Hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet irradiations in water treatment.

Trihalomethanes (THMs) the by-products of chlorination in water treatment are recognised as a threat to public health due to their carcinogenicity. The photodegradation of THMs using hydrogen peroxide has been found to give increased removal efficiency and the outcome of the study may find, its application in designing a unit process for water treatment. Batch experiments were carried out using UV lamp of 83 W and 40% w/w Hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) in test waters between 2.5-10 pH range of chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform at 50-200 microg L(-1) initial concentration. 92-100% removal of chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform were found with 0.1% of H(2)O(2) and 90 min of UV exposure.