Using irradiation treatment for reduction of anaerobic bacteria from a wastewater treatment plant.

This study was done to investigate the reduction of anaerobic bacteria (Clostridium perfringens) by ultrasound irradiation technology (USI). C. perfringens is the most important of the sulfite-reducing clostridia and is normally present in human and animal feces. Clostridial spores survive longer than coliforms, Escherichia coli or enterococci, and are consequently used as an indicator of past fecal pollution. The spores are not always inactivated by chlorination, but are not a hazard to health in potable water. C. perfringens are very resistant to chlorine and other drinking-water disinfectants. Conventional water treatment practices including chlorination are sometimes inadequate for inactivation of C. perfringens. Ultrasound irradiation is able to inactive C. perfringens through a number of physical and chemical effects arising from acoustic cavitation. The phenomenon of cavitation, which involves formation, growth, and violent collapse of vapour bubbles in a liquid media, is known to generate a high-intensity pressure, which affects the cell and C. perfringens' viability. Cavitations disrupt C. perfringens. Ultrasound irradiation at a frequency of 42 kHz was used to expose aqueous suspension of C. perfringens to evaluate the disinfection efficacy of ultrasound irradiation. Results indicated a significant increase in reduction of C. perfringens with increasing ultrasound time. C. perfringens was inactivated by 99.98% after 90 min.