Chemical aspects of peracetic acid based wastewater disinfection

Authors

  • Tero Luukkonen University of Oulu, Department of Chemistry, FI-90014, University of Oulu, Finland
  • Juhani Teeriniemi University of Oulu, Department of Chemistry, FI-90014, University of Oulu, Finland
  • Hanna Prokkola University of Oulu, Department of Chemistry, FI-90014, University of Oulu, Finland
  • Jaakko Rämö University of Oulu, Thule institute, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland
  • Ulla Lassi 1. University of Oulu, Department of Chemistry, FI-90014, University of Oulu, Finland; 2. Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius, Unit of Applied Chemistry, Talonpojankatu 2B, FI-67100 Kokkola, Finland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v40i1.9

Keywords:

tertiary wastewater disinfection, peracetic acid, total coliform, E. coli, coliphages

Abstract

Peracetic acid (PAA) has been studied for wastewater disinfection applications for some 30 years and has been shown to be an effective disinfectant against many indicator microbes, including bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. One of the key advan­tages compared to, e.g., chlorine is the lack of harmful disinfection by-products. In this paper a pilot-scale study of PAA-based disinfection is presented. Indicator microbes (E. coli, total coliforms and coliphage viruses) as well as chemical param­eters (pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD and BOD), and residual PAA and hydrogen peroxide) were studied. The main aim of this investigation was to study how these selected chemical parameters change during PAA treatment. Based on the results, disinfection was efficient at C∙t values of 15 to 30 (mg∙min)/ℓ which equals to a PAA dose of 1.5 to 2 mg/ℓ and a contact time of 10 to 15 min. In this concentration area changes in pH, COD and BOD were negligible. However, hydrogen peroxide residues may interfere with COD measurements and apparent COD can be higher than the calculated theoretical oxygen demand (ThOD). Additionally PAA or hydrogen peroxide resi­dues interfere with the BOD test resulting in BOD values that are too low. Residual PAA and ORP were found to correlate with remaining amounts of bacteria. 

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Published

2025-03-31

Issue

Vol. 40 No. 1 January (2014): Water SA

Section

Research paper

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Tero Luukkonen, Juhani Teeriniemi, Hanna Prokkola, Jaakko Rämö, Ulla Lassi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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The content of this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.  Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal under the terms of this Licence, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, provided the source is attributed. Copyright is retained by the authors.

How to Cite

Tero Luukkonen (2025) “Chemical aspects of peracetic acid based wastewater disinfection”, Water SA, 40(1 January). doi:10.4314/wsa.v40i1.9.