Photochemical Formation of Hydroxyl Radical from Effluent Organic Matter

The photochemical formation of hydroxyl radical (HO•) from effluent organic matter (EfOM) was evaluated using three bulk wastewater samples collected at different treatment facilities under simulated sunlight. For the samples studied, the formation rates of HO•(RHO•) were obtained from the formation rate of phenol following the hydroxylation of benzene. The values of RHO• ranged from 2.3 to 3.8 × 10–10 M s–1 for the samples studied. The formation rate of HO• from nitrate photolysis (RNO3HO•) was determined to be 3.0 × 10–7 MHO• MNO3–1 s–1. The HO• production rate from EfOM (REfOMHO•) ranged from 0.76 to 1.3 × 10–10 M s–1. For the wastewater samples studied, REfOMHO• varied from 1.5 to 2.4 × 10–7 MHO• MC–1 s–1 on molarcarbon basis, which was close to HO• production from nitrate photolysis. The apparent quantum yield for the formation of HO• from nitrate (ΦNO3–HO•a) was determined as 0.010 ± 0.001 for the wavelength range 290–400 nm in ultrapure water. The apparent quantum yield for HO• formation in EfOM (ΦEfOM–HO•a) ranged from 6.1 to 9.8 × 10–5, compared to 2.99 to 4.56 × 10–5 for organic matter (OM) isolates. The results indicate that wastewater effluents could produce significant concentrations of HO•, as shown by potential higher nitrate levels and relatively higher quantum yields of HO• formation from EfOM.