1. Innovative Phosphorus Removal and Recovery Strategies
A comparison of advanced oxidation and traditional chemical treatment: (A) anthropogenic inputs such as agricultural runoff,
(B) traditional chemical treatment, (C) removal of PO4 and NOM with the persistence of DOP in the water body, (D) oxidation of
DOP to PO4 followed by traditional chemical treatment, and (E) removal of PO 4, DOP, and NOM from the water body.
This research was funded in part by a USP
undergraduate research award to JC. We
would like to thank Hugo Sindelar for his
assistance with experiments.
Jacquline Cooke (B.S., 2012) Dr. Treavor H. Boyer
Overview and Objectives
Excess phosphorus (P) can pose significant challenges to the quality of water bodies. Present chemical technologies are able to
remove inorganic P while organic P remains a challenge. Oxidative degradation procedures for dissolved organic compounds
provide a means of chemical treatment. Specifically, oxidation of organic pollutants by UV/H2O2 generates hydroxyl radicals that
react with organic compounds. Hence, the goal of this research is to provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of oxidizing
dissolved organic P (DOP) to the more readily treatable orthophosphate (PO4) using UV/H2O2 treatment as a model advanced
oxidation process (AOP). The specific objectives of this work are: (1) to evaluate the effect of UV/H 2O2 treatment on changes in
DOP and PO4 in model waters with varying compositions, (2) to investigate the most effective combination of UV exposure time
and H2O2 concentration to oxidize DOP to PO4, and (3) to compare the decrease in DOP to that of bulk NOM.
Conclusions
 Treatment with UV/H2O2 (50 mg/L H2O2 and 60 min UV) yielded oxidation (80-100%) of DOP to PO4. Test waters
were prepared with target concentrations for PO4 and DOP of 200 and 100 µg/L P, respectively, and a target
concentration for NOM of 10 mg/L C. An approximate model for Everglades NOM was achieved by combining TEP
and SR NOM. TEP was used as a surrogate for DOP.
 Model waters with varying compositions of alkalinity, chloride, bromide, iodide, and nitrate were used to test the effect
of water chemistry on DOP oxidation. Because of the powerful oxidation conditions used (50 mg/L H 2O2 and 60 min
UV), the effect of the test water chemistry on DOP oxidation was not observed.
 Treatment combinations with varying doses of H2O2 and UV were tested to determine an effective combination to
oxidize DOP to PO4. Treatment combinations of 50 mg/L H2O2 and 6 min UV and 25 mg/L H2O2 and 12 min UV were
ineffective at oxidizing (30-40%) DOP. Oxidation (50-90%) of DOP to PO4 was achieved with a treatment
combination of 50 mg/L H2O2 and 12 min UV. Treatment with 50 mg/L H2O2 and 12 min UV was determined effective
at oxidizing DOP.
 Analysis of the percent removal of DOP versus that of NOM concluded that UV/H 2O2 treatment as a model AOP is
preferential toward the oxidation of NOM before that of DOP.
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Treavor H. Boyer, Ph.D. ~ Assistant Professor ~ Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences ~ University of Florida
thboyer@ufl.edu ~ 352.846.3351 ~ www.ees.ufl.edu/homepp/boyer ~ www.twitter.com/WaterWeUpTo