Oxidation tech to enhance waste-water reuse at lower cost

New Delhi, Aug 26 A new technology that treats municipal sewage and highly polluting industrial wastewater streams using UV-Photocatalysis and increase its reuse as a technological option in industrial as well as municipal wastewater treatments may soon enhance the reuse of wastewater in an affordable and sustainable manner.

It has become imperative for industries and utilities to reuse 'treated water'; however, the current treatment practices are inefficient because of high dependence on biological treatment systems, which are unable to bear shock loads.

"This is followed by tertiary treatment systems involving RO and Multi Effect Evaporators (MEE). These systems have large carbon footprint and maintenance costs making the wastewater treatment highly unsustainable and unaffordable," a release from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) said here on Wednesday.

Researchers at New Delhi-based The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) felt the need to integrate novel approaches and advanced technologies in current systems and hence developed the technology called 'The Advanced Oxidation Technology or TADOX', which can "reduce less dependence and load on biological and tertiary treatment systems and help achieve Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)."

It can bring down capital expenditure on ZLD by 25-30 per cent and operating expense by 30-40 per cent for industrial wastewater treatment, the release said.

DST's Water Technology Initiative (WTI) has supported TERI to develop this technology at bench scale collaboration in tie-up with ONGC Energy Centre (OEC), Delhi.

The technology involves UV-Photocatalysis as an Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) at the secondary treatment stage leading to oxidative degradation and mineralization of targeted pollutants. It improves biodegradability, thereby preventing bio-fouling of membranes and enhancing life span and efficiency of RO systems as also overall load on evaporators like Multiple Effect Evaporators and Mechanical vapor recompression (MVR). It can reduce Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), dissolved organics, pathogens, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), and Micropollutants, the release said.

TADOX could be integrated and retrofittable in existing treatment systems making it a viable option as a novel Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Technology (DWTT) applicable in upcoming and existing infrastructural projects, townships, commercial complexes, green buildings, and smart cities.

The technology has been adopted by an MSME to scale up to 10 Kilo Litre per Day continuous running plant at TERI's Gurugram campus. TADOX technology has been chosen for pilot trials and augmentation plan for identified industrial sectors under 'Namami Gange' Programme of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, it added.

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