Raed Al-Juboori

By Raed A. Al-Juboori and Les Bowtell

Fresh water is one of the main sources for drinking water production. Due to increasing contamination caused by extreme weather events such as flood and drought as well as urbanization activities, the quality of this source continues to deteriorate. In order to maintain producing high-quality water from heavily contaminated sources, more chemicals are added to water in conventional treatment plants. This practice generates serious health problems such as the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) and the increase of coagulants residues (e.g., Al) in the treated water. Combining chemical-free techniques with conventional treatment processes can be a potential solution for such problems. When evaluating various techniques, ultrasound appears to be a sensible choice for improving contaminants removal from surface water. This chapter sheds light on the exacerbating problem of fresh water contamination and succinctly reviews chemical-free techniques’ options for water treatment. The focus of this chapter is directed toward providing critical and insightful discussion of fundamentals, mechanisms, and reaction pathways of ultrasound technology for water treatment application. Recommendations for the best location and operating settings of ultrasound application in conventional water treatment train will be provided based on energy saving and minimal downstream impact criteria.

Part of the book: Sonochemical Reactions