Enhancement of Ultraviolet Disinfection of Wastewater by Low Pressure Water Jet Pretreatment: Effectiveness and Impacts on Bacteria
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 7
Abstract
It has been proven that the concept of using a high pressure water jet (HPWJ) to pretreat wastewater for the enhancement of ultraviolet (UV) disinfection of wastewater is an effective and cost-efficient alternative compared with the widely studied ultrasonic method. This study addresses: (1) the effectiveness of the pretreatment with a low pressure water jet (LPWJ) under similar experimental settings to the previous HPWJ study, (2) the water pressure impacts on bacteria in the treated wastewater, and (3) the difference in electrical energy consumption under treatment with different pressures. The results show that with the tested primary clarifier overflow (PCO), there were no real differences in enhancement of UV disinfection with LPWJ pretreatment operating under a tested pressure range from 0.97 to 6.80 MPa. More than 1 log unit improvement of UV disinfection efficiency can be achieved under all the tested pressures compared with treatment by UV irradiation alone when the UV dose is in the range. The general hypothesis for the enhancement of UV disinfection using a water jet is attributable to two factors: (1) reduction in the particle shield/shadow effects by breaking up the larger particles and (2) reduction in the resistance to UV irradiation by weakening the bacteria. Unfortunately, there is no easy and reliable way to test bacterial viability. In this study, an indirect method was proposed, and corresponding experiments were conducted for an investigation of the impact of water jet force on the bacteria. Results show that for the tested pressure range from 0.97 to 6.80 MPa, there was no confirmation that the bacteria in PCO were weakened after being treated by the water jet. The main function of the water jet pretreatment was to affect a reduction of particle size in the treated water, instead of weakening the bacteria themselves.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The present study was financially supported by Environment Canada. The support received from Doug Doede was greatly appreciated. Thanks to John Gibson for providing access to various testing facilities. The comments by the editor and three anonymous reviewers have also improved the quality of the paper.
References
Blitz, J. (1967). Fundamentals of ultrasonics, Butterworth, London.
Botha, C. J., and Buckley, C. A. (1995). “Disinfection of potable water: The role of hydrodynamic cavitation.” Water Supply, 13(2), 219–229.WASUDN
Caron, E., Chevrefils, G. Jr., Barbeau, B., Payment, P., and Prevost, M. (2007). “Impact of microparticles on UV disinfection of indigenous aerobic spores.” Water Res.WATRAG, 41(19), 4546–4556.
Emerick, R. W., Loge, F. J., Ginn, T., and Darby, J. L. (2000). “Modeling the inactivation of coliform bacteria associated with particles.” Water Environ. Res.WAERED, 72(4), 432–438.
Emerick, R. W., Loge, F. J., Thompson, D., and Darby, J. L. (1999). “Factors influencing ultraviolet disinfection performance—Part II—Association of coliform bacteria with wastewater particles.” Water Environ. Res.WAERED, 71(6), 1178–1187.
Gibson, J. H., Hon, H., Farnood, R., Droppo, I. G., and Seto, P. (2009). “Effects of ultrasound on suspended particle in municipal wastewater.” Water Res.WATRAG, 43(8), 2251–2259.
Gibson, J. H., Yong, D. H. N., Farnood, R. R., and Seto, P. (2008). “A literature review of ultrasound technology and its application in wastewater disinfection.” Water Qual. Res. J. Can.WQRCFA, 43(1), 23–35.
Gogate, P. R. (2002). “Cavitation: an auxiliary technique in wastewater treatment schemes.” Adv. Environ. Res.AERDDP, 6(3), 335–358.
He, C. (2009). “Enhancement of ultraviolet disinfection of wastewater by high pressure water jet pretreatment: Preliminary results and a new approch.” J. Environ. Eng.JOEEDU, 135(10), 936–943.
Henglein, A. (1995). “Chemical effects of continuous and pulsed ultrasound in aqueous solutions.” Ultrason. Sonochem.ULSOER, 2(2), S115.
Kalumuck, K. M., and Chahine, G. L. (2001). “The use of cavitating jets to oxidize organic compounds in water.” Fourth Int. Symp. on Cavitation, Pasadena, CA.
Kalumuck, K. M., Chahine, G. L., Hsiao, C.-T., and Choi, J.-K. (2003). “Remediation and disinfection of water using jet generated cavitation.” Fifth Int. Symposium on Cavitation (CAV 2003), Osaka, Japan.
Keil, F. J., and Swamy, K. M. (1999). “Reactors for sonochemical engineering—Present status.” Rev. Chem. Eng.RCEGD6, 15(2), 85–155.
