Chapter five - Electrochemical membrane technology for disinfection

Abstract

Water disinfection is the most important process to control the risks caused by the microbes within water. Conventional water disinfection processes, including chlorination, ozonation, and ultraviolet, show intrinsic disadvantages such as low disinfection efficiency, harmful byproduct formation, and microbial reactivation/regrowth during extensive applications. In order to overcome these limitations, electrochemical membrane technology is explored as an emerging efficient water disinfection approach, with novel disinfection mechanisms achieved by the specific physical, electrochemical, and biological characteristics of electrochemical membranes. This chapter gives an overview into the main mechanisms involved in the disinfection process by electrochemical membranes, as well as the development progress of the reactor configuration designs. Different water disinfection mechanisms and reactor configurations are comprehensively compared with the aspect of disinfection efficiency and energy consumption. Furthermore, the limitations and future perspectives of electrochemical membrane technology for water disinfection are also proposed.