AOPs with ozone and UV radiation in drinking water: contaminants removal and effects on disinfection byproducts formation

In this study, the advanced oxidation with ozone and UV radiation (with two low pressure UV lamps, at 254 and 185 nm wavelength) were experimented on a surface water in order to study the removal of two odorous compounds (geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol) and a pesticide (metolachlor), the influence on organic compounds (UV absorbance and THM precursors) and bromate formation. Different batch tests were performed with ozone concentration up to 10 mg/L, UV dose up to 14,000 J/m2 and a maximum contact time of 10 minutes. The main results show that metolachlor can be efficiently removed with ozone alone while for geosmin and MIB a complete removal can be obtained with the advanced oxidation of ozone (with concentration of 1.5–3 mg/L and contact time of 2–3 minutes) with UV radiation (with doses of 5,000–6,000 J/m2). As concerns the influence on the organic precursors, all the experimented processes show a medium removal of about 20–40% for UV absorbance and 15–30% for THMFP (trihalomethanes formation potential). As concerns bromate formation, the advanced oxidation of ozone/UV 254 nm shows a bromate formation that is about 40% lower with respect to conventional oxidation with ozone.