Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection is highly recommended owing to its high disinfection efficiency and disinfection by-products free, and UV Light-Emitting Diodes (UV LEDs) is increasingly becoming an alternative of mercury UV lamps for water disinfection owing to its long lifetime, low input power, and absence of problems on disposal. However, renovation of existing UV lamps faces the challenges for UV disinfection associated with disinfection efficiency and photoreactivation, and modified UV disinfection process is required for practical application. In this study, mathematical rule of disinfection and photoreactivation in a US enhanced UV disinfection system was investigated. UV LED with peak emission at 254nm (UV-C LED) was selected as representative for UV lamps, and a low frequency US was used as pretreatment followed by UV disinfection. The disinfection efficiency of Escherichia coli in deionized water (DI), DI water with kaoline suspension (DIK), and secondary effluent (SE) of municipal wastewater treatment plant were analyzed. Moreover, photoreactivation of E. coli in DIK water within 6h after disinfection was conducted. The experimental results showed that the disinfection efficiencies had good fit with Chick-Watson first-order linear model, and US pretreatment increased the inactivation rate constant for E. coli, which increased from 0.1605 to 0.1887 in the DIK water. Therefore, US pretreatment with UV disinfection have potential to shorten the retention time and reduce the reactor volume. Moreover, the number of photoreactivated E. coli in effluent was reduced under UV-C LED disinfection with US pretreatment compared with that under UV-C LED disinfection alone. The order of maximum percentage of photo-reactivated E. coli was as follows: UV-C LED disinfection alone at 30mJ/cm>UV-C LED disinfection at 25mJ/cm with US pretreatment>UV-C LED disinfection at 30mJ/cm with US pretreatment. The survival ratio versus photoreactivation time showed a good fit to second-order logistic model. US pretreatment in UV-C LED disinfection could improve disinfection efficiency, reducing photoreactivation in the effluent as well, which offers a promising practical application technology.

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) has been promoted as an alternative disinfectant because of its high disinfection efficiency and less formation of organic disinfection by-products (DBPs). However, particle-associated microorganisms could be protected during the disinfection process, which decreases the disinfection efficiency or increases the required dosage. Besides, the formation of inorganic disinfection by-products is a significant concern in environment health. Ultrasound (US)-combined disinfection methods are becoming increasingly attractive because they are efficient and environmentally friendly. In this study, US was introduced as an enhancement method to identify its influence on ClO2 demand reduction and to minimize the production of potential DBPs for secondary effluents disinfection. Fecal coliform was used as an indicator, and DBPs, including trichloromethane (TCM), dichloroacetic acid (DCAA), trichloroacetic acid (TCAA), chlorite (ClO2(-)), and chlorate (ClO3(-)), were analyzed to observe the potential DBPs formation. Results show that US pretreatment could reduce half of ClO2 dosage compared with ClO2 disinfection alone for the same disinfection efficiency, and that an input power density of 2.64 kJ/L pretreatment with the 1.5mg/L ClO2 was enough to meet the discharge requirement in China (i.e., fecal coliform below 1000 CFU/L for Class 1A) for secondary effluent disinfection, and the ClO2(-) concentration in the disinfection effluent was only 1.37 mg/L at the same time. Furthermore, the different effects of US on the two processes (US as pretreatment and simultaneous US/ClO2 disinfection) were also analyzed, including deagglomerating, cell damage, and synergistic disinfection as well as degasing/sonolysis. It was proved that the production of TCM, DCAA, and TCAA was insignificantly influenced with the introduction of US, but US pretreatment did reduce the production of ClO2(-) and ClO3(-) effectually. In general, US pretreatment could be a better option for disinfection enhancement methods combined with ClO2 in terms of both disinfection efficiency and disinfection by-product formation.

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