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Peroxydisulfate-based advanced oxidation process has drawn increasing interest recently. Quenching the residual peroxydisulfate is essential for the accurate measurement of the concentration of target pollutants. However, it was rarely discussed which reductant is best for peroxydisulfate quenching. In this study, how the quenching of peroxydisulfate by four commonly used quenchers (methanol, ascorbic acid, sodium thiosulfate and sodium sulfite) affected the concentration of carbamazepine was investigated. Sodium sulfite reacted with carbamazepine directly, with the highest removal rate up to 39%. Higher carbamazepine removal rate was achieved by peroxydisulfate/sodium sulfite than by sodium sulfite alone. SO3•- and SO5•- rather than SO4•- played the major role in carbamazepine removal by sodium sulfite or peroxydisulfate/sodium sulfite. Methanol was found unable to reduce peroxydisulfate. Ascorbic acid, when used with a concentration more than three times higher than that of peroxydisulfate, was the best quencher with the lowest carbamazepine removal rate observed at a pH range of 3.5-10.0. Sodium thiosulfate was unfit for peroxydisulfate quenching at pH 3.5 as it was decomposed and formed bisulfite under strong acidic condition. The results of this study provided valuable guidance to the selection of proper quenchers for peroxydisulfate-related advanced oxidation processes.

In this study, peroxydisulfate (PDS) was used as electron acceptor to improve the photocatalytic activity of WO

Black TiO2 as a solar-driven photocatalyst has attracted enormous attention from scientists and engineers in water and wastewater treatment field. Most of the methods used for the preparation of black TiO2 are thermal treatment under a hydrogen atmosphere. Nevertheless, it is well known that working with hydrogen is not safe and needs special maintenance. Here, for the first time, we prepared black TiO2 by sintering P25 pellets at different temperatures (500–800 °C) under a vacuum atmosphere that showed the same performance with the prepared black TiO2 under a hydrogen atmosphere. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and ultraviolet–visible deep resistivity sounding techniques. The differences between the formation of oxygen vacancy density and color turning in sintered powder and pellet were also studied. The results showed that th...

As the essential target of disinfection, bacterial materials should also be considered as one type of disinfection by-products precursors (DBPs). This study investigated the disinfection by-products formation potential (DBPFP) of bacterial materials during chlorination and chloramination. The bacterial materials were harvested from mature biofilm developed in remineralized desalinated seawater with different carbon sources. It was observed that calcium and magnesium which were added to desalinated seawater for remineralization could enhance DBPFP of bacterial materials, with magnesium being more effective. The enhancement effect was related to the ability of calcium and magnesium to shift low molecular weight fractions of bacterial materials to more hydrophobic and larger molecular weight fractions. Bacterial materials developed with humic acid as carbon source contained more hydrophobic and larger molecular weight fractions, hence had higher DBPFP than bacterial materials developed with acetate. DBPs yields of bacterial materials were lower than that of NOMs precursor during chlorination, but during chloramination DBPs yields of bacterial materials were higher. The extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) matrix had higher DBPs yield than biofilm cells. Polysaccharide was more likely to be the main DBPs precursor in the EPS matrix.

Controlling of antibiotics is the crucial step for preventing antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) dissemination; UV photocatalysis has been identified as a promising pre-treatment technology for antibiotics removal. However, information about the effects of intermediates present in the treated antibiotics wastewater on the downstream biological treatment processes or ARGs development is very limited. In the present study, continuous UVA/LED/TiO2 photocatalysis removed more than 90% of 100 ppb sulfamethoxazole (SMX)/trimethoprim (TMP), the treated wastewater was fed into SBR systems for over one year monitoring. Residual SMX/TMP (2–3 ppb) and intermediates present in the treated wastewater did not adversely affect SBR performance in terms of TOC and TN removal. SMX and TMP resistance genes (sulI, sulII, sulIII, dfrII, dfrV and dfr13) were also quantified in SBRs microbial consortia. Results suggested that continuous feeding of treated SMX/TMP containing wastewaters did not trigger any ARGs promotion during the one year operation. By stopping the input of 100 ppb SMX/TMP, abundance of sulII and dfrV genes were reduced by 83% and 100%, respectively. sulI gene was identified as the most persistence ARG, and controlling of 100 ppb SMX input did not achieve significant removal of sulI gene. A significant correlation between sulI gene and class 1 integrons was found at the level of p = 1.4E-10 (r = 0.94), and sulII gene positively correlated with the plasmid transfer efficiency (r = 2.442E-10, r = 0.87). Continuous input of 100 ppb SMX enhanced plasmid transfer efficiency in the SBR system, resulting in sulII gene abundance increasing more than 40 times.

Nowadays, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been characterized as an emerging environmental contaminant, as the spread of ARGs may increase the difficulty of bacterial infection treatments. This study evaluates the combination of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and chlorination, the two most commonly applied disinfection methods, on the degradation of sulphonamide resistance sul1 genes. The results revealed that although both of individual UV and chlorination processes were relatively less effective, two of the four combined processes, namely UV followed by chlorination (UV-Cl2) and simultaneous combination of UV and chlorination (UV/Cl2), delivered a better removal rate (up to 1.5 logs) with an observation of synergetic effects up to 0.609 log. The mechanisms analysis found that the difference of DNA size affected sul1 genes degradation by UV and chlorination; targeted genes on larger DNA fragments could be more effectively degraded by UV (1.09 logs for large fragments and 0.12 log for small fragments when UV dose reached 432 mJ/cm2), while to degrade ARGs on smaller DNA fragments required less free chlorine dosage (10 mg/L for small fragments and 40 mg/L for large fragments). The sequential combination of UV and chlorination (UV-Cl2) used the corresponding reactivity of both processes, which could be the reason for the synergetic effect. For UV/Cl2 process, the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) contributed to the synergetic effect. Scavenger analysis showed that the contribution of ROS to the sul1 gene reduction was 0.004 to 0.273 log (up to 45.5 % of the total synergy values), and among the two major reactive species in UV/Cl2 system, HO was the more important radical, while the contribution of Cl was negligible. Besides, UV/Cl2 process also used the corresponding reactivity of both processes to generate the remaining synergy values when excluding the contribution by reactive radicals. These findings provide a thorough understanding of the effects of UV and free chlorine on the degradation of ARGs and indicate the potential to utilize the combined processes of UV and free chlorine in water or wastewater treatment practice to control the dissemination of antibiotic resistance.

