Comparison of gamma ray and ultraviolet radiation on regrowth control of microorganism in urban sewage effluent

Subject Areas : Water and Environment

Amir Hossein Madah ¹ , Maral khodadadi ² , sanaz khorami pour ³

1 - M.S. Student in Environmental pollution, Department of Environment, Management Faculty, Islamic Azad University, West Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran.
2 - Assistant Professor, Nuclear agriculture research school, Nuclear Science and Technology Institute, Karaj, Iran.
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Environment, Management Faculty, Islamic Azad University, West Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2018-04-29 Accepted : 2018-07-18 Published : 2020-09-22

Keywords: ionizing radiation, Non-ionizing radiation, Microbial Regrowth, Urban Sewage Effluent, Disinfection,

Abstract :

Background and Objective:Due to the severe shortage of water resources in Iran, the application of wastewater effluent for agriculture has become inevitable. Disinfection is one of the crucial steps in water treatment. Common disinfection technologies such as chlorination can effectively control microbial pathogens; however, undesirable disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are known to be toxic and carcinogenic. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare disinfection efficiency and regrowth control of microorganisms in urban wastewater effluent using gamma radiation and Ultra Violet treatments. Method: The pre-disinfection effluent (before chlorination unit) was collected from south Tehran wastewater treatment plant, Tehran, Iran. The applied gamma radiation doses were 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 6 kGy. UV disinfection systems were developed using a reactor with 1 L of liquid volume. The disinfection efficiency was evaluated based on the total colony count and total Coliform. For bacterial regrowth evaluation, the samples were incubated at 22 ◦C, 100rpm for three days in dark condition. Findings: The number of total Coliform in all gamma ray doses was zero at the beginning of the experiment. The re-growth of total Coliform was observed at doses less than 2 kGy. In the treatment of ultraviolet radiation, at the beginning of the experiment, the lowest flow rate had the highest disinfection efficiency. However, after three days, the total Coliform population was higher than the allowed limit in all of the inflow rates. Discussion and Conclusion: Gamma radiation can be applied as an effective alternative technique to UV treatment for disinfection processes without bacterial regrowth.

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