Year: 2023
Type: editorial
Abstract: published a perspective titled, "Oxidation Processes in Water Treatment: Are We on Track?" 1 Five years later, to commemorate the receipt of the 2022 ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology by the author of that paper, Prof. Urs von Gunten, the journal commissioned this special issue.Contributions from leaders in the field of oxidative water treatment illustrate the progress that has been made in this important research area while emphasizing the gaps in research that must be addressed to continue our journey toward wider dissemination of technologies that are integral to the provision of safe and affordable water.Chemical oxidation has been applied in municipal water treatment for more than a century, initially for disinfection.In the early decades, chlorine disinfection was adopted in the fight against waterborne disease.However, the oxidative properties of chlorine had an unintended side effect, generation of potentially toxic disinfection byproducts (DBPs).To mitigate this issue, alternative disinfectants such as chlorine dioxide, chloramine, and ozone were employed, but they posed a different set of hazards. 2 Eventually, it was recognized that operators of drinking water treatment plants had to strike a balance between disinfection and DBP formation.Today, a multidisciplinary approach that combines tools from analytical chemistry, engineering, toxicology, and epidemiology is being employed to navigate the disinfection/DBP trade-off.3 Chemical oxidation also has been applied for many decades to control chemical contaminants, initially for improvement of the aesthetic qualities of water.By the late 1970s, oxidants also were being used to treat synthetic organic compounds, termed micropollutants or trace organic contaminants.Chemical oxidation was employed first for abatement of nonpolar contaminants (chlorinated solvents, pesticides, and fuel additives).As analytical methods improved and water utilities pursued enhanced wastewater treatment and potable water reuse, treatment was extended to polar micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine disruptors, and industrial chemicals.4 As the variety of chemicals requiring treatment expanded, a second trade-off became evident.Selective oxidants, such as permanganate, chlorine dioxide, and chlorine, are advantageous for treatment of waters containing mainly one compound class (e.g., phenolic compounds) because such contaminants can be treated with a high oxidant use efficiency.Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) that employ a combination of oxidants (e.g., O 3 with H 2 O 2 ) or use ultraviolet light (e.g., UV with H 2 O 2 or UV with chlorine) generate hydroxyl radical ( • OH) and other short-lived oxidants.These
Authors: Yunho Lee, David L. Sedlak, Urs von Gunten
Language: English
Subfield: Water Science and Technology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4389090786