In this study, the performance of graphene oxide (GO) in ozonation process was kinetically evaluated using the modified Rct concept since GO may act as initiator, promoter and inhibitor in ozone radical chain reaction. The applicability of the modified Rct concept was demonstrated using different GO suspensions (GO alone, GO/TiO2, GO/Fe3O4, GO/TiO2/Fe3O4) in ozonation process. Results showed that ozone exposure and •OH exposure were found to be higher for GO/Fe3O4 and GO/TiO2/Fe3O4 compared to other GO suspensions, which was almost equivalent to O3/H2O2 process. The determined initiation and inhibition rate constants of GO alone, were 1 fold higher than GO/Fe3O4 and GO/TiO2/Fe3O4, since the GO alone suspension possesses higher O3 decomposition but lower organic degradation because that GO does not yield •OH. Moreover, GO/Fe3O4 suspension, along with natural organic matter (NOM), was proven to be helpful in degrading ibuprofen in ozonation process, but the effect was minimal when compared to O3/H2O2 process. These results exhibited that the surface modified GO suspensions could be utilized as future alternative AOPs.

The role of natural organic matter (NOM) in contaminants removal by photolysis and photocatalysis has aroused increasing interest. However, evaluation of the influence of NOM characteristics on the transformation products (TPs) formation and transformation pathways of contaminants has rarely been performed. This study investigated the decomposition kinetics, mineralization, TPs formation and transformation pathways of antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) during photolysis and photocatalysis in the presence of three commercial NOM isolates (Sigma-Aldrich humic acid (SAHA), Suwannee River humic acid (SRHA) and Suwannee River NOM (SRNOM)) by using UVA light emitting diode (UVA/LED) as an alternative light source. NOM isolates insignificantly affected CIP photolysis but strongly inhibited CIP photocatalysis due to competitive radical quenching. The inhibitory effect followed the order of SAHA (49.6%) > SRHA (29.9%) > SRNOM (21.2%), consistent with their •OH quenching abilities, SUVA254 values and orders of aromaticity. Mineralization rates as revealed by F− release were negatively affected by NOM during CIP photocatalysis. TPs arising from hydroxylation and defluorination were generally suppressed by NOM isolates in UVA/LED and UVA/LED/TiO2 systems. In contrast, dealkylation and oxidation of piperazine ring were promoted by NOM. The enhancement in the apparent formation kinetics (kapp) of TP245, TP291, TP334a, TP334b and TP362 followed the order of SRNOM > SRHA > SAHA. kapp values were positively correlated with O/C ratio, carboxyl content, E2/E3 and fluorescence index (FI) of NOM and negatively related with SUVA254 values. The observed correlations indicate that NOM properties are important in determining the fate and transformation of organic contaminants during photolysis and photocatalysis.

In this research, the formation of bromate and brominated oxidation byproducts (Br-OBPs) by the UVA/TiO2/peroxydisulfate (PDS) process in the presence of bromide was investigated. Bromate formation, undetectable in the UVA/TiO2 and UVA/PDS systems, was found to be significant in the UVA/TiO2/PDS system. The PDS concentration and TiO2 dosage were positively correlated with bromate formation, while the conversion of bromide to bromate was inhibited by the initial concentration of bromide itself. A lag phase was observed when the initial concentration of bromide was 7.0 mg/L. Extreme pH (4 or 10), humic acid, or ammonium completely inhibited the formation of bromate. Chloride, sulfate, and bicarbonate could suppress the bromate formation. Three Br-OBPs were detected in the UVA/TiO2/PDS system spiked with bromide when humic acid was used as the precursor, with a total concentration lower than 4 μg/L. The fluorescence change of humic acid in bromide solution during oxidation by the UVA/TiO2/PDS process could be dissected into three dissimilar components via parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) of excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectra. The results of this study demonstrate that bromate and Br-OBPs formation by the UVA/TiO2/PDS process could be well controlled in the presence of humic acid or ammonium.

Stormwater runoff management is challenging in a highly urbanised tropical environment due to the unique space constraints and tropical climate conditions. A modular bioretention tree (MBT) with a small footprint and a reduced on-site installation time was explored for application in a tropical environment. Tree species used in the pilot studies were Talipariti tiliaceum (TT1) and Sterculia macrophylla (TT2). Both of the MBTs could effectively remove total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), zinc, copper, cadmium, and lead with removal efficiencies of greater than 90%. Total nitrogen (TN) removal was noted to be significantly higher in the wet period compared to the dry period (p &lt, 0.05). Variation in TN removal between TT1 and TT2 were attributed to the nitrogen uptake and the root formation of the trees species. A field study MBT using Talipariti tiliaceum had a very clean effluent quality, with average TSS, TP, and TN effluent EMC of 4.8 mg/L, 0.04 mg/L, and 0.27 mg/L, respectively. Key environmental factors were also investigated to study their impact on the performance of BMT. It was found that the initial pollutant concentration, the dissolved fraction of influent pollutants, and soil moisture affect the performance of the MBT. Based on the results from this study, the MBT demonstrates good capability in the improvement of stormwater runoff quality.

For photocatalytic degradation of organic pharmaceutical pollutants in wastewater, an important limitation is low photonic efficiency. To solve this problem, using periodic illumination is a good option. However, due to the nature of widely applied traditional mercury lamp, which cannot be turned on and off efficiently, the study of periodic illumination was limited. In this research, ultraviolet-A/light emitting diode (UVA/LED) lamp was introduced and a TiO 2 /UVA/LED photocatalytic system was setup for acetaminophen (Ace) degradation study. The background study was conducted, which included the effects of H 2 O 2 , humic acid and bicarbonate ion concentrations. Different periodic pulse frequencies were applied, results in this study shows that smallest duty cycle (0.2) and shortest cycle time (20 ms) gave the highest photonic efficiency for photocatalytic degradation of Ace in the studied range. The effect of additional H 2 O 2 was also studied. H 2 O 2 added into the heterogeneous reaction system enhanced both decomposition rate and photonic efficiency under both continuous illumination mode and periodic illumination mode. The enhancement effect of H 2 O 2 , however, was found more obvious for controlled periodic illumination, especially for small duty cycles and short cycle times. In addition, by the addition of H 2 O 2 , the mineralization of Ace was accelerated probably due to the increase of hydroxyl radical concentration.

In this study, continuous LED/UVA/TiO2 photocatalytic decomposition of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and trimethoprim (TMP) was investigated. More than 90% of SMX and TMP were removed within 20min by the continuous photoreactor (with the initial concentration of 400ppb for each). The removal rates of SMX and TMP decreased with higher initial antibiotics loadings. SMX was much easier decomposed in acidic condition, while pH affected little on TMP's decomposition. 0.003% was found to be the optimum H2O2 dosage to enhance SMX photocatalytic decomposition. Decomposition pathways of SMX and TMP were proposed based on the intermediates identified by using LC-MS-MS and GC-MS. Aniline was identified as a new intermediate generated during SMX photocatalytic decomposition. Antibacterial activity study with a reference Escherichia coli strain was also conducted during the photocatalytic process. Results indicated that with every portion of TMP removed, the residual antibacterial activity decreased by one portion. However, the synergistic effect between SMX and TMP tended to slow down the antibacterial activity removal of SMX and TMP mixture. Chronic toxicity studies conducted with Vibrio fischeri exhibited 13-20% bioluminescence inhibition during the decomposition of 1ppm SMX and 1ppm TMP, no acute toxicity to V. fischeri was observed during the photocatalytic process.