Kulikova, N. A., Perminova, I. V., Badun, G. A., Chernysheva, M. G., Koroleva, O. V., and Tsvetkova, E. A. (2010). “Estimation of uptake of humic substances from different sources by Escherichia coli cells under optimum and salt stress conditions by use of tritium-labeled humic materials.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol.AEMIDF, 76(18), 6223–6230.
Lindley, J., and Mason, T. J. (1987). “Use of ultrasound in chemical synthesis.” Chem. Soc. Rev.CSRVBR, 16, 275–311.
Loge, F. J., Emerick, R. W., Health, M., Jacangelo, J., Tchobanoglous, G., and Darby, J. L. (1996). “Ultraviolet disinfection of secondary effluents: Prediction of performance and design.” Water Environ Res.WAERED, 68(5), 900–916.
Loge, F. J., Emerick, R. W., Thompson, D. E., and Darby, J. L. (1999). “Factors influencing UV disinfection performance—Part I—Light penetration into wastewater particles.” Water Environ Res.WAERED, 71(3), 377–381.
Mamane, H., and Linden, K. G. (2006). “Impact of particle aggregated microbes on UV disinfection. I: Evaluation of spore-clay aggregates and suspended spores.” J. Environ Eng. Div.JEEGAV, 132(6), 596–606.
Mason, T. J. (1986). “Use of ultrasound in chemical synthesis.” UltrasonicsULTRA3, 24(5), 245–253.
Mason, T. J. (1999). “Sonochemistry: current uses and future prospects in the chemical and processing industries.” Philos. Trans. R. Soc. APTRMAD, 357(1751), 355–369.
Moholkar, V. S., and Pandit, A. B. (1996). “Harness cavitation to improve processing.” Chem. Eng. Prog.CEPRA8, 92(7), 57–69.
Parker, J. A., and Darby, J. L. (1995). “Particle-associated coliform in secondary effluents: Shielding from ultraviolet light disinfection.” Water Environ. Res.WAERED, 67(7), 1065–1075.
Qualls, R. G. et al. (1985). “Factors controlling sensitivity in ultraviolet disinfection of secondary effluents.” J Water Pollut. Control Fed.JWPFA5, 57(10), 1006–1011.
Roth, B. L., Poot, M., Yue, S. T., and Millard, P. J. (1997). “Bacterial viability and antibiotic susceptibility testing with SYTOX green nucleic acid stain.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol.AEMIDF, 63(6), 2421–2431.
Scheible, O. K., and Bassel, C. D. (1981). “Ultraviolet disinfection in a secondary wastewater treatment plant effluent.” EPA-600/S2-81-152, USEPA.
Shah, Y. T., Pandit, A. B., and Moholkar, V. S. (1999). Cavitation reaction engineering, Plenum, New York.
Sonntag, R. C., and Russel, W. B. (1986). “Structure and breakup of flocs subjected to fluid stresses I. Shear experiments.” J. Colloid Interface Sci.JCISA5, 113(2), 399–413.
Sonntag, R. C., and Russel, W. B. (1987a). “Structure and breakup of flocs subjected to fluid stresses II. Theory.” J. Colloid Interface Sci.JCISA5, 115(2), 378–389.
Sonntag, R. C., and Russel, W. B. (1987b). “Structure and breakup of flocs subjected to fluid stresses III. Converging flow.” J. Colloid Interface Sci.JCISA5, 115(2), 390–395.
Suslick, K. S. et al. (1999). “Acoustic cavitation and its chemical consequences.” Philos. Trans. R. Soc. APTRMAD, 357(1751), 335–353.
Thompson, L. H., and Doraiswamy, L. K. (1999). “Sonochemistry: Science and engineering.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.IECRED, 38(4), 1215–1249.
Von Sonntag, C., Mark, G., Tauber, A., and Schuchmann, H. P. (1999). “OH radicle formation and dosimetry in the sonolysis of aqueous solutions.” Adv. Sonochem.ADSOEN, 5, 109–145.
Ward, R. W., and DeGrave, G.M. (1978). “Residual toxicity of several disinfectants in domestic wastewater.” J. Water Pollut. Control Fed.JWPFA5, 50(1), 46–60.
Whitby, G. E., and Scheible, O. K. (2004). “The history of UV and wastewater.” IUVA News, 6(3), 15–26.
Winward, G. P., Avery, L. M., Stephenson, T., and Jefferson, B. (2008). “Ultraviolet(UV) disinfection of grey water: Particle size effects.” Environ. Technol.ENVTEV, 29(2), 235–244.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 7 • July 2012
Pages: 796 - 803
Copyright
© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 29, 2011
Accepted: Jan 6, 2012
Published ahead of production: Jan 9, 2012
Published online: Jun 15, 2012
Published in print: Jul 1, 2012
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.