Kinetic and mechanistic understanding of chlorite oxidation during chlorination: Optimization of ClO2 pre-oxidation for disinfection byproduct control

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) applications to drinking water are limited by the formation of chlorite (ClO2-) which is regulated in many countries. However, when ClO2 is used as a pre-oxidant, ClO2- can be oxidized by chlorine during subsequent disinfection. In this study, a kinetic model for the reaction of chlorine with ClO2- was developed to predict the fate of ClO2- during chlorine disinfection. The reaction of ClO2- with chlorine was found to be highly pH-dependent with formation of ClO3- and ClO2 in ultrapure water. In presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM), 60-70% of the ClO2- was transformed to ClO3- during chlorination, while the in situ regenerated ClO2 was quickly consumed by reaction with DOM. The remaining 30-40% of the ClO2- first reacted to ClO2 which then formed chlorine from the DOM-ClO2 reaction. Since only part of the ClO2- was transformed to ClO3-, the sum of the molar concentrations of oxychlorine species (ClO2- + ClO3-) decreased during chlorination. By kinetic modelling, the ClO2- concentration after 24 h of chlorination was accurately predicted in synthetic waters but was largely overestimated in natural waters, possibly due to a ClO2- decay enhanced by high concentrations of chloride and in situ formed bromine from bromide. Understanding the chlorine-ClO2 reaction mechanism and the corresponding kinetics allows to potentially apply higher ClO2 doses during the pre-oxidation step, thus improving disinfection byproduct mitigation while keeping ClO2-, and if required, ClO3- below the regulatory limits. In addition, ClO2 was demonstrated to efficiently degrade haloacetonitrile precursors, either when used as pre-oxidant or when regenerated in situ during chlorination.

Automated summary

The reaction of chlorine with chlorite in drinking water is pH-dependent and influenced by the presence of organic matter. Understanding the kinetics of this reaction can improve water treatment processes and reduce the formation of disinfection byproducts.