Ozone Wastewater Disinfection

Wastewater Ozone Disinfection is an effective method use to kill microorganisms before final discharge to the environment. Compared to standard application involving chlorine, ozone is deemed much more effective because it can directly cause lysis of bacterial cell walls and instantly killing it. Apart from acting as a disinfection agent, ozone can also chemically degrade harmful and undesirable compounds that will also cause unpleasant odor and color in the water. Previously using ozone for the wastewater treatment was never seen as a viable alternative but recent development and advancement in ozone generation technology has thus made it much more cost effective.

Despite being a potent disinfectant that kills microorganisms, ozone is generally safe for use and would not cause much environmental side effects. Since it disintegrates easily, by the time the wastewater is discharged, the toxicity effectiveness has waned out and disappears. Intermediate compounds that form due to the introduction of ozone to the wastewater, which are known to be harmful were also highly unstable and by the time the wastewater exits to the general drain, the compound would have disintegrated.

Generation of ozone poses a challenge because it is highly unstable and will rapidly decompose to oxygen and thus must be replenished. Current available technology for mass production of ozone for use in wastewater treatment plants is by using electrical discharge generator, which might require some initial startup investment. The cost of purchasing and maintaining the generator may be seen as a burden but in actual fact, the benefits imparted in the long run for use of the system will definitely outweighs the initial cost. The principal on how the ozone generator works generally relies on use of high voltage, which is applied through a narrow gap between electrodes to break and combine oxygen molecules together.

Use of Ozone as disinfection agent has several advantages compared to chlorine and other chemical compounds. As mentioned earlier, not only is it safe but introduction of ozone to the wastewater will not cause accumulation of dissolved solid. In fact, the performance is also not affected in any way by presence of ammonium ion or change in pH value.



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