The high content of organics in municipal reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) requires proper treatment. Here, this study applied the photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) to reduce the concentration of organics in ROC. Meanwhile, the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) was investigated. Participation of primary oxidants in organics removal and DBPs formation was revealed at different anodic potentials and pHs. The results showed that PEC process effectively oxidized the organics in ROC, achieving the highest mineralization rate of 63%. Increasing anodic potential from 0 to 1.0 V enhanced the oxidations of bulk organics (i.e., dissolved organic carbons (DOC), UV254, fluorescence, large molecular weight compounds) and trace-level pharmaceuticals. Raising anodic potential to higher than 1.0 V slightly benefited the oxidations of bulk organics, owing to the relatively stable formation of hydroxyl radicals (OH•) and radical reactive chlorine species (r-RCS). The continuously rising concentration of free chlorine (FC) accelerated the decompositions of pharmaceuticals at ≥ 1.0 V. However, the generated FC raised the concentration of DBPs up to 10.36 μmol/L at 3.0 V. Lowering initial pH from 7-9 to 4-6 improved the mineralization rates by around 20% due to the higher formation of OH• at pH 4-6. Further decreasing initial pH from 6 to 4 enhanced the breakdown of large molecular weight compounds as well as the decomposition of pharmaceuticals. This came from the strengthened formation of FC and r-RCS at lower pHs. The intense participation of FC and r-RCS resulted in a higher total DBP concentration at pH 4-6 than that at pH 7-9. However, the individual species of DBPs changed differently toward the pH shift. The results of this study show that PEC could be an alternative for organics oxidation in ROC with proper control of DBPs formation.

The role of dissolved organic matters (DOM) in the matrix of water on the degradation of refractory pharmaceutical has aroused broad concerns. However, The effect of alpha-hydroxy acids as vulnerable aliphatic acids in the water on the degradation of Carbamazepine (CBZ) has been lack of research. The decomposition kinetics and transformation products (TPs) of CBZ by UV/H2O2 process were studied in the existence of glycolic acid (GA) and lactic acid (LA) and the degradation pathways were proposed. Both GA and LA had significantly negative effects on the decomposition kinetics and mineralization of CBZ by UV/H

In this study, peroxydisulfate (PDS) was used as electron acceptor to improve the photocatalytic activity of WO3. The results indicated that the degradation of carbamazepine by UVA-LED/WO3/PDS process followed pseudo-first order and PDS addition significantly enhanced the degradation rate by inhibiting the recombination of electrons and holes. The observed pseudo-first order rate constant (kobs) was in linear relationship with the dosage of WO3, while inversely proportional to the initial concentration of CBZ. PDS decreased the kobs slightly when its concentration exceeded 0.5 mM. The 365 nm UVA-LED performed much better than 385 nm or 405 nm even though its energy efficiency was the lowest. Based on the steady-state kinetic model, sulfate radical was the dominant radical. The effects of water matrix were complex: bicarbonate ion and humic acid showed strong inhibitory effect; increasing the pH above 7 led to significant drop in CBZ removal; sulfate ion slightly decreased the kobs while 5 mM chloride ion more than doubled the kobs. The interactions between anions and WO3 surface were theoretically analysed to explain the effects of anions. The electrical energy per order values suggest that UVA-LED/WO3/PDS process is suitable for water with low organic carbon.

Phenolic compounds are common ccontaminants in industrial effluents. In this study, a combined catalytic microbubble ozonation and biological process was developed and applied for efficient industrial phenolic wastewater (PWW) treatment. Catalytic activity of an iron-oxides (FeOx) doped granular activated carbon (GAC) catalyst (FeOx@GAC) in microbubble ozonation for PWW treatment was investigated. The results demonstrated that the FeOx@GAC catalyzed microbubble ozonation (O3/FeOx@GAC) obtained significantly higher reaction rate constant (k1 = 0.023 min−1) in TOC removal compared to the bare GAC catalyzed microbubble ozonation (O3/GAC, k1 = 0.013 min−1) and ordinary microbubble ozonation (k1 = 0.008 min−1). Destruction rate constant of phenolic compounds (k2) was improved from 0.014 min−1 (ordinary microbubble ozonation) to 0.025 min−1 (O3/FeOx@GAC). The 60-min pretreatment of PWW by O3/FeOx@GAC process enhanced BOD5/COD ratio from 0.31 to 0.76 and reduced the acute bio-toxicity by 79.2%. Screening and characterization of biological post-treatment processes were conducted among activated sludge process (ASP), up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) and membrane bioreactor (MBR). UASB and ASP showed limited phenolic compounds removal of 35.4% and 57.0% with lower bio-toxicity resistance than MBR (94.9% phenolic compounds removal). The combined process O3/FeOx@GAC-MBR was thus developed and achieved high COD removal (98.0%) and phenolic compounds degradation (99.4%). PWW pretreatment by O3/FeOx@GAC process decreased membrane fouling rate of MBR by 88.2% by reducing proteins/polysaccharides accumulation in both extracellular polymeric substances and soluble microbial products. 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing revealed the predominance of phylum Proteobacteria, class Alphaproteobacteria and genera Mycobacterium, Gordonia, Pedomicrobium & Defluviimonas in biological PWW treatment bio-systems. Pearson correlation coefficient and ANOVA analysis verified that Mycobacterium possessed high bio-toxicity resistance and was the main contributor to the biodegradation of phenolic compounds.

