RESUMO
Greywater treatment by UVC/H(2)O(2) was investigated with regard to the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD). A COD reduction from 225 to 30 mgl(-1) (overall removal of 87%) was achieved after settling overnight and subsequent irradiation for 3h with 10mM H(2)O(2). Most of the contaminants were removed by oxidation since only 13% COD was removed by settlement. The removal of COD in the greywater followed a second-order kinetic equation, r=0.0637[COD][H(2)O(2)], up to 10mM H(2)O(2). A slightly enhanced COD removal was observed at the initial pH of 10 compared with pH 3 and 7. This was attributed to the dissociation of H(2)O(2) to O(2)H(-). The treatment was not affected by total concentration of carbonate (c(T)) of at least 3 mM, above which operation between pH 3 and 5 was essential. The initial biodegradability of the settled greywater (as BOD(5):COD) was 0.22. After 2h UVC/H(2)O(2) treatment, a higher proportion of the residual contaminants was biodegradable (BOD(5):COD=0.41) which indicated its potential as a pre-treatment for a biological process.
