Performic acid (PFA): tests on an advanced primary effluent show promising disinfection performance

Gehr, Ronald; Chen, D.; Moreau, Marjory

doi:10.2166/wst.2009.761

Cited by 53 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Effect concentrations for aquatic organisms are reported as low as 2.4 mg/L (ECETOC, 1993). Performic acid (PFA) has emerged as a well-known disinfectant in the medical field and food industry (Gehr et al, 2009). In recent years, PFA has been used to disinfect primary and secondary WWTP effluents and can efficiently remove fecal coliforms at low doses (Gehr et al, 2009;Ragazzo et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Performic acid (PFA) has emerged as a well-known disinfectant in the medical field and food industry (Gehr et al, 2009). In recent years, PFA has been used to disinfect primary and secondary WWTP effluents and can efficiently remove fecal coliforms at low doses (Gehr et al, 2009;Ragazzo et al, 2013). PFA is an unstable product and needs to be generated on-the-spot, when needed, as a quaternary equilibrium mixture of performic acid (PFA), formic acid (FA), hydrogen peroxide and water:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Formic acid is not toxic to aquatic fauna and easily biodegradable (Gehr et al, 2009;USEPA, 2001). Both organic peroxides PAA and PFA have shown high disinfection efficiency on treated wastewater effluents, but in a recent literature search, PAA and PFA have not been found to have been tested or used to disinfect CSOs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chemical disinfection of combined sewer overflow waters using performic acid or peracetic acids

Chhetri

Thornberg²,

Berner³

et al. 2014

Science of The Total Environment

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Highlights Performic and peracetic acid disinfection of combined sewer overflow was evaluated  Sewer overflow water for laboratory studies was made with diluted raw wastewater  The bathing water indicator E. coli was always easier to disinfect than Enterococcus  Peracetic acid required long contact time (2 ppm, 6 h) for efficient disinfection  Performic acid was short lived but potent, efficient disinfection by 2 ppm, 20 min Abstract We investigated the possibility of applying performic acid (PFA) and peracetic acid (PAA) for disinfection of combined sewer overflow (CSO) in existing CSO management infrastructures. The disinfection power of PFA and PAA towards Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Enterococcus were studied in batch-scale and pre-field experiments. In the batch-scale experiment, 2.5 mg·L -1 PAA removed approximately 4 log unit of E. coli and Enterococcus from CSO with a 360 min contact time. The removal of E. coli and Enterococcus from CSO was always around or above 3 log units using 2-4 mg·L -1 PFA; with a 20 min contact time in both batch-scale and prefield experiments. There were no toxicological effect measured by Vibrio fischeri when CSO was disinfected with PFA, a slight toxic effect was observed on CSO disinfected with PAA. When the design for PFA based disinfection was applied to CSO collected from an authentic event, the disinfection efficiencies were confirmed and degradation rates were slightly higher than predicted in simulated CSO.Keywords: disinfection, combined sewer overflow, peracetic acid, performic acid; chemical disinfection; stormwater treatment, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus. 2 1.0 INTRODUCTION Combined sewer overflow (CSO) is a well-known phenomenon in combined sewer systems where wastewater and rain water are transported in the same sewers. CSOs occur when the rainfall exceeds the design capacity of sewer systems and needs to be discharged to surface water near cities, either directly, or after a short retention in detention tanks or outfall pipes (see graphical abstract, supplementary Figure S1). Discharge of untreated CSOs deteriorates the quality of receiving waters, since CSOs contain a variable mixture of rain water, raw sewage, watershed runoff pollutants, variable pathogenic organisms, viruses, cysts, suspended solids, chemicals and floatable materials (USEPA, 1999). In recent years, the effect of CSOs on water bodies used for recreational purpose has caught a lot of attention in Europe. Particularly the dedication from 2002 of Copenhagen harbor for recreational purposes including swimming and water sports has yielded an economically significant added service and tourism industry to the harbor area. Corresponding economic loss when CSO events close the harbor for bathing has inspired construction of significant retention basins which should limit the CSO events frequency, but due to the climate change related increased number of extreme rain events in 2000-2011 20, rain events caused temporary closing of the bathing (NYC Global Partners, 2011).According to European Un...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Chemical disinfection of combined sewer overflow waters using performic acid or peracetic acids

Chhetri

Thornberg²,

Berner³

et al. 2014

Science of The Total Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…PFA emerged as a common disinfectant in the medical field and food industry (Gehr et al, 2009). In recent years, PFA has been used to disinfect primary and secondary WWTP effluents (Gehr et al, 2009;Ragazzo et al, 2013) and to disinfect combined sewer overflows (Chhetri et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, PFA has been used to disinfect primary and secondary WWTP effluents (Gehr et al, 2009;Ragazzo et al, 2013) and to disinfect combined sewer overflows (Chhetri et al, 2015). PFA is unstable and needs to be generated on-site, when needed, as a quaternary equilibrium mixture of performic acid (PFA), formic acid, hydrogen peroxide and water:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%