Ozonation is a well-known and widely applied advanced oxidation process (AOP) for industrial wastewater treatment, while the ozonation efficiency might be limited by low mass transfer, poor solubility, and rapid decomposition rate of ozone molecules in the aqueous phase. The present study aims to investigate the feasibility of combined microbubble-catalytic ozonation process (M-O3/Fe/GAC) for improving the ozonation efficiency during treatment of petrochemical wastewater (PCW). M-O3/Fe/GAC process optimization was carried out with different pH conditions, ozone dosages and catalyst loadings. The optimum operating conditions were identified as 50 mg L−1 ozone dosage, real PCW pH (7.0–7.5) and 4 g L−1 catalyst loading. Among different ozonation processes, M-O3/Fe/GAC process achieved the highest chemical oxidation demand (COD) removal efficiency of 88%, which is 18% and 43% higher than those achieved by the microbubble and macrobubble ozonation processes, respectively. Phenolic compounds presented in PCW could be reduced by 63% within 15 min in M-O3/Fe/GAC treatment process. Long-term continuous flow studies suggested M-O3/Fe/GAC process to be the most cost-effective technology for PCW treatment with an operating cost of S$0.18 kg−1 COD and S$0.4 m-3 with good catalyst stability. Liquid size exclusion chromatography with organic carbon detection (LC-OCD) data suggested humic substances to be the dominant organic species in PCW, M-O3/Fe/GAC could achieve significant humic substances removal and biodegradability enhancement in PCW. Kinetics and mechanism studies revealed that organics removal in M-O3/Fe/GAC was 1.8 times higher than that in microbubble ozonation process, and hydroxyl radical (●OH) was the dominant oxidant specie for organics removal in M-O3/Fe/GAC process.

As salicylic acid is one of widely used pharmaceuticals, its residue has been found in various environmental water systems e.g. wastewater, surface water, treated water and drinking water. It has been reported that salicylic acid can be efficiently removed by advanced oxidation processes, but there are few studies on its transformation products and ozonation mechanisms during ozonation process. The objective of this study is to characterize the transformation products, investigate the degradation mechanisms at different pH, and propose the ozonation pathways of salicylic acid. The results showed that the rate of degradation was about 10 times higher at acidic condition than that at alkaline condition in the first 1 min when 1 mg L(-1) of ozone solution was added into 1 mg L(-1) of salicylic acid solution. It was proposed that ozone direct oxidation mechanism dominates at acidic condition, while indirect OH radical mechanism dominates at alkaline condition. A two stages pseudo-first order reaction was proposed at different pH conditions. Various hydroxylation products, carbonyl compounds and carboxylic acids, such as 2,5-dihydroxylbenzoic acid, 2,3-dihydroxylbenzoic acid, catechol, formaldehyde, glyoxal, acetaldehyde, maleic acid, acetic acid and oxalic acid etc. were identified as ozonation transformation products. In addition, acrylic acid was identified, for the first time, as ozonation transformation products through high resolution liquid chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometer. The information demonstrated in this study will help us to better understand the possible effects of ozonation products on the water quality. The degradation pathways of salicylic acid by ozonation in water sample were proposed. As both O3 and OH radical were important in the reactions, the degradation pathways of salicylic acid by ozonation in water sample were proposed at acidic and basic conditions. To our knowledge, there was no integrated study reported on the ozonation of salicylic acid in water, in terms of transformation products, kinetic, mechanism, as well as degradation pathways.

Human behaviors including consumption of drugs and use of personal care products, climate change, increased international travel, and the advent of water reclamation for direct potable use have led to the introduction of significant amounts of emerging organic contaminants into the aqueous environment. In addition, the lower detection limits associated with improved scientific methods of chemical analysis have resulted in a recent increase in documented incidences of these contaminants which previously were not routinely monitored in water. Such contaminants may cause known or suspected adverse ecological and/or human health effects at very low concentrations. Conventional drinking water treatment processes may not effectively remove these organic contaminants. Advanced oxidation process (AOP) is a promising treatment process for the removal of most of these emerging organic contaminants, and has been accepted worldwide as a suitable treatment process. In this study, different groups of emerging contaminants were studied for decomposition efficiency using pilot-scale UV/H2O2 oxidation setup, including EDCs, PPCPs, taste and odor (T&O), and perfluorinated compounds. Results found that MP UV/H2O2 AOP was efficient in removing all the selected contaminants except perfluorinated compounds. Study of the kinetics of the process showed that both light absorption and quantum yield of each compound affected the decomposition performance. Analysis of water quality parameters of the treated water indicated that the outcome of both UV photolysis and UV/H2O2 processes can be affected by changes in the feed water quality.

In this study, the removal of ibuprofen (IBP), a pharmaceutical compound, from aqueous media by Money plant (Epipremnum aureum) was investigated. The effect of ferrous iron (Fe(2+)) on enhancing the IBP removal rate was also analyzed. The first-order removal rate constants showed higher values for lower IBP initial concentrations in the range of 0.20-0.28 d(-1) for an initial concentration of 125 μg L(-1) to 0.03-0.13 d(-1) for an initial concentration of 1000 μg L(-1). Introducing ferrous iron to the aqueous media enhanced the first-order removal rate constant up to 6.5 times in a 3 d time period. Along with the removal of IBP from the media, the endogenous concentration of H2O2 also decreased presumably by the production of hydroxyl radical (·OH). Reduction in the endogenous H2O2 concentration was recorded to be 38% and 98% in the absence and presence of Fe(2+) respectively in the first day and the H2O2 level remained considerably low until day 7 which then gradually increased slightly. Simultaneous reduction of IBP and endogenous H2O2 concentration could be due to the reaction of IBP with ·OH and presumably ·OH production itself accelerated via Fenton reaction. In addition, presence of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) as ·OH scavenger in the system showed reduction of first-order removal rate constant from 1.30 d(-1) to 0.07 d(-1) which could be a possible evidence of biological advanced oxidation process which is believed to play an important role in phytoremediation.

Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) and artificial sweeteners (ASs) are emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) in the aquatic environment. The presence of PPCPs and ASs in water bodies has an ecologic potential risk and health concern. Therefore, it is needed to detect the pollution sources by understanding the transport behavior of sewage molecular markers in a subsurface area. The aim of this study was to evaluate transport of nine selected molecular markers through saturated soil column experiments. The selected sewage molecular markers in this study were six PPCPs including acetaminophen (ACT), carbamazepine (CBZ), caffeine (CF), crotamiton (CTMT), diethyltoluamide (DEET), salicylic acid (SA) and three ASs including acesulfame (ACF), cyclamate (CYC), and saccharine (SAC). Results confirmed that ACF, CBZ, CTMT, CYC and SAC were suitable to be used as sewage molecular markers since they were almost stable against sorption and biodegradation process during soil column experiments. In contrast, transport of ACT, CF and DEET were limited by both sorption and biodegradation processes and 100% removal efficiency was achieved in the biotic column. Moreover, in this study the effect of different acetate concentration (0–100 mg/L) as an easily biodegradable primary substrate on a removal of PPCPs and ASs was also studied. Results showed a negative correlation ( r 2 > 0.75) between the removal of some selected sewage chemical markers including ACF, CF, ACT, CYC, SAC and acetate concentration. CTMT also decreased with the addition of acetate, but increasing acetate concentration did not affect on its removal. CBZ and DEET removal were not dependent on the presence of acetate.

