The field of oxidative water treatment has evolved significantly during the last 30 years. Initially, disinfection was the main focus, but later on, oxidation processes were applied for micropollutant abatement and this opened up new fields of research. To this end, the main initial research and application focused on the disappearance of target compounds, however, later on the formation of transformation products became more important, because they could be detected thanks to improved analytical tools. Furthermore, the question about the toxicological relevance of transformation products for water quality arose. Based on these concerns, it became obvious, that (eco)toxicological test procedures of such processes needed to be included in the overall assessment. Furthermore, the biodegradability of transformation products emerged as an important issue for the assessment of the relevance and fate of these compounds. The strong focus on the feasibility of micropollutant abatement during oxidative water treatment should not distract from the fact, that most of the oxidation power is lost to the organic matrix (dissolved organic matter, DOM) and also includes reactions with bromide/iodide. To this end, knowledge from the reactions of individual compounds can be applied to assess the reactivity of DOM with oxidants and allows to potentially predict the formation of oxidation byproducts. In the future, the broad knowledge gained in the last decades should be compiled for the development of prediction models for kinetics, transformation product formation and (eco)toxicity, to improve the assessment of oxidation processes beyond a case by case evaluation of individual organic micropollutants.

30 years of oxidation research: Highlights, caveats and future trends

ACS Spring 2022

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