A Study On Using Pulsed Corona Power System and Titanium Dioxide to Degrade Humic Acid From Drinking Water

Drinking water can be contaminated by organic contaminants (humic acid) and as such can pose potential health hazards when ingested. The use of high oxidation methods to eliminate contaminants from drinking water or fluids is an attractive and efficient approach because it is a new technology. Earlier work (Sharma et al., 1993) has shown the elimination of highly toxic contaminants such as phenol and more recently fumic traces (Smith, 2004) and proteins from water fluents (Ibaņez, 2004). Organic contaminant such as the humic acid is tested experimentally to determine the ability of pulsed corona power system in degrading the humic acids and leading to a safe drinking product. The potential for humic acid degradation is examined over 45 minutes at each of five operational parameters varying energy and frequency (0.15 J/60 Hz, 0.15 J/120 Hz, 0.4 J/60 Hz, and 0.4 J/120 Hz) in a factorial design. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), Ultraviolet-visible and the X-ray were used as analytical parameters to monitor the effects of treatment on the humic acid.