For the Treatment of Drinking Water
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THE APPLICATIOD NAN EFFICIENC "MIXEF YO D OXIDANTS" FOR THE TREATMEN DRINKINF TO G WATER JC Geldenhuys WRC Repor 832/1/0o tN 0 SCdlil//PI <oiir°/r°lrTMi o J,k3>!OHQQ> 25V -0 . I^Bie Disclaimer This report emanates from a project financed by the Water Research Commission (WRC) and is I.1, approve publicationr dfo . Approval doe t signifno s y tha contente th t s necessarily reflec viewe th t s and policies of the WRC or the members of the project steering committee, nor does mention of trade name commerciar so l products constitute endorsemen recommendatior o t user nfo . Vrywaring Hierdie verslag sprui t n navorsingsproje' voor t ui t t deu e Waternavorsingskommissiwa kdi r e (WNK) gefinansie goedgekeun e s i r r publikasievi s i r . Goedkeuring beteke noodwendie nni t gda die inhoud die siening en beleid van die WNK of die lede van die projek-loodskomitee weerspieél t meldinda nie f handelsnamo n , gva gebruir vi f -war eo K ke goedgekeuWN deu e rdi f aanbeveeo r l word nie. THEÍ APPLICATION AND EFFICIENCY OF "MIXED OXIDANTS" FOR THE TREATMENT OF DRINKING WATER Final report to the W ATER RESEARCH COMMISSION by J.C. Geldenhuys LIBRARC YIR 93190x PO Bo HAGUE , 250TH FD 9A S9 O68 0 3 0 7 Tel. 1 :+3 Fax: +31 70 35 899 64 BARCODE 7/ : 3 , - LO: ' 6 WRC Repor . 832/1/0tNo 0 ISBN No. 1 86845 691 9 Executive Summary Ongoing research into new technologies is required to develop less expensive water treatment processes without sacrificing water quality. The proces area e disinfectiof sth o f so tha e ton need s examinene i b o st d continuousl fino yt d more efficient disinfectants against presently known micro-organisms and the potentially harmful ones that are discovered. In addition, growing concern chlorinf o se abouus e wittth potentialls hit y harmful by-products place greater emphasis on the need for water utilities to investigate water disinfection alternatives to chlorination. A seemingly advanced technology, new to Western practice but utilised for some time Eastermane n i th f w yo nno bloc states receives ha , d much acclai generalatee mf o Th . l conceps ti that of an electrolytic cell and electrolyte used to generate amounts of anolyte and catholyte, said to contai varietna oxidantsf yo mixture ,th whicf eo referrehs i "mixes a o dt d oxidants" oxidante .Th s include amongst others, chlorine, chlorine dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, ozon hydroxyd ean l radicals. This technolog purporteys i presendo t followine tth g advantages over present disinfection methods: • The efficiency of the oxidants produced is, by mass, higher than that of chlorine; • Oxidant mixture producee b n sca d on-site using only electricit sodiud yan m chloride; • Oxidant concentratio compositiod nan adjustee b y nma d accordin specifigo t c needsd an ; residuaA • l ma maintainee yb producn di t water. Although there is no record of the large-scale application of this technique in water disinfection, it could be considered as a means of primary disinfection on small water treatment plants and to augment depleted disinfectant concentration distribution si n systems. Chlorinatio varioun i s forms si regarded as a reliable, cost-effective method for disinfecting water for drinking purposes. It is used on small, remote plants and on large-scale sophisticated drinking water treatment plants. However in remote areas the application of chlorine presents problems where difficulties such as the following, may exist. These and other reasons may give impetus into investigating other disinfectants. • Distance from the place of chlorine manufacture • Transport and delivery schedules are unreliable or non-existent; • Lac f sufficienko t expertis propee th n eo r dosin chlorinf go e (especiall f gaseouyo s chlorine); qualite Th chlorinf yo • obtaines ega d causes problem poine th dosingf t o ts a . Definitive research is required into the evaluation of the application of mixed oxidant technology for treatmene th drinkinf o t g water, especiallremotn i e us er areay fo primara s sa y disinfectant. The objectives of this research project were as follows: evaluato T • relativelea concepw yne t that coul usee disinfectiodr b dfo watef no r supplied to small and rural communities; and • To make recommendations on the application of mixed oxidants and the possible benefits and shortcomings of such a system. Conclusions The results obtained in this study confirm that there are aspects of the production of mixed oxidants that are not well understood and therefore not well defined either. There also seems to be an overlap between the new emerging science of electrochemical activation of water (EGA) and the electrochemical formation of mixed oxidant solutions by electrolytic means. The results and affects claime achievee b applicatioe o dth t y db f EGno A technology sometimes border metae th n -so