New advanced oxidation technology can enhance wastewater reuse at lower cost

A new UV-photocatalysis technology can treat municipal sewage and highly polluting industrial wastewater streams, and increase its reuse, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) said on Wednesday.

The current treatment practices are inefficient because of high dependence on biological treatment systems, which are unable to bear shock loads, it said.

This is followed by tertiary treatment systems involving reverse osmosis and Multi Effect Evaporators (MEE), the DST said in a statement.

These systems have large carbon footprint and maintenance costs making wastewater treatment highly unsustainable and unaffordable, it said.

Due to this, researchers felt that there is a need to integrate novel approaches and advanced technologies in current systems, the DST said.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), here has developed a 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 said.

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. TADOX developed by TERI, New Delhi, for wastewater treatment is an effort in this direction, the DST said.

The DST-Water Technology Initiative (WTI) has supported TERI to develop this technology at bench scale collaboration in tie-up with the ONGC Energy Centre (OEC) here, the statement said.

The technology involves UV-Photocatalysis as an Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) at the secondary treatment stage leading to oxidative degradation and mineralisation of targeted pollutants, it said.

It improves biodegradability, thereby preventing biofouling 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, the DST statement said.

It can reduce chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, dissolved organics, pathogens, persistent organic pollutants, and micro-pollutants, it added.

TADOX could be integrated and retrofittable in existing treatment systems making it a viable option as a novel decentralised wastewater treatment technology (DWTT) applicable in upcoming and existing infrastructural projects, townships, commercial complexes, green buildings, and smart cities, the statement said.

The technology has been adopted by an MSME company to scale up to 10 kilo liter per day continuous running plant in TERI’s Gurgaon campus, it said.

TADOX technology has been chosen for pilot trials and augmentation plans for identified industrial sectors under the ‘Namami Gange’ Programme of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the statement said.

The technology is ready for commercialisation through field implementations and Technology & Trademark License Agreement from April 1, it added.