Degradation and detoxification of microcystin-LR in drinking water by sequential use of UV and ozone

Microcystins （MCs） produced by cyanobacteria are strong hepatotoxins and classified as possible carcinogens. MCs pose a considerable threat to human health through tainted drinking and surface waters. Herein filtrated water from a waterworks in Harbin, China, was spiked with microcysfin-LR （MC-LR） extracted from a toxic scum of microcystis aeruginosa, and the spiked sample waters were treated using UV irradiation with consequent ozonation process （UV/O3）, compared with ozonation at a dose range commonly applied in water treatment plants, UV irradiation at 254 nm and UV irradiation combined with ozonation （UV＋O3）, respectively. The remaining of toxins were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography and also determined using a protein phosphatase type 2A inhibition assay, which was utilized to evaluate the reduction in toxicity. Results indicated that in comparison to other three processes （O3, UV, and UV＋O3）, UV/O3 process could effectively decrease both the concentration and toxicity of MC-LR at 100 μg/L level after 5 min UV irradiation with consequent 5 min ozonation at 0.2 mg/L （below 1 μg/L ）, while 0.5 mg/L ozone dose was required for the level below 0.1 μg/L. The addition of an UV treatment step to the existing treatment train may induce significant transformation of micropollutants and breaks down the natural organic matters into moieties unfavorable for ozone decomposition, stabilizing the ozone residual. These findings suggested that sequential use of UV and ozone may be a suitable method for the removal of these potentially hazardous microcystins from drinking water.

Factors influencing the photodegradation of Nnitrosodimethylamine in drinking water

In order to provide basic data for practical application,photodegradation experiment of Nnitrosodimethylamine(NDMA)in aqueous solution was carried out with a low-pressure Hg lamp.Effects of the initial concentration of NDMA,solution pH,dissolved oxygen,and the presence of humic acid on NDMA photodegradation were investigated.NDMA at various initial concentrations selected in this study was almost completely photodegraded by UV irradiation within 20 min,except that at 1.07 mmol/L,NDMA could be photodegraded almost completely in the acidic and neutral solutions,while the removal efficiency decreased remarkably in the alkaline solution.Dissolved oxygen enhanced the NDMA photodegradation,and the presence of humic acid inhibited the degradation of NDMA.Depending on the initial concentration of NDMA,NDMA photodegradation by UV obeyed the pseudo-first-order kinetics.Dimethylamine,nitrite,and nitrate were detected as the photodegradation products of NDMA.^(1)O_(2) was found to be the reactive oxygen species present in the NDMA photodegradation process by UV,based on the inhibiting experiments using tert-butanol and sodium azide.