Chlorination disinfection by-products and comparative cost analysis of chlorination and UV disinfection in sewage treatment plants: Indian scenario

Abstract

Apart from numerous other well-known drawbacks of chlorination, viz. on-site operational hazards and residual chlorine toxicity, trihalomethane (THM) formation is the major factor that came into limelight in the last 40 years, primarily in drinking water treatment industry. Treated effluent from wastewater treatment plants is also chlorinated and then discharged, indirectly coming in human contact, so there is need to consider THM as a potable as well as wastewater parameter. In this study, THMs were identified in seven sewage treatment plants (STPs) in North India. STPs were selected based on treatment technology employed, viz., up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), activated sludge process (ASP), sequential batch reactor (SBR), and oxidation pond (OP). THM concentrations obtained at all the seven STPs were below BIS standards of drinking water (0–40 μg L⁻¹). UASB plant shows considerably higher concentration of THM. UV followed by chlorination is suggested as an alternative to chlorination. Per million liter per day (MLD) capital and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of UV disinfection were analyzed revealing decreasing per MLD capital cost of UV with increasing plant capacity. The comparative annual O&M cost analysis of chlorination, dechlorination, and UV disinfection shows that there is up to 63% reduction of the total annual O&M cost by UV in comparison to chlorination, whereas in the case of chlorination followed by dechlorination, total reduction is 71%.