The occurrence of organic micropollutants (OMPs) in surface waters poses a significant challenge for advanced water treatment systems. At the same time, the management of membrane retentates containing concentrated contaminants remains a critical limitation of membrane-based technologies. In this study, a hybrid treatment approach integrating nanofiltration (NF) with UV/peracetic acid (UV/PAA) oxidation was investigated to address both OMP removal and retentate treatment. NF effectively removed most of the investigated compounds from surface water but generated a retentate with elevated contaminant concentrations. Subsequent oxidation of the NF retentate using the UV/PAA system resulted in rapid degradation of a wide range of micropollutants. Kinetic analysis revealed pseudo-first-order degradation with rate constants ranging from 0.06 to 1.05 min−1 depending on compound structure. The highest degradation rates were observed for phenolic compounds, while compounds lacking strongly reactive functional groups exhibited slower oxidation kinetics. Increasing the PAA dose significantly enhanced degradation efficiency and enabled near-complete removal of most contaminants. The obtained rate constants fall within the range reported for radical-based advanced oxidation processes. These results demonstrate that coupling NF with UV/PAA oxidation provides an effective strategy for OMPs removal and treatment of membrane concentrates, supporting the development of integrated technologies for advanced water purification.
Bolińska et al. (Sun,) studied this question.