In this study, UVA-LED/TiO2/persulfate process was used to degrade ibuprofen (IBP). The results showed that addition of persulfate into the UVA-LED/TiO2 system significantly enhanced the degradation of IBP by inhibiting the electron-hole recombination, with a pseudo-first-order rate constant (kobs) increased by 2.7 times when 0.5 mM persulfate was added. The kobs increased linearly with the concentration of TiO2, while higher IBP initial concentration lowered the degradation rate. HO• contributed most to IBP degradation as suggested by a steady-state kinetic model. The investigation of the effects of water matrix indicated that alkaline condition, existence of humic acid, bicarbonate ion, chloride ion and sulfate ion inhibited the IBP degradation. The mineralization of IBP and decay of PS by UVA-LED/TiO2/persulfate process were both quite slow. Five intermediates were detected and the decomposition pathways were proposed based on the frontier electron densities (FEDs) theory. The electrical energy per order (EEO) of IBP was varied from 0.029 kWh/m3 to 0.243 kWh/m3, showing a relatively low energy cost of UVA-LED/TiO2/persulfate process. The results of this work indicate that UVA-LED/TiO2/persulfate is a powerful and promising process for the degradation of IBP.

Chemical speciation of ionizable antibiotics greatly affects its photochemical kinetics and mechanisms; however, the mechanistic impact of chemical speciation is not well understood. For the first time, the impact of different dissociation species (cationic, zwitterionic and anionic forms) of ciprofloxacin (CIP) on its photocatalytic transformation fate was systematically studied in a UVA/LED/TiO2 system. The dissociation forms of CIP at different pH affected the photocatalytic degradation kinetics, transformation products (TPs) formation as well as degradation pathways. Zwitterionic form of CIP exhibited the highest degradation rate constant (0.2217 ± 0.0179 min-1), removal efficiency of total organic carbon (TOC) and release of fluoride ion (F-). Time-dependent evolution profiles on TPs revealed that the cationic and anionic forms of CIP mainly underwent piperazine ring dealkylation, while zwitterionic CIP primarily proceeded through defluorination and piperazine ring oxidation. Moreover, density functional theory (DFT) calculation based on Fukui index well interpreted the active sites of different CIP species. Potential energy surface (PES) analysis further elucidated the reaction transition state (TS) evolution and energy barrier (ΔEb) for CIP with different dissociation species after radical attack. This study provides deep insights into degradation mechanisms of emerging organic contaminants in advanced oxidation processes associated to their chemical speciation.

Fluidized bed reactor Fenton (FBR-Fenton) process was adopted for reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) treatment with three types of carriers, including sand, zeolite and granular activated carbon (GAC). Adsorption studies demonstrated that GAC achieved the best adsorption performance (maximum COD removal of 78% in 15 h) among the three carriers, and the adsorption of ROC organic matters followed a two-stage adsorption model. Fenton oxidations were carried out in three fluidized beds after column saturation, and FBR-Fenton/GAC process achieved highest COD removal (72%) and most BOD5/COD ratio enhancement (from 0.03 to 0.3) in ROC. Long-term operation data demonstrated good performance stability of GAC as the carrier. In addition, GAC fluidized bed obtained highest total iron removal rate via iron crystallization process. Continuous in-situ GAC regeneration with more than 90% recoveries of surface area, pore volume and adsorption capacity were observed along the ROC treatment with FBR-Fenton/GAC process. Mechanism studies revealed that better COD removal performance in FBR-Fenton/GAC process was attributed to the combining effects of homogenous Fenton reaction, GAC adsorption and GAC/H2O2 catalytic reaction.

While reverse osmosis (RO) technology is playing an important role in industrial wastewater reclamation, safe and cost-effective RO concentrate (ROC) disposal becomes challenging due to high levels of organic pollutants. The present study assessed the feasibility of combined advanced oxidation – biological process for organics removal in real ROC. Four advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) were evaluated for ROC pre-treatment, including UV/H2O2, UV/Persulfate (PS), Fenton and Fluidized bed reactor (FBR)-Fenton processes. Based on the results of process optimization and cost evaluation, FBR-Fenton was identified as the most cost-effective pre-treatment technology with a chemical cost of S$0.519/m3. Under the optimum operating conditions with 10 mM H2O2, 1.25 mM Fe2+, pH 3 and HRT of 1 h, continuous FBR-Fenton process increased the BOD5/COD ratios in ROC by 4.2–10.0 times, while the COD removal efficiency was in the range of 30.9–59.8%. A biological activated carbon (BAC) column with EBCT of 120 min was combined with FBR-Fenton for continuous treatment of ROC. Over the 120-day operation, the combined system performed consistent organics removal in ROC with an average COD removal efficiency of 69%. The average effluent COD level in ROC was observed to be 26 mg/L. Both LC-OCD data and fluorescence EEM spectra suggested humic substances to be the dominant organic species in ROC, FBR-Fenton could achieve significant humic substances removal and biodegradability enhancement in ROC. High-throughput sequencing demonstrated Planctomycetes to be top dominant phylum in BAC media with high salinity influent, and FBR-Fenton process promoted its proliferation for higher COD removal efficiency in ROC.

In recent years, many studies have been conducted on using different filter media in bioretention systems for stormwater runoff treatment. This critical review paper provides a comprehensive review on the current state of water treatment residual (WTR), a recycled material that can be used as bioretention filter media for removals of key stormwater runoff pollutants (especially phosphorus) and future perspectives with innovative modification on WTR applied for pathogen removal from stormwater runoff. This review paper comprised (i) a brief summary of the reported WTR characteristics, (ii) a thorough evaluation of WTR performance on major pollutants removal from stormwater runoff (iii) a discussion on phosphorus removal mechanisms by WTR applied in the stormwater runoff treatment, and (iv) a review of the future perspectives of WTR for pathogen removal and other potential practical application in the field of stormwater treatment. As outlined in this review, WTR in stormwater runoff treatment has yet to be fully explored. The possible enhancements, especially metal surface modification on WTR are reviewed to bring about the widespread use of WTR in stormwater reuse practices.

Black TiO

The problem of biological invasions attributed to ballast water release is an ongoing problem that threatens ecosystems and human health. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation has been increasingly used for ballast water treatment mainly due to the advantages of short contact time and minimized harmful disinfection by products. In this study, the impact of salinity on the inactivation of Vibrio cholerae (NCTC 7253) was examined, and comparison of inactivation level and disinfection kinetics after medium-pressure (MP) (1 kW) and low-pressure (LP) (10 W) UV irradiation was made. MP UV exposure resulted in higher inactivation efficacy against V. cholerae than LP UV exposure especially at lower UV doses (≤3 mJ cm−2) and salinity had a negative impact on both MP and LP UV disinfection, especially at higher UV doses (≥3 mJ cm−2 for MP and ≥4 mJ cm−2 for LP). To understand the mechanisms of salinity effect on V. cholerae, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was employed to determine the number of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs), one major type of DNA damage. No significant effects of salinity were found at the CPDs level except for 3% artificial seawater after LP UV exposure case. It is imperative that site-specific conditions of salinity be taken into account in the design of UV reactors to treat V. cholerae and other species.

