Disinfection Questions

Question 1
• Q1. The Chick’s Law: For disinfection, assume N (0) is initial
number of pathogens and N (t) is remaining number of
pathogens at time and given by: N (t) =N (0) × exp (-K×t);
where K is disinfection rate (unit=1/unit of time) and depends
on disinfectant-pathogen interaction and solution
characteristics. If disinfectant concentration (C disinfectant)
and contact time (tc) are related to each other by following
equation (the Watson’s Law):
• (C disinfectant)n × (tc) = constant (standard unit: C in mg/L and
tc in minute)
• What is the remaining pathogen concentration at this removal
after 1 minutes of contact time? (Assume K=0.046/min)
• For calculating remaining fraction of
pathogens after 1 minute of disinfection with
K=0.046/min, use the Chick’s
• Law: Nt/N0 = exp (-k ×t) = exp (-0.046/min×1
min) =0.9550 (i.e., 95.50%)
 Question 2
• An experiment shows that a concentration of
0.1 g/m3 of free available chlorine yield a 99%
kill of bacteria in 8 minutes. What contact
time is required to achieve a 99.9% kill at a
free available chlorine concentration of 0.05
g/m3? Assume that Chick’s Law and Watson’s
Law hold with n=1.
• Given: For 99% kill: C= 0.1 g/m3 and time (t) =8 minutes
Chick’s Law: Nt=N0×exp (-k ×t)
• Calculation of disinfection rate constant:
Nt/N0= (1-99/100) =0.01 in 8 minutes
• From Chick’s Law: 0.01 = exp (-k ×8)
=> k = - (1/8) ln (0.01) = 0.5756/min (answer)

• Using calculated k value, calculate time for getting 99.9% kill:

Nt/N0= (1-99.9/100)=0.001
• Using Chick’s Law: 0.001 = exp (-0.5756×t) =>t = - (1/0.5756) ln
(0.001) =12 min (answer)
• Note: Watson’s Law: Cn×t=constant = > C×t=constant (as
n=1)
For 99.9% kill: C= 0.1 g/m3 and time (t) =12minutes.
So, C×t value =(0.1 *1000mg/1000L)*(12 minutes)
= 1.2 (mg/L)(min.)

• To determine contact time using 0.05 g/m3, Ct is equal

for both cases.
• 1.2 (mg/L)(min.) = (0.05 ×1000mg/1000L)*(t minutes)
• t= 24 min. (answer)
 Question 3
• Comment on dose requirements for
inactivation of viruses at different levels by UV
light for each of viruses studied
 Question 4
• Look at the following relationship between concentration of
free residual chlorine and contact time required for 99% kill
(Watson’s Law: C0.86tp= (constant) for different pathogens).

• Pathogen type (constant)

Adenovirus 3 0.098
E.coli 0.24
Coxsackievirus A2 6.3

• For given chlorine dose, how long would you like to

disinfect to achieve maximum removal of all pathogens?
• Solution: For given chlorine dose: high contact
time is required for high value. So we need
longest contact time for Coxsackievirus A2
than that for other pathogens. Thus to achieve
maximum removal of all pathogens we need
contact time equal to that of Coxsackievirus
A2.
Note for ozone process
 Boundary conditions
• An important point of note in the use of UV light is
the turbidity and colour of the wastewater.
The turbidity reduces the permeability of the UV
light and the colour may adsorb the UV light.
This can be done easily using sand filtration, for
example.
• Testing is used to determine the most optimum
process conditions. The parameters that play a role in
this are the type of oxidant, the required dosage, the
acidity and the retention time in the reactor.
 Costs
• For ozone, the following assumptions can be used to
estimate the operating costs:
• Energy consumption for production of O3:
Based on pure oxygen, the costs will be 6 to 15 kWh/kg
O3,
based on air this amounts to 17 to 30 kWh/kg O3
• Energy cost price: 0.06 €/kWh
• Produced ozone concentration: 8 - 10% (10 to 12 kg O2 / kg
O3)
• Oxygen cost price: 140 €/tonne
• The required dosage of ozone must be determined via experiments.
A typical ozone dosage is 2 kg ozone/kg COD. The operational costs
for energy and oxygen will, depending on the required dosage, be 1
to 2 €/m3.
• Considering the limited stability, ozone must be produced on-site.
For an ozone generator with a capacity of 1.5 kg ozone/h, one
should consider an investment cost of € 100.000. The contact tank
and piping must be able to resist oxidising conditions.
• The dosage of liquid oxidisation, like H2O2, requires low investment
costs. If activation with UV is also needed, the investment costs will
be considerably higher. For the oxidisation of a wastewater flow of
1 m3/h and 5.000 mg COD/l, the investment costs for UV lamps
amount to approximately € 65.000.