Comparison of peracetic acid and sodium hypochlorite enhanced Fe(II) coagulation on algae-laden water treatment

In this study, Fe(II)/peracetic acid (PAA) and Fe(II)/sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) systems were applied as the combined preoxidation and coagulation process to enhance algae removal. A high removal rate of algae and turbidity could be achieved, with most algal cells keeping intact when adding reasonable concentrations of PAA and NaClO to enhance Fe(II) coagulation. The variations of chlorophyll a, malondialdehyde, and intracellular reactive oxygen species suggested that moderate oxidation with only destroying surface-adsorbed organic matter rather than cell integrity was realized. The generated organic radicals, Fe(IV), and hydroxy radical played the major roles in the Fe(II)/PAA system for the moderate oxidation of algal cells, but direct oxidation by NaClO rather than producing reactive species in the Fe(II)/NaClO process contributed to the preoxidation. Concurrently, the in-situ formed Fe(III) greatly promoted the agglomerating and settling of algae. The analysis of cell integrity, biochemical compositions, and fluorescence excitation-emission matrices spectra demonstrated that excess NaClO but not PAA would seriously damage the algal cells. This might be because that NaClO would directly oxidize the cell wall/membrane, while PAA mainly permeates into the cell to inactivate algae. These results suggest that Fe(II)/PAA is an efficient strategy for algae-laden water treatment without serious algae lysis.