By Corresponding Authors Castine A. Bernardy, Ph.D., CDM Smith; and James P. Malley, Jr., Ph.D., Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire
This One Water column provides an overview of recently held or upcoming conference presentations, as well as a summary of recent publications related to UV technology and One Water.
UV Research Projects and Presentations
Randall and Kwan published an interesting article, “The UV Industry Survey: Insights from Water Professionals,” in Journal AWWA Volume 117, Issue 3, p. 48-58. The available abstract of the paper indicates “Key Takeaways: Water utilities are facing water supply and water quality concerns driven by aging infrastructure, emerging contaminants and climate‐related events like droughts and floods. Advanced treatment processes are essential for maintaining clean, safe water supplies that achieve regulatory compliance, with ultraviolet (UV) irradiation playing a significant role. A recent survey of water professionals with experience in UV treatment provides a glimpse into how utilities, manufacturers and academics feel about the current state of the UV industry.”
The conference program for AWWA-ACE25 includes many interesting presentations on UV. It is exciting that Professor Karl G. Linder will receive AWWA’s prestigious A.P. Black Research Award and, as part of that ceremony, will deliver the paper “Water Treatment at the Speed of UV Light.” This talk will track the emergence of UV-based treatment in the water sector, from disinfection of Cryptosporidium in drinking water to destruction of emerging contaminants in potable water reuse, emphasizing the importance of UV wavelength and the promise of emerging UV sources. Utilization of UV, both within centralized treatment facilities and out of the treatment plant in distributed applications, will be discussed, reflecting on Linden’s years of research leadership in the sector.
Tiffany Miller of Tetra Tech will present “What’s in Your Arsenal? Effects of Nitrate on NDMA and 1,4-dioxane Using UVAOP from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal’s Pilot Study.” The Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA) in Colorado is on the National Priorities List for groundwater remediation, with portions of the site having detectable amounts of NDMA and 1,4-dioxane. The North Boundary Containment System (NBCS) utilizes UV treatment to photolyze NDMA. In recent years, 1,4-dioxane levels have increased above the remediation goal, requiring RMA to investigate the implementation of UV Advanced Oxidation Process (UVAOP). Through the years, several pilot studies evaluated the efficacy of UVAOP and showed potential for Nitrate interference on technology’s performance. This presentation describes the results of a new pilot study evaluating the effects of varying nitrate levels on the ability to remove the target contaminants.
Madison Ferrebee, a Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado Boulder, will present “Inactivation of Opportunistic Pathogens and Prevention of Biofilms in Drinking Water Systems using UV LEDs.” Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that emit germicidal UV irradiation (200-290 nm) have many potential applications within drinking water distribution systems, tanks and points of entry/use to reduce biofilm formation or inactivate biofilm-bound opportunistic pathogens, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this study, two bench-scale systems were utilized to compare two different UV disinfection methods: UV pre-treatment of planktonic cells prior to biofilm formation vs. in situ UV treatment of cells during biofilm formation. These results will help inform if and how UV LEDs can be used to reduce the burden of biofilms in drinking water systems.
Bryan Townsend of Black & Veatch will present “Monitoring the Dynamic Water Quality of UV AOP Systems” (Co-Authors: Anthony Pimentel, Aswathi Pradeep). The addition of sodium hypochlorite upstream of UV/chlorine AOP systems treating RO permeate results in a dynamic water quality that presents a unique challenge regarding the measurement of a UVT and free chlorine residual that is representative of that entering the UV reactor. For UV/Chlorine and UV/hydrogen peroxide AOPs, the combined processes of photolysis, advanced oxidation and breakpoint chlorination reactions result in a continuous increase in UVT as water flows through the UV reactor. If not properly accounted for, this instability can result in situations where the system is providing a level of treatment that is significantly different from what is indicated by the online measurements and UV AOP control algorithms.
