Supplying safe drinking water is a significant concern for small and rural communities (SRCs) in Canada and around the world. Besides microbial contamination, chemical contamination of water supplies in SRCs is becoming a source of concern, requiring attention. An emerging and effective alternative for the degradation of micropollutants are advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), that rely on highly oxidizing and non-selective hydroxyl radicals capable of oxidizing a broad range of organic contaminants. Among AOPs, photocatalysis has shown great potentials for the effective removal of pollutants in water. However, photocatalytic process is negatively affected by natural organic matter (NOM) present in surface waters. NOM competes with pollutants for adsorption sites on the photocatalyst surface, acts as a scavenger for HO radicals, and interferes with the propagation of UV radiation, which is required to activate the photocatalyst. This research focused on the study of the competitive adsorption of NOM and micropollutants on the surface of TiO2 photocatalytic spheres. 2,4-cholorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), a commonly used herbicide in many water supplies affected by agricultural activities, was used as a model micropollutant. Experiments involved batch tests to assess the adsorption kinetics and isotherms of NOM and co-adsorption of NOM and 2,4-D. In addition, the effect of different NOM fractions was investigated. This presentation will report on the results obtained from this investigation and discusses the implications of the presence of NOM in surface water supplies on the photocatalyst degradation of micropollutants.

Study of the co-adsorption of natural organic matter (NOM) and target micropollutants on photocatalytic TiO2 spheres

248th National Meeting (2014)

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