Effect of Radio-Frequency Treatment on the Changes