Comparison of Photocatalytic Treatment of Domestic and Slaughterhouse Wastewater

Abstract

Extended Abstract Despite the fact that the Latin American region has high freshwater resource availability, only 20% of municipal wastewater is treated, and less than 30% of industrial wastewater receives treatment [1]. In the case of Mexico, there is the problem of pollution of water bodies due to the lack of sanitation of the effluents of human activities, such is the case of the Lerma-Santiago basin [2]. In addition to the discharge of wastewater from domestic activities, the mismanagement of effluents from the agri-food sector, such as the slaughterhouses, generate pressure on the water resource in Mexico [3]. Conventional biological treatments have been attractive from a cost standpoint; however the increasingly complex nature of wastewater limit their application. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) are an alternative to treat wastewater of a complex nature. Heterogeneous photocatalysis with the use of TiO 2 as photocatalyst is an AOP that has the peculiarity of its ambient operating pressure and temperature, the use of non-toxic compounds with high photo-activity and large stability to the illumination [4]. However, scientific reports on AOPs indicate that only about 10% correspond to research on actual wastewater treatment, and less than 1% have addressed the impact of the waster matrix [5]. Therefore, this work focuses on the photocatalytic treatment of two real effluents, domestic wastewater (DWW) and slaughterhouse wastewater (SWW) from the Lerma-Santiago region. The DWW was settled, to remove suspended solids, then the photocatalytic treatment