(173x) A Holistic Strategy for Treatment of Raw Landfill Leachate, Textile Contaminants and Pharmaceutical Wastewaters: An Electro-Peroxone-Based Approach

Globalization and industrialization have led to immense environmental pollution. Solid waste generated by cities are of the order of billions of tons per year resulting in enormous landfill leachate generation. Untreated leachate is capable of polluting the neighboring ground water sources. On the other hand, presence of textile and pharmaceutical contaminants in water has increased rampantly, causing endocrine disruption and chronic toxicity to human and aquatic life. Conventional treatment technologies are unable to completely remove these pollutants resulting in contaminated water bodies.

Electro-peroxone, a propitious advanced oxidation process, is herein investigated in the treatment of a broad-spectrum of wastewaters, namely, raw landfill leachate, textile contaminants and pharmaceutical wastewater. In this study, the electro-peroxone system comprises of a Reticulated Vitreous Carbon (RVC) cathode and Platinum-coated Titanium anode. To understand the system better, quantification of in situ generated H₂O₂ (~150 mg/L) and ^.OH radical was performed. This robust system resulted in the simultaneous removal of (i) Total Organic Carbon (TOC), (~70-90% based on nature of wastewater) (ii) Color (~99.7%), (iii) Disinfection (~99.9%), (iv) Organic suspended solids (~85%), (v) Turbidity (~80%) and hence (vi) Toxicity. The mechanism behind the efficient removal of various wastewater parameters was also investigated. Overall, a holistic treatment of various industrial contaminants and wastewaters is achieved with a removal efficiency ranging from 70% to complete removal, based on the nature and complexity of the contaminants present.

With the advantages of (i) retrofitting to an existing ozonation-based plant, (ii) sludge-free and (iii) chemical-free treatment, electro-peroxone proves to be a promising technology for the effective removal of such persistent contaminants present in complex real wastewater systems.

References:

Srinivasan, R., & Nambi, I. M. (2022). An electro-peroxone-based multi-pronged strategy for the treatment of ibuprofen and an emerging pharmaceutical wastewater using a novel graphene-coated nickel foam electrode. Chemical Engineering Journal, 450, 137618.