Feasibility study on the application of advanced oxidation technologies for decentralised wastewater treatment

Advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs) have been widely investigated for their potential application in post-tertiary sewage treatment due to their ease of operation, high efficiency in organic mineralisation, inactivation of pathogens and low formation of disinfection by-products. This study aimed to evaluate the technical, economical and environmental feasibility for applying AOTs at decentralised wastewater treatment. A comprehensive process selection and assessment framework for the application of AOTs in decentralised wastewater systems for wastewater recycling and reuse purposes were developed in this study. Different AOTs were assessed for their suitability to retrofit as an advanced wastewater treatment option to a decentralised wastewater case study plant in South East Queensland, Australia to produce Class A(+) recycled water. Among the different AOTs assessed, it was assessed that the H2O2/UV process was the best AOT treatment option, in terms of technical, economic and environmental benefits for treating sewage effluent from the decentralised wastewater system analysed in this case study. It is anticipated that additional data sets from different pilot or full scale AOT plants will allow the performance predictions of AOTs for a wide range of decentralised wastewater treatment applications. Through this study, it is anticipated that the potential future uptake of AOTs as an advanced treatment option will be enhanced, given the comprehensive and detailed technical, economic and environmental analysis presented in the paper. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.