physica enougt no d hlan conclusive evidenc availables i eitheeo t r suppor discarr to claime dth s made. Since only two different Electrochemical Activation (EGA) devices were examined, and both posed developer o d operational problems durin testse gth woult ,i d unfai mako rt e comment othey an rn so EGA device available sb thay tma e commerciall functionine th n o r yo improve f go d model thoss sa e Ill that were tested. Results obtained however indicate that despit e operationath e l problems experienced thapossibles i t ti , redobasee th n xdo potentia solutione th f lo produco ,t anolytn ea f eo consistent quality. Reproducibility of the results was good and it can be expected that this aspect of the performance of the mixed oxidant generators could be equaled or improved in devices which are of better design and construction. This aspect was not only important for the execution of the tests which were done woult ,bu d significanf also e ob t importanc commerciaf ei mixea f o de oxidanlus t generator had to be considered. Redox potential of the anolyte taken over a period of time showed tha decaoxidative e tth th yn i teste poweth coult sn i i slos kepd e dwrwa b an t constant long enough exposo t bacterie eth solutioo at n wit hknowa n redox value. The possible applicatio mixef no d oxidant disinfectanta s sa investigateds wa , . Although cars ewa experimente taketh n ni preservo st mixee eth d oxidant (anolyte) solutio harveso nt totae th t l potential oxidative power, and the possible synergistic effects of all the oxidants present, its effect did not significantly exceed that of chlorine. This was in spite of the fact that the anolyte vapours, and presumably the anolyte solution as well, contained other strong oxidants such as ozone and hydrogen peroxide. It was also confirmed that the catholyte solution did not contain chlorine at concentrations that would have significant microbiocidal properties. This fact is also supported by the low or negative redox potential measure catholytee th n di . Results from batch experiments show that the greatest reduction in the bacterial numbers took place within the first minute. In most cases both the anolyte and chlorine killed more than 99% of the bacteria present durin firse gth t minut f exposureeo . Increased contac t significantlt no tim d edi y reduc numbere e th bacteri e batcth e f furthersth y o l haan al test n averagI e . sth e percentage reduction in bacterial numbers were 99,5 anolyt97,8e d th 5 an r chlorind 4fo ean e solution respectively after five minutes contact time. The overall percentage reduction in the continuous flow tests were 99,85 for the anolyte and 99,61 for the chlorine. It can therefore be concluded that under the test conditions that prevailed that the mixed oxidant generators examine product no d ddi e anolyte solution spropertiee witth l hal claimes sa literaturedn i . unite Th s product testeno d ddi eproduca t that behaved significantly differently from chlorine either. IV Although it seems as though mixed oxidant solutions of consistent quality can be produced from Electrochemical Activation (EGA) devices improvementd an , functionine th n s i equipmen e th f go t ca expectee nb sucf o e hfuturen d i disinfectanus e th , t generator rurae th ln s i area s would probably no practicale tb wits .A h other electrolytic chlorine generator reliablsa e electricity sourc essentiaes i l whilst, in most rural areas this cannot be guaranteed. The availability of high purity sodium chloride mixee th n di e oxidanus o t t generato alsy orma presen problema t furtheA . r problem e coulth e db disposal of the alkaline catholyte solution of which a volume equal to about one sixth of the volume of the anolyte, is produced. Recommendations for future research The following aspecte generatioth f o s d applicatioan n f mixeo n d oxidants warrant further investigation: • Examine and understand the principle of operation of the mixed oxidant generator. • Develop methods to analyse for the different oxidative compounds present in the anolyte. • Develop methods to analyse for the different compounds present in the catholyte. • Design of a system in which the mixed oxidant solution can be applied such that full oxidative compoundpotentiae th l al f o l s presen fluivapoure e utilisedwels e th th d a b n s ti a ln sca . • Examine potential non-conventional applications and benefits of mixed oxidants. A membe previousla f ro y disadvantaged population group participate researce th n di thi r hfo s project. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS researce Th thihn i s report emanated fro mprojeca t fundeWatee th y drb Research Commission entitled: THE APPLICATION AND EFFICCffiNCY OF " MIXED OXIDANTS" FOR THE TREATMEN DRINKINF TO G WATER Steerine Th g Committee responsibl thir efo s project, consiste followine th f do g persons: Dr IM Msibi Water Research Commission (Chairman) GrabK Prof oWO .