Removal of Sucralose by a Simultaneous Application of UV and Chlorine

Detection of various Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in water sources and drinking water has raised concern on consumer health risks, therefore effective water treatment processes for removing PPCPs are required. In recent work, we studied removal efficiencies of sucralose, a PPCPs marker by a simultaneous application of UV and chlorine (UV/Cl₂) compared with UV radiation and chlorination standalone processes and experiments were performed under a bench scale reactor. Results showed that the UV/Cl₂ process provided a highest removal efficiency of sucralose followed by chlorination alone and UV, respectively. Moreover, the removal efficiency in the UV/Cl₂ process was higher than the total removal efficiency of chlorination alone and UV indicating degradation by free radicals produced by photolysis of chlorine in the UV/Cl₂ process. Increase of chlorine dose to 3 mg/L in the UV/Cl₂ process enhanced removal efficiency up to 37±0.4% within 30 min of contact time. Based on these results, the UV/Cl₂ process is effective process for removing PPCPs and may help reducing consumer health risks from PPCPs