A Sorption-assisted Electrochemical Reduction Process with a novel activated carbon cathode for removal of organohalogen compounds from water (Halo-SERP)

Organohalogen compounds (OHCs) comprise thousands of substances used by society, many of which are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic.

Current technologies for removing OHCs from drinking water are often insufficient, and typically only evaluated against a small number of known substances.

In Halo-SERP, we will comprehensively assess OHC occurrence in Swedish drinking waters and develop a novel process for their removal.

To achieve this, incoming and outgoing water from drinking water treatment plants serving the 6 largest Swedish cities/regions (~40% of Sweden’s population) will be characterized for both total- and known OHCs using a multi-halogen mass balance approach.

Samples containing a large fraction of unidentified halogens will be further screened using high resolution mass spectrometry to identify novel OHCs.

Thereafter, we will develop a novel activated carbon (AC) cathode for sorption-assisted electrochemical reductive degradation of OHCs from drinking water.

This will involve understanding AC properties affecting sorption and cathodic performance, modification of an AC cathode and optimization of the reactor design to enhance sorption of anionic OHCs, and to improve sorption kinetic and degradation rates of all OHCs. Finally, the developed process will be evaluated for OHC removal in drinking waters.

Taken together, Halo-SERP will generate new knowledge on the extent of OHC contamination in drinking water, while developing a new technology for their removal.