UV LED wastewater disinfection: The future is upon us

Abstract

The world's first full-scale, 280 nm UV LED reactor for wastewater disinfection was tested at flows of 545 and 817 m³ day⁻¹. The system achieved a > 3 average log reduction of total coliform at 545 m³ day⁻¹ and the 817 m³ day⁻¹ flow rate achieved over a > 2.5 average log reduction for all operational conditions. The delivered fluence of the full-scale system ranged from 28 to 148 mJ cm⁻² and aligns with a UV auditing study that was conducted prior to the installation of the wastewater reactor. These results benchmark the performance that can be achieved by UV LED disinfection and further connect bench-scale disinfection results with full-scale performance. The approach established in this manuscript provides a novel tool for utilities when considering emerging UV disinfection technologies. In summary, this study establishes that UV LEDs are an effective wastewater disinfectant at-scale and are comparable to conventional low-pressure UV systems. This is the first instance where the efficacy of UV LEDs for municipal wastewater disinfection has been demonstrated using a large-scale installation at a functioning wastewater facility.