Advanced Treatment Technologies for Dealing with Emerging Contaminants in Water
Authors:
- Erik Rosenfeldt, Scott Alpert, Mary Sadler, and Ben Stanford - Hazen and Sawyer
The term “emerging contaminants” is a vague statement which could deal with anything from new microbial pathogens of concern to endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals to yet-to-be identified disinfection byproducts. In addition, public perception and a new EPA strategy for regulating “contaminants as groups” may have broad implications impacting the concept of what constitutes “safe water” provided by utilities.
The one constant in the concept of emerging contaminants is that as detection methods continue to improve there will always be new emerging contaminants to worry about. However, many of these contaminants can be effectively dealt with by utilizing existing technologies, both conventional and advanced. This work builds upon research performed by the author over the past 10 years to present an overview of conventional and advanced treatment strategies, such as traditional and advanced oxidation processes including chlorine, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide, separation processes including activated carbon and membranes, and alternative disinfection, for dealing with current “emerging” issues of concern for water utilities. In addition, the technologies will be evaluated for their flexibility and ability to provide barriers for the next generations of “emerging contaminants”.
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