VUV coupled with low-dose H2O2 as pretreatment prior to UF: Performance, mechanisms, DBPs formation and toxicity evaluation

Ultrafiltration (UF) is widely used in drinking water plants; however, membrane fouling is unavoidable. Natural organic matter (NOM) is commonly considered as an important pollutant that causes membrane fouling. Herein, we proposed VUV/H 2 O 2 as a UF pretreatment and used UV/H 2 O 2 for comparison. Compared to UV/H 2 O 2 , the VUV/H 2 O 2 system presented superior NOM removal. In the VUV/H 2 O 2 system, the steady-state concentration of HO• was approximately twice that in the UV/H 2 O 2 system, which was ascribed to the promoting effect of the 185 nm photons. Specifically, 185 nm photons promoted HO• generation by decomposing mainly H 2 O at a low H 2 O 2 dose or by decomposing mainly H 2 O 2 at a high H 2 O 2 dose. The VUV/H 2 O 2 pretreatment also demonstrated better membrane fouling mitigation performance than did UV/H 2 O 2 . An increase in the H 2 O 2 dose promoted HO• generation, thereby enhancing the performance of NOM degradation and membrane fouling alleviation and shifting the major membrane fouling mechanism from cake filtration to standard blocking. The VUV/H 2 O 2 (0.60 mM) pretreatment effectively reduced disinfection byproducts (DBPs) formation during chlorine disinfection. Additionally, the oxidant H 2 O 2 affected the membrane surface morphology and performance but had no evident effect on the mechanical properties. In actual water treatment, the VUV/H 2 O 2 pretreatment exhibited better performance than the UV/H 2 O 2 pretreatment in easing membrane fouling, ameliorating water quality, and reducing DBPs formation and acute toxicity.