OXIDATION OF EDCs AND PHARMACEUTICALS IN REUSE WATER

Ozone is a proven technology for the oxidation of variety of organic contaminants in water. Advanced oxidation processes using hydroxyl radical chemistry also have been shown to oxidize a great diversity of contaminants. This study was initiated to determine the effectiveness of ozone and ozone/peroxide AOP for disinfection of tertiary treated wastewater. A desirable ancillary benefit of ozone processes is the oxidation of trace contaminants at disinfection doses. Ozone and ozone/peroxide were applied to tertiary treated wastewater during two seasons to determine the efficacy of disinfection and simultaneous contaminant oxidation. Results clearly demonstrate that ozone and ozone AOP are highly effective for the removal of a great number of organic contaminants. Moreover, estrogenicity as determined by an in vitro bioassay was also destroyed by ozone and advanced oxidation. Contaminant destruction was not significantly enhanced by the addition of peroxide for AOP as compared to ozone alone. Some microcontaminants were found to be resilient to oxidation. The contaminants include: TCEP (a flame-retardant), meprobamate (an anti-anxiety pharmaceutical), musk ketone (a synthetic fragrance), and iopromide (an x-ray contrast media).