Fluorescent study of wastewater and the effect of low quantity of disinfectant

Abstract

Abstract In the last few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic the pollution with large quantities of medicaments, disinfectants and essential oils raised the importance of their detection in wastewater. The research of new techniques for diagnostics continues. Some promising methods for finding contaminators of different origin are based on the optic and spectral characteristics of the examined water. Those could be used in determining the exact pollutant. The spectroscopic examination could also be conducted real-time under in vivo conditions. In this research, we use fluorescence spectroscopy to investigate the purity of water probes from the discharge of the Iskar River near the treatment plant in Samokov (Bulgaria) and the influence of small amounts of disinfectants (ethanol). The results show that fluorescence can be used to determine the purity of water probes and little amounts of alcohol in wastewater.