Innovative integrated catalytic system for enhanced water treatment: Towards a safer future for drinking water

A novel integrated catalytic system was tested as part of a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP). The system could effectively degrade organic pollutants and convert harmful inorganic species (such as bromate and nitrate), offering an innovative and effective alternative to the conventional implemented processes. Catalytic ozonation successfully degraded organic compounds present in surface water though it temporarily increased bromate concentrations to values above the advised legal limit (10 µg L −1 ). Nonethless, a subsequent catalytic reduction stage mitigated this issue, converting bromate back to bromide, maintaining levels within regulatory advised limits (∼4 µg L⁻ 1 ). The treatment system exhibited robust performance across various catalyst combinations (WCP_550 or WCP SA _550 + O 3 | WCP(CNT:TiO 2 )_550_Pd_200_Cu or WCP(CNT:TiO 2 ) SA _550_Pd_200_Cu) or CVD_Pd_200_Cu + (H 2 +CO 2 )), with sodium alginate-based catalysts emerging as a sustainable and efficient alternative to perform water treatment without compromising the achieved catalytic results. Minor efficiency losses in real water matrices were ascribed to competitive adsorption of by-products on catalyst surfaces. This integrated system emerges as one of the first comprehensive solutions addressing the simultaneous removal of both organic and inorganic pollutants in drinking water treatment contexts.