Removing organic matters from reverse osmosis concentrate using advanced oxidation-biological activated carbon process combined with Fe3+/humus-reducing bacteria

The high-concentration wastewater produced in the industrial reverse osmosis (RO) process contains a large amount of refractory organic matters, which will have serious impacts on the natural environment and human health. Among them, contaminants can be transformed by humus-reducing bacteria based on humus. In this study, O-3- assisted UV-Fenton method was applied as pretreatment. Biological activated carbon (BAC) technology in which humus-reducing bacteria were the dominant bacteria, enhanced by electron donor and Fe3+, was used to dispose of RO concentrate (ROC). The results showed that water treatment process combining oxidation with biological filtration had a positive effect on the removal of stubborn contaminants in ROC. The system was strengthened by adding electron donor and Fe3+, and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was up to 80.1%. However, when the removal efficiency of UV254 absorbing pollutants reached optimal value (87.3%), that means only Fe3+ was added.