Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and microcystins are some of the well-known chemical contaminants in drinking water in the USA. Despite the availability of filtration technologies like ion-exchange resins, activated-carbon, and high-pressure membrane filters, these contaminants still remain widespread in the environment. In the present study, two innovative aspects of electrocoagulation techniques were tested, (a) cheap and easy-to-operate field-unit instead of hi-tech electrocoagulation and (b) reverse-polarity instead of conventional polarity, and applied to remove PFOA and microcystins from drinking water sources. The method presented here outperformed commercial activated-carbon filtration by nearly 40%. When the efficiency of electrocoagulation was examined in terms of voltage discharge, pH, and reverse-polarity, the results averaged 80% decontamination for individual treatment, while their combined effects produced 100% detoxification in 10–40 minutes, exceeding recently published results. The method shows great economic promise for water and wastewater treatment and chemical recycling.

Microcystins (MCs) belong to a family of stable monocyclic heptapeptide compounds responsible for hazardous toxins in drinking water. Although several methods have been applied to remove MCs from drinking water (e.g., activated carbon filtration, ion exchange resins, high-pressure membranes, and electrochemistry), upscaling laboratory experiments to benefit municipal water treatment is still a major challenge. This chapter is a follow-up study designed to test three electrocoagulation (EC) techniques for decomposing MC by UV-ozone purification (laboratory), electrocoagulation (field unit), and coupled UV-ozone-electrocoagulation (municipal treatment). The chemistry and efficiency of the treatments were first examined followed by comparison with activated carbon filtration. Electrocoagulation outperformed activated carbon filtration by nearly 40%. When the laboratory treatments were evaluated at the municipal scale, effectiveness of the technique deteriorated by 10–20% because of UV pulse dissipation, vapor-ion plasma under-functioning, and limitations of polymer fiber filters. We confirmed previously published studies that pollutant coagulation and MC decomposition are affected by physicochemical factors such as radiation pulse density, electrical polarity, pH, and temperature dynamics. The results have relevant applications in wastewater treatment and chemical recycling.