The paucity of proper sanitation facilities has contributed to the spread of waterborne diseases in many developing countries. The primary goal of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using a wastewater electrolysis cell (WEC) for toilet wastewater disinfection. The treated wastewater was designed to reuse for toilet flushing and agricultural irrigation. Laboratory-scale electrochemical (EC) disinfection experiments were performed to investigate the disinfection efficiency of the WEC with four seeded microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, recombinant adenovirus serotype 5, and bacteriophage MS2). In addition, the formation of organic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) at the end of the EC treatment was also investigated. The results showed that at an applied cell voltage of +4 V, the WEC achieved 5-log10 reductions of all four seeded microorganisms in real toilet wastewater within 60 min. In contrast, chemical chlorination (CC) disinfection using hypochlorite [NaClO] was only effective for the inactivation of bacteria. Due to the rapid formation of chloramines, less than 0.5-log10 reduction of MS2 was observed in toilet wastewater even at the highest [NaClO] dosage (36 mg/L, as Cl2) over a 1 h reaction. Experiments using laboratory model waters showed that free reactive chlorine generated in situ during EC disinfection process was the main disinfectant responsible for the inactivation of microorganisms. However, the production of hydroxyl radicals [•OH], and other reactive oxygen species by the active bismuth-doped TiO2 anode were negligible under the same electrolytic conditions. The formation of THMs and HAA5 were found to increase with higher applied cell voltage. Based on the energy consumption estimates, the WEC system can be operated using solar energy stored in a DC battery as the sole power source.

We have investigated electrochemical treatment of real domestic wastewater coupled with simultaneous production of molecular H 2 as useful byproduct. The electrolysis cells employ multilayer semiconductor anodes with electroactive bismuth-doped TiO 2 functionalities and stainless steel cathodes. DC-powered laboratory-scale electrolysis experiments were performed under static anodic potentials (+2.2 or +3.0 V NHE) using domestic wastewater samples, with added chloride ion in variable concentrations. Greater than 95% reductions in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonium ion were achieved within 6 h. In addition, we experimentally determined a decreasing overall reactivity of reactive chlorine species toward COD with an increasing chloride ion concentration under chlorine radicals (Cl•, Cl 2 − •) generation at +3.0 V NHE. The current efficiency for COD removal was 12% with the lowest specific energy consumption of 96 kWh kgCOD −1 at the cell voltage of near 4 V in 50 mM chloride. The current efficiency and energy efficiency for H 2 generation were calculated to range from 34 to 84% and 14 to 26%, respectively. The hydrogen comprised 35 to 60% by volume of evolved gases. The efficacy of our electrolysis cell was further demonstrated by a 20 L prototype reactor totally powered by a photovoltaic (PV) panel, which was shown to eliminate COD and total coliform bacteria in less than 4 h of treatment.

Electrolysis of toilet wastewater with TiO2-coated semiconductor anodes and stainless steel cathodes is a potentially viable onsite sanitation solution in parts of the world without infrastructure for centralized wastewater treatment. In addition to treating toilet wastewater, pilot-scale and bench-scale experiments demonstrated that electrolysis can remove phosphate by cathodic precipitation as hydroxyapatite at no additional energy cost. Phosphate removal could be predicted based on initial phosphate and calcium concentrations, and up to 80% total phosphate removal was achieved. While calcium was critical for phosphate removal, magnesium and bicarbonate had only minor impacts on phosphate removal rates at concentrations typical of toilet wastewater. Optimal conditions for phosphate removal were 3 to 4 h treatment at about 5 mA cm–2 (∼3.4 V), with greater than 20 m2 m–3 electrode surface area to reactor volume ratios. Pilot-scale systems are currently operated under similar conditions, suggesting that phosphate removal can be viewed as an ancillary benefit of electrochemical wastewater treatment, adding utility to the process without requiring additional energy inputs. Further value may be provided by designing reactors to recover precipitated hydroxyapatite for use as a low solubility phosphorus-rich fertilizer.