The chemistry of ozone in water and wastewater treatment
© 2013 EPFL
Ozone has been used as an alternative to chlorine for water treatment for about a century. Water can be disinfected by bubbling ozone through it, as dissolved ozone kills waterborne organisms.
Ozone is also increasingly applied for the oxidation of micropollutants, recently even as a polishing step in conventional wastewater treatment, and it efficiently degrades many chemical compounds. It has, however, been shown that in certain cases this leads to the formation of potentially harmful degradation products. Considering the rampant use of chemical compounds in consumer goods such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, understanding ozone reactions is becoming essential to predict the efficiency of the elimination of micropollutants as a barrier to their release into the water cycle. In a new book, Urs von Gunten and Clemens von Sonntag present a state-of-the-art compilation of the knowledge in the field of ozone chemistry and its applications to water and wastewater treatment. Their book covers a broad scope, from the basics of ozone chemistry to its practical application and is an important source of information for researchers, students and practitioners.