Degradation of natural organic matter from surface water using sonolysis

This paper shows the behavior of natural organic matter (NOM) from drinking water under the influence of ultrasonic radiation. Experimental tests were performed by direct sonolysis of a drinking water source (river water) in order to establish the influence of main parameters (water source composition, irradiation time, energy and amplitude of ultrasonic wave, temperature, pH, conductivity) on NOM efficiency degradation emphasized by total organic carbon (TOC) and CODMn indicators. Likewise, UV-VIS spectra were made for the characterization of degradation processes based on nonconventional parameters A254, A280, A365, SUVA.
The experimental results highlight maximum 30% efficiency of NOM removal for short irradiation time, two minutes, diminishing of the ultrasonic wave amplitude leading to removal efficiency increasing (for the same 16 kHz frequency and the same energy of the wave).