Controlling of antibiotics is the crucial step for preventing antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) dissemination; UV photocatalysis has been identified as a promising pre-treatment technology for antibiotics removal. However, information about the effects of intermediates present in the treated antibiotics wastewater on the downstream biological treatment processes or ARGs development is very limited. In the present study, continuous UVA/LED/TiO

This paper serves to communicate concerns including misleading presentation of information and the use of incomplete monitoring data in a recent journal article by Lim and Lu (2016) published in the Journal of Hydrology.

This study deals with the feasibility and practicality to recover water and nutrients from fresh urine by means of evaporation/condensation. The evaporation process generated two distinct fractions: a condensate and a concentrate. The optimal percentage of evaporation (in volume) was found to be 80%, resulting in optimal condensate quality. Higher percentages of evaporation resulted in a deterioration of water quality, as urea decomposed into ammonia, followed by volatilization of the ammonia which ended up in the condensate. Following evaporation, struvite was recovered from the concentrate at an optimal Mg/N ratio of 1/1. The condensate was purified by filtration into two layers of soil and sand, followed by zeolites. Complete removal of N-NH3 and 91% removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) could be achieved throughout this process. Finally, the condensate was disinfected by sodium hypochlorite, achieving over 6-log inactivation of MS2 bacteriophage at a dose of 1,200 mg min/L. In conclusion, this study shows that there exist some potential benefits to the production of high-quality water and fertilizer from urine. The value of struvite recovered from the concentrate was found to be equivalent to that of the water from the condensate, showing that both streams deserve equal attention.

Three common virucidal techniques (chlorine, UV and UV/TiO2) were applied to inactivate virus (MS2 and Phi X174) in condensate water after the evaporation of source-separated urine for reclaimed water. The inactivation efficiencies were compared with the results of previous studies, with the emphasis on the analysis of water matrix effects. Results showed that all virus inactivation in condensate water were lower than the control (in sterilized DI water). As for UV/TiO2 disinfection, both nitrate and ammonia nitrogen could promote slightly viral inactivation, while the inhibition by urea was dominant. Similarly, ammonia nitrogen had greater impacts on chlorine disinfection than urea and nitrate. In contrast, all water matrices (urea, nitrate and ammonia nitrogen) had little influence on UV disinfection. Based on the findings in this study, UV disinfection could be recommended for disinfecting the reclaimed water from the evaporation of source-separated urine.

Inorganic nitrogen species have three states including ammonia nitrogen (NH4(+)/NH3), nitrite (NO2(-)) and nitrate (NO3(-)) and are often found in the disinfection system. However, no available literature could be found on their role and fate in photocatalytic disinfection systems. In this study, batch experiments were conducted to investigate bacteria inactivation, H2O2 generated and inorganic nitrogen variation to understand the role and fate of inorganic nitrogen species during UVA/TiO2 disinfection and evaluate effects of initial pH and bacteria levels on the role and fate. NH4(+)/NH3 and NO2(-) inhibited the photocatalytic disinfection process obviously. It could be confirmed through that H2O2 yield used for pathogen inactivation was dependent on NH4(+)/NH3 and NO2(-) levels. The NH4(+)/NH3 remaining, NH4(+) remaining and NO3(-) yields in only NH4(+)/NH3 photocatalytic oxidation experiments were obviously different from the corresponding values in the photocatalytic disinfection experiments with NH4(+)/NH3, which confirmed that photocatalytic disinfection had an obvious effect on the fate of NH4(+)/NH3. However, photocatalytic disinfection had slight effects on the fate of NO2(-) and NO3(-). Escherischia coli inactivation rate was the highest in neutral solutions (Initial pH 7) while the lowest in alkaline solutions (Initial pH 8.5). The decrease of NH4(+)/NH3 in alkaline solutions was the most significant. In turn, the photocatalysis of NO2(-) was more evident in acidic solutions. E. coli inactivation was reduced with the increase of initial E. coli concentrations. The initial bacteria concentrations significantly influenced the increase of NH4(+)/NH3, NH4(+) and NO3(-), but slightly impacted the decrease of NO2(-).

Aluminum-based water treatment residue (Al-WTR) generated during the drinking water treatment process is a readily available recycled material with high phosphorus (P) adsorption capacity. The P adsorption capacity of Al-WTR generated from Singapore’s water treatment plant was evaluated with reference to particle size range, adsorption pH and temperature. Column tests, with WTR amendments in sand with and without compost, were used to simulate the bioretention systems. The adsorption rate decreased with increasing WTR sizes. Highest P adsorption capacity, 15.57 mg PO43−-P/g WTR, was achieved using fine WTR particles (&gt, 50% particles at less than 0.30 mm). At pH 4, the contact time required to reduce effluent P concentration to below the detectable range was half compared with pH 7 and 9. The adsorption rate observed at 40 ± 2 °C was 21% higher compared with that at 30 ± 2 °C. Soil mixes amended with 10% WTR and compost were able to maintain consistently high (90%) total phosphorus (TP) removal efficiency at a TP load up to 6.45 g/m3. In contrast, TP removal efficiencies associated with columns without WTR amendment decreased to less than 45% as the TP load increased beyond 4.5 g/m3. The results showed that WTR application is beneficial for enhanced TP removal in bioretention systems.

Hydrophobic acid organic matter (HpoA) extracted from treated effluent has been known to improve the rejection of steroid hormone estrone by reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes. In this study, the effects of solution chemistry (solution pH and ionic strength) on the estrone rejection by NF membrane with the presence of HpoA were systematically investigated. Crossflow nanofiltration experiments show that the presence of HpoA significantly improved estrone rejection at all pH and ionic strength levels investigated. It is consistently shown that the “enhancement effect” of HpoA on estrone rejection at neutral and alkaline pH is attributed to the binding of estrone by HpoA macromolecules via hydrogen bonding between phenolic functional groups in feed solutions, which leads to an increase in molecular weight and appearance of negative charge. The membrane exhibited the best performance in terms of estrone rejection at pH 10.4 (compared to pH 4 and pH 7) as a result of strengthening the electrostatic repulsion between estrone and membrane with the presence of HpoA. At neutral pH level, the ability of HpoA macromolecules to promote estrone rejection became stronger with increasing ionic strength due to their more extended conformation, which created more chances for the association between estrone and HpoA. The important conclusion of this study is that increasing solution pH and salinity can greatly intensify the “enhancement effect” of HpoA. These results can be important for NF application in direct/indirect potable water reuse.

This paper presents a three-dimensional (3D) model developed using COMSOL Multiphysics to understand the 3D ex-filtration process of a soak-away rain garden. With a design hyetograph of 3-month average rainfall intensities of Singapore, it is found that the average vertical ex-filtration rate that is obtained by dividing the average vertical ex-filtration (drained through bottom of the soak-away rain garden, averaged over the simulation period = 720 min, and expressed in m3) by the surface area of the soak-away rain garden and the simulation time step is almost constant regardless of increase in saturated hydraulic conductivity (K) of the in-situ soil and the surface area of the soak-away rain garden as a percentage of catchment area. However, as depth to groundwater table which is measured from bottom of the filter media increases, in between 0.5 m and 1 m of depth to groundwater table, the average vertical ex-filtration rate decreases significantly (by around 15 - 20 mm/hr) and the decrease is almost twice, compared with that between 1 m and 1.5 m of depth to groundwater table. Furthermore, this study shows that for a given K of in-situ, K of filter media, and depth to groundwater table, as the surface area of the soak-away rain garden increases, the horizontal flow coefficient which is defined as the ratio between total horizontal ex-filtration (drained through sides of the soak-away rain garden, summed over the simulation period, and expressed in m3) and total vertical ex-filtration (drained through bottom of the soak-away rain garden, summed over the simulation period, and expressed in m3) decreases. Moreover, for a given surface area of the soak-away rain garden, K of in-situ, and depth to groundwater table, the horizontal flow coefficient decreases as K of the filter media increases. However, it is found that for a given surface area of the soak-away rain garden, K of in-situ, and K of filter media, the horizontal flow coefficient increases as depth to groundwater table increases.

As catchments become urbanized due to population growth the impervious surfaces created by buildings and pavements in the expense of permeable soil, depressions, and vegetation cause rainwater to flow rapidly over the landscape. To mitigate the adverse impact of urbanization such as increased flooding and depleted groundwater recharge, around the world, several best management practices, in other words, green infrastructures have been practised, and soak-away rain garden is one of them. However, to have a rapid assessment of soak-away rain gardens on a range of potential hydrologic conditions (e.g., size of the soak-away rain garden, saturated hydraulic conductivity of the in-situ soil, and saturated hydraulic conductivity of the filter media), hydrologic design guidelines or design charts of soak-away rain gardens that are specific for local conditions are not currently available for many regions including Singapore. Thus, in this paper, with a design hyetograph of 3-month average rainfall intensities of Singapore, hydrologic design charts, especially, design charts on overflow volume (as a % of total runoff volume) of soak-away rain gardens are established for a range of potential hydrologic conditions by developing a mathematical model based on Richard’s equation using COMSOL Multiphysics, a finite element analysis and solver software package for various physics and engineering applications. These easy-to-use look-up hydrologic design charts will be of great utility for local managers in the design of soak-away rain gardens.

To mitigate the adverse impact of urbanization around the world, several best management practices, in other words green infrastructures, have been used in a way that protect the natural hydrology of the catchment and are more beneficial to the environment. Soak-away rain garden, shallow, landscaped depressions commonly located in parking lots or within small pockets in residential areas, is one of those best management practices or green infrastructures. However, though in the past few decades the mathematical modeling work and the science of computer simulation have enhanced the understanding of hydrological processes, there is still a lack of modeling studies that focus on understanding the three-dimensional (3D) hydrological processes, such as the 3D ex-filtration process of a soak-away rain garden in a sufficient level of details. Thus, this paper develops a 3D mathematical model to represent the hydrological processes of a soak-away rain garden using COMSOL Multiphysics Java API, a Java-based interface of COMSOL Multiphysics. The developed model is demonstrated with a design hyetograph of 3-month average rainfall intensities of Singapore.

Under the possible hydrological conditions, with a design hyetograph of 3-month average rainfall intensities of Singapore, multiple regression equations on hydrological processes, specifically on overflow volume, average vertical ex-filtration rate and horizontal flow coefficient, of a soak-away rain garden are established based on simulated results of a mathematical model. The model that is based on Richard’s equation is developed using COMSOL Multiphysics. The regression equation on overflow volume and the regression equation on log of horizontal flow coefficient show a very strong relationship with the independent variables (saturated hydraulic conductivity of the filter media, saturated hydraulic conductivity of the in-situ soil, depth to groundwater table, and surface area of the soak-away rain garden). The coefficients of determination of the fitted equations on overflow volume and log of horizontal flow coefficient were 0.992 and 0.986, respectively. However, the regression equation on average vertical ex-filtration rate has high p-values (p-values > significance level, α = 0.01) for saturated hydraulic conductivity of the in-situ soil and surface area of the soak-away rain garden. Thus, forward stepwise regression was used to develop the best regression equation on average vertical ex-filtration rate with saturated hydraulic conductivity of the filter media and depth to groundwater table. The coefficient of determination of the fitted equation was found to be 0.911. These easy to use regression equations will be of great utility for local mangers in the design of soak-away rain gardens.

The role of natural organic matter (NOM) in contaminants removal by photolysis and photocatalysis has aroused increasing interest. However, evaluation of the influence of NOM characteristics on the transformation products (TPs) formation and transformation pathways of contaminants has rarely been performed. This study investigated the decomposition kinetics, mineralization, TPs formation and transformation pathways of antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) during photolysis and photocatalysis in the presence of three commercial NOM isolates (Sigma-Aldrich humic acid (SAHA), Suwannee River humic acid (SRHA) and Suwannee River NOM (SRNOM)) by using UVA light emitting diode (UVA/LED) as an alternative light source. NOM isolates insignificantly affected CIP photolysis but strongly inhibited CIP photocatalysis due to competitive radical quenching. The inhibitory effect followed the order of SAHA (49.6%) SRHA (29.9%) SRNOM (21.2%), consistent with their •OH quenching abilities, SUVA

Sucralose is one of widely used artificial sweeteners, which has been ubiquitously detected in various water sources, such as wastewater and randomly in reservoir water. It is also reported to be persistent to various water treatment techniques. Although there are some studies on removal of sucralose by advanced oxidation process, limited information, in terms of reaction kinetics, transformation products and degradation pathway etc., was reported in its ozonation process. In this study, the reaction kinetics, removal efficiency, influence of pH, humic acid and carbonate on sucralose degradation by ozone, have been studied systematically. The results demonstrated that ozonation of sucralose was initiated by the formation of OH radical. Sucralose could be completely removed with excess O3 at neutral and basic conditions in ultrapure water. The rate of degradation decreased significantly in acidic condition and in the presence of carbonate and OH radical scavenger (e.g. tert-butanol). The acidity was the key factor affecting the degradation of sucralose. The rate constant was about 500 times higher at pH7 than that at pH4. Transformation products study indicated that the ozonation of sucralose were more complex than that in photolysis reaction. Although ozonation of sucralose was initiated by OH radical, both OH radical and O3 might be involved in the formation of transformation products and total organic carbon (TOC) removal. Various transformation products, such as aldehydes, carboxylic acids and probable chloride containing products, were identified and characterized in details. An ozonation degradation pathway of sucralose was proposed as well.

The long-proposed use of open-cell polyurethane foam (PUF) as a convenient ‘solid-phase extractant’ for aqueous organic compounds has been hindered by a critical lack of understanding on the underlying specificity of its extraction mechanism. In this work, we tasked ourselves to understand the hierarchy of molecular structure, properties, and partitioning characteristics of compounds in PUF and aqueous phase by targeting lipophilic phenolic compounds (LPCs) as a group of primary targets for PUF extraction. Using six structurally related bisphenol analogs as comparative probes, we identified molecular lipophilicity and H-bond acidity as key molecular attributes that governed their extractability by PUF. Molecular modeling study on H-bonding interactions between PUF surrogates, bisphenols, and water molecules elucidated the governing effect of H-bond acidity in the binding affinity of guest molecules onto PUF lone-pair donors. A holistic view must be adopted when assessing the extractability of LPCs with reactive lone-pair donors e.g. bisphenol S which forms multidentate H-bond adducts with water molecules. We validated our theory on two model groups of monofunctional LPCs, alkylphenols and chlorophenols, with the observation that the presence of a second proton-donating moiety dramatically enhanced the extractability of bisphenol molecules. The specificity of PUF rendered it selective towards compounds with correlating molecular attributes against other structural analogs and co-existing matrix organics. For LPCs, the PUF macromolecular structure can be conceptualized as a flexible 'molecular zipper network' that is most affinitive towards nonionic, permeable, and lipophilic guest molecules with multiple reactive proton donors.

Remineralization of desalinated seawater has been widely applied to reduce pipeline corrosion problems and to achieve drinking water standards. This study investigated the effects of pH and magnesium addition on corrosion of pipeline materials in stagnant remineralized desalinated seawater under tropical conditions. Three pipeline materials, ductile iron, cement-lined ductile iron and cast iron were examined. The pH of the remineralized reverse osmosis (RO) desalinated seawater ranged from 7.0 to 8.4. Weight loss method was used. The pH variations showed little effect on the corrosion product composition and final water quality for the three pipeline materials. The overall findings suggested that the impact of pH level from pH 7.0 to pH 8.4 on corrosion rates of iron coupon materials was unpronounced. Addition of magnesium changed the morphology and microstructure of CaCO3 precipitant, reduced the amount of the precipitant and maintained a high alkalinity and hardness concentration in the re-mineralized RO permeate. For cement-lined ductile iron coupons, an intense protection was found in water with magnesium addition under pH 7.0 condition.

The deterioration of water supply quality due to the waterborne bacteria is an environmental problem requiring the urgent attention. Due to the excellent and synergic antimicrobial capability, Ag-loaded TiO2 photocatalyst emerges as a feasible measure to guard the water. In our work, Ag nanoparticles have been prepared by the photoassisted reduction of AgNO3 on the TiO2 film fabricated by solution-based adsorptive self-assembly approach. The role of surfactant on the growth rate and size controlling of particles is also studied. In this connection, different kinds of surfactants, such as PVP, Tween-20, Tween-40 and so on, are applied in the system to investigate the formation of Ag nanoparticles. The surface profile and elemental analysis of Ag/TiO2/SiO2 films are examined by scanning electron microscopy and attached energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, respectively. In the anti-bacteria detection, Ag nanoparticles are found to enhance the bactericidal efficiency strongly comparing with the pure TiO2 film under the same condition. In addition, by comparison with Ag/TiO2/SiO2 film in the dark environment as the reference experiment, UV–visible light plays a vital role in the improved bactericidal behavior, demonstrating the more efficient charge separation induced by metal silver. Because of the versatility of the method, the present photoreductive route is also exploited for the synthesis of Au nanoparticles on TiO2/SiO2 films. The corresponding photocatalytical detection results demonstrate the loading of Au nanoparticles can improve the photodegradation efficiency of methyl orange assigned to the similar electron-trapping effect to silver.

Graphene-P25 (Gr-P25) nanocomposites were synthesized by a simple microwave hydrothermal method. The nanocomposites with different graphene loading were evaluated for the degradation of an important pharmaceutical water pollutant, Carbamazepine (CBZ) under UVA irradiation in a batch reactor. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize three key independent operating parameters, namely Gr-P25 nanocomposites dose (X1), CBZ initial concentration (X2) and UV light intensity (X3), for photocatalytic degradation of CBZ. The central composite design (CCD) consisting of 20 experiments determined by 23 full factorial designs with six axial points and six center points was used to conduct experiments. The results showed that CBZ removal was significantly affected by the synergistic effect of linear term of Gr-P25 dose (X1) and UV intensity (X3). However, the quadratic terms of Gr-P25 ( X 1 2 ) and UV intensity ( X 3 2 ) had an antagonistic effect on CBZ removal. The obtained RSM model (R2 = 0.9206) showed a satisfactory correlation between experimental and predicted values of CBZ removal. The optimized conditions for achieving 100% CBZ removal with 5 min UVA irradiation were 25.14 mg/L, 167.68 ppb and 1.35 mW/cm2 for Gr-P25 dose, initial concentration of CBZ and UV intensity, respectively.

The type of filter media in bioretention systems plays an important role in influencing treated run-off quality. Sand and planting soil that are commercially available in the local market vary considerably in their physicochemical properties, thereby resulting in variable hydraulic conductivity and effluent run-off quality. An engineered soil with consistent properties is therefore advantageous as a filter media as it ensures that pollutant (total suspended solids [TSS], total nitrogen [TN] and total phosphorus [TP]) removal guidelines are met. Small column tests were therefore conducted on various soil mixes as a rapid evaluation tool for the optimum engineered soil mix. Amendments such as compost, coconut fibre, water treatment residues (WTR) and recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) were incorporated at various proportions and homogeneously mixed with sand. Results indicated that column 3 with sand, WTR and compost could satisfy pollutant removal guidelines with TSS, TN and TP removals averaging at...