of Civil, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476V, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia.
Greywater treatment using ultraviolet (UV) C/hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) effectively removed 87% of chemical oxygen demand (COD). This advanced oxidation process also enhanced greywater biodegradability for potential biological treatment.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Water Treatment Technologies
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Greywater contains contaminants that require effective treatment before reuse or discharge.
- Conventional treatment methods may not fully address the chemical oxygen demand (COD) in greywater.
- Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) offer potential for degrading recalcitrant organic pollutants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the efficacy of ultraviolet C (UVC)/hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) from greywater.
- To understand the kinetics and influencing factors of UVC/H2O2 greywater treatment.
- To assess the impact of UVC/H2O2 treatment on the biodegradability of greywater contaminants.
Main Methods:
- Greywater treatment using a combination of settling and UVC/H2O2 irradiation.
- Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) measurements.
- Kinetic analysis of COD removal and evaluation of pH and carbonate concentration effects.
Main Results:
- Achieved an 87% reduction in COD (from 225 to 30 mg/L) using 10 mM H2O2 and 3h UVC irradiation after settling.
- COD removal followed second-order kinetics (r=0.0637[COD][H2O2]) up to 10 mM H2O2.
- Optimized pH for treatment was 10, with effectiveness maintained at carbonate concentrations up to 3 mM (pH 3-5 essential above this).
- Enhanced biodegradability (BOD5:COD ratio increased from 0.22 to 0.41) after 2h of UVC/H2O2 treatment.
Conclusions:
- UVC/H2O2 is a highly effective AOP for greywater COD removal.
- The process significantly improves the biodegradability of residual greywater contaminants.
- UVC/H2O2 treatment shows promise as a pre-treatment step for subsequent biological greywater purification.
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