Treatment of Arctic Wastewater by Chemical Coagulation, UV and Peracetic Acid Disinfection

Conventional wastewater treatment is challenging in the Arctic region due to the cold climate and scattered population. Thus, no wastewater treatment plant exists in Greenland and raw wastewater is discharged directly to nearby waterbodies without treatment. We investigated the efficiency of physico...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Main Authors: Chhetri, Ravi Kumar, Klupsch, Ewa, Andersen, Henrik Rasmus, Jensen, Pernille Erland
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/7be59041-ee47-4914-8e95-5020d6ce5c9e
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-8585-5
https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/128855485/Post_print_Manuscript_for_upload_DTU.pdf
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Summary:Conventional wastewater treatment is challenging in the Arctic region due to the cold climate and scattered population. Thus, no wastewater treatment plant exists in Greenland and raw wastewater is discharged directly to nearby waterbodies without treatment. We investigated the efficiency of physico-chemical wastewater treatment, in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Raw wastewater from Kangerlussuaq was treated by chemical coagulation and UV disinfection. By applying 7.5 mg Al/L polyaluminium chloride (PAX XL100), 73% of turbidity and 28% phosphate was removed from raw wastewater. E. coli and Enterococcus were removed by 4 and 2.5 log, respectively, when UV irradiation of 0.70 kWh/m3 was applied to coagulated wastewater. Furthermore, coagulated raw wastewater in Denmark, which has a chemical quality similar to Greenlandic wastewater, was disinfected by peracetic acid or UV irradiation. Removal of heterotrophic bacteria by applying 6 mg/L and 12 mg/L peracetic acid was 2.8 and 3.1 log, respectively. Similarly, removal of heterotrophic bacteria by applying 0.21 kWh/m3 and 2.10 kWh/m3 for UV irradiation was 2.1 and greater than 4 log, respectively. Physico-chemical treatment of raw wastewater followed by UV irradiation and/or peracetic acid disinfection showed the potential for treatment of arctic wastewater.