Abstract

The disinfection of the wastewater effluents is important to reduce the pathogenic microorganism impact in the environment. UV radiation is one of the technologies used for this purposed. The wastewater characteristics, such as dissolved organic compounds or the presence of suspended solids can affect the efficiency of the faecal coliform bacteria removal in the disinfection process by ultraviolet (UV) radiation technology. This study addresses to see the effect of the effluent wastewater matrix in the disinfection by the use of low pressure (LP/UV) and media pressure (MP/UV) lamps. Samples collected in different wastewater treatment plants show different transmittance emission profiles due mostly to the presence of the mixture of dissolved organic compounds with some effect on the faecal coliform bacteria removal.