Qigang Chang of AE2S LLC will present “Unlocking Effective T&O Removal and DBP Mitigation: Key Findings from AOP & Biofiltration Pilot Study.” The city of St. Cloud, Minnesota, operates a 24 MGD lime-softening water treatment facility that faces seasonal taste and odor (T&O) issues and elevated trihalomethanes (TTHMs). A 12-month comprehensive pilot study evaluated advanced oxidation processes (AOP) and biological filtration to mitigate these challenges. Results showed effective T&O and DBP reduction using ozone, peroxone and UV-AOP. Biological filtration further enhanced treatment. This study’s findings led to major upgrades at the facility in 2024. This paper will present the key findings from the pilot study and full-scale performance results (Co-Authors: Adam Bourassa, Jill Pauls, Tracy Hodel and Jason Kosmatka).
The IUVA International Conference on Far-UVC Science and Technology (ICFUST) will be held the week after AWWA-ACE25, from June 16-18, 2025, at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. This meeting will bring together researchers, innovators and policymakers from around the world to share the latest advances and progress on Far UV-C applications toward public health and environmental protection, building on successful events at Columbia University in New York and St Andrews University in the UK. The conference program is being finalized and will be published in May 2025.
Publications Related to UV Technology and One Water
Multiple scientific search engines have been used to identify peer-reviewed articles that may be of interest to professionals working in the UV technology for One Water segment. This quarter’s search identified ~120,000 citations, therefore the criteria: published in the past six months, October 2024 to March 2025, most cited articles, timeliness of topic relative to reader interests (e.g., UV-LEDs, forever chemicals, emerging pathogens of interest) and/or the quality of the journal publishing the work were used to produce the following list, capped at 10 for sake of publication length.
- Efficacy of UVC-LED radiation in bacterial, viral, and protozoan inactivation: an assessment of the influence of exposure doses and water quality; Freitas, Bárbara Luíza Souza; Fava, Natália Melo de Nasser; Melo-Neto, Murilo Guilherme de; Dalkiranis, Gustavo Gonçalves; Tonetti, Adriano Luiz; Byrne, John Anthony; Fernandez-Ibañez, Pilar; Sabogal-Paz, Lyda Patricia; Water Research (Oxford), 2024-11, Vol. 266, p. 122322, Article 122322
- Concerning Toxic Byproducts and Full-Scale UV/Chlorine Advanced Oxidation Water Treatment Moore, N; Zollbrecht, N; Hofmann, R Nov 5, 2024, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, 58 (46), pp. 20710-20718
- Action of chlorine, peracetic acid, UV-LED radiation, and advanced oxidation process on Giardia lamblia cysts for reclaimed water production, Leonel, LP and Tonetti, AL, 2024 Nov 2024, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
- Assessment of the efficacy of bacterial inactivation by combination treatment with peracetic acid and UVC light-emitting diode and elucidation of the bactericidal mechanism. Kang, MJ; Ha, JH; Kim, D, Dec 2024, FOOD BIOSCIENCE
- The fate of intracellular and extracellular antibiotic resistance genes during ultrafiltration-ultraviolet-chlorination in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant. Li, Xuan; Zhang, Zehao; (…); Wang, Qilin, 2025-Jan-Journal of Hazardous Materials, 486, pp. 137088
- Water Disinfection with Dual-Wavelength (222+275 nm) Ultraviolet Radiations: Microbial Inactivation and Reactivation. Sun, Z; Li, MK; (…); Qiang, ZM, 2025 Jan 2025 (Early Access), ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
- The photo-based treatment technology simultaneously removes resistant bacteria and resistant genes from wastewater. Guo, Zicong; Tang, Xiang; (…); Xiong, Weiping, 2025-Feb, Journal of Environmental Sciences (China)
- Microplastics Exacerbated Conjugative Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance Genes during Ultraviolet Disinfection: Highlighting Difference between Conventional and Biodegradable Ones, Zhang, XR; Wang, J; Jia, HZ. 2024 Dec 2024 (Early Access). ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
- Effect of coil diameter on water disinfection efficiency in a helical photoreactor using ultraviolet-C light emitting diodes. Wang, CP; Chang, YC; Jia, Q., Jan 15, 2025, ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY 46 (2), pp. 279-288
- UV-LED-incorporated showerhead for point-of-use disinfection of drinking water. Song, JJX and Oguma, K., Dec 2024, JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, 12 (6)
This recurring column shares updates on UV disinfection in the One Water space.
