Water Innovation Project funding in York includes the Lake Simcoe/The Regional Municipality of York Pilot Plant, which will include pilot testing of advanced oxidation for removal of micro pollutants from municipal waste water in collaboration with the University of Toronto. Advanced oxidation technologies have been shown to effectively remove various micro pollutants from water including pharmaceuticals, personal care products and pesticides.

The panel included Shane Snyder of the U of Arizona, Chuck Graf of the Arizona DEQ and Guy Carpenter, a water reuse proponent and engineer. Dr. Snyder indicated that there is no litmus test to say for sure of the water is safe and that a risk analysis needs to be done. Mr. Graf felt that the risk was minimal. Mr Carpenter noted that there has been no evidence to date that reclaimed water is causing problems.

The application discussed at the meeting, snow making only creates casual human contact. Studies with mice and other mammals indicate that there is no apparent risk from this use.

Last year, Flagstaff got about 40 percent of its total water supply from Lake Mary, another 40 percent from underground wells and about 20 percent by treating waste water. That waste water is used for golf courses (the biggest consumer), manufacturing and construction, but the majority of this water is sent down the Rio de Flag in central Flagstaff and east Flagstaff, where it ultimately becomes part of the groundwater supply.

A University of Minnesota study finding one of the more advanced sewage treatment plants in the country was releasing material found in drug-resistant bacteria that can sometimes be fatal for people, including Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). No live bacteria were found, however. Public health experts said the finding from Minnesota was noteworthy and that few facilities nationwide were subject to testing that would detect the so-called “superbugs.”

It seems likely that the use of reclaimed water will likely require additional testing and more sophisticated treatment in the future. New treatment will likely involve the use of advanced oxidation processes and ozone to insure that micro pollutants and super bugs do not reach people. Studies of these techniques indicate that they are indeed effectively in cleaning up the water.

The process calls for the raw sewage flows into a large screen to remove major solids, then into a tank where bacteria eat more solids, then into what’s called a “clarifier” where more solids separate from the water, and then into an oxygen-free zone that further removes solids. The wastewater next gets filtered through sand. This is followed by advanced oxidation process (AOP) using ozone and peroxide. After AOP, the wastewater will be sent to membrane filtration and finally ultraviolet treatment.

Construction is planned to start in about a year.

You can register for the event at www.io3a.org. Spartan Environmental Technologies hopes to see you there.

Samples of wastewater were taken from seven wastewater-processing plants in Arizona. Tests showed that both anaerobic and aerobic biological batch reactors showed no significant decrease in the amount of sucralose present. Chlorine, ozone, and ultraviolet light sometimes used in the final stages of wastewater treatment were also not effective at breaking down sucralose.

It might be possible to break down compounds using advanced oxidation processes. Some of these processes have been used in projects aimed at reclaiming municipal wastewater for a variety of applications, including indirect drinking water use. The hydroxyl radical formed in these processes have been shown to degrade virtually all organic compounds including chlorinated organics. On the other hand, sucralose’s resistance to degradation also keeps it from breaking down into highly toxic chlorinated compounds. So its impact on the environment may be muted.

The process combines ozone and hydrogen peroxide to produce the hydroxyl radical, the most powerful oxidant available for water treatment. A joint development project now being conducted by Teijin and PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, has demonstrated that the process significantly reduces persistent pollutants such as pharmaceutical residue and endocrine-disrupting compounds.

The water-soluble organic solvent 1,4-dioxane dissolves numerous organic materials, making it suitable for a wide range of industrial applications. However, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified the solvent in category 2B (possibly carcinogenic), and in 2009 Japan’s Ministry of the Environment set the standard for 1,4-dioxane in wastewater at 0.05mg/l or less.

Both biologically and chemically stable, 1,4-dioxane requires the use of special degrading bacteria for biological treatment. Adsorption is difficult in treatments that use activated carbon, and the substance is hard to break down even with oxidation treatments that use ozone. In view of the extreme difficulty of treating 1,4-dioxane, the Japanese government is carefully considering the introduction of discharge regulations in the near future.

Low Cost Treatment Technologies for Small Scale Water Reclamation Plants (WRF-06-008)
This study identifies and evaluates established and innovative technologies that provide treatment of flows of less than one million gallons per day. The report includes an extensive cost database, where the cost and operation data from existing small-scale wastewater treatment and water reuse facilities have been gathered and synthesized.

Oxidative Treatments of Organics in Membrane Concentrates (WRF-05- 010)
The use of membrane processes for wastewater treatment and reuse is rapidly expanding, especially the use of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. The goal of this study was to develop an oxidation process for removing organics in membrane concentrates. While previous projects have focused on issues associated with inorganic salts, utilities have few resources to treat organics or microbiological organisms present in membrane concentrates.

Reaction Rates and Mechanisms of Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) for Water Reuse (WRF-04-017)
The main objective of this study was to develop a better understanding of the water-based free radical chemistry in the destruction of organic microconstituents. The long-term goal of research of this nature is to provide the data necessary to develop kinetic models that describe the underlying chemistry for advanced oxidation process applications.

Atrazine, a known endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) and the main ingredient in about 40 name-brand herbicides, is showing up in drinking water supplies, causing concern among regulatory agencies throughout the United States. Herbicides often move with rainwater from the point of application to nearby bodies of water, such as reservoirs, ponds and lakes, eventually finding their way into drinking water supplies.

The ozone/peroxide advanced oxidation system can help meet disinfection requirements while also destroying trace contaminants and minimizing the formation of by-products, such as bromate, making it ideal for drinking water applications, as well as water reuse and process water clean-up.

The process injects and mixes ozone and hydrogen peroxide to maximize the production of hydroxyl free radicals—one of the most powerful oxidants available for water treatment—to treat various compounds. AOP is significantly more efficient than ozone alone with respect to both ozone dose and reaction time, enabling lower operating costs and improved performance with a smaller equipment footprint.

ESCO International installed and successfully tested its high performance advanced oxidation process, the CATADOX, for the reclaim and reuse of 300 m3/h of process water containing up of 20 ppm of TOC (total organic carbon). The reduction target was met thanks to the high performance of the advanced oxidation system design and as a result the company saves up to 2.6 millions m3 of water per year.

On site optimization of the advanced oxidation process (AOP) operating parameters was successfully carried out in order to meet the required TOC reduction of 75%. As a result, ESCO International designed and supplied a new advanced oxidation plant to treat 600 m3/h of water for TOC reduction.

ESCO International offers full scale ozone and advanced oxidation processes (AOP) for water and gas treatment applications. Our advanced oxidation processes are most often used to treat challenging and specific organic compounds from water and cost effectively reduces TOC and hard COD.

Advanced oxidation processes can efficiently treat a wide range of recalcitrant & bio-toxic organic contaminants, Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs), Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCP), Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), hard COD and is very effective against new and challenging applications such as TOC reduction.

ESCO International provides an innovative portfolio of technical services and equipment, specializing in Ozone, UV systems and engineered advanced oxidation processes for water, gas effluents and odor treatment.

Spartan Environmental Technologies is ESCO’s North American marketing partner for the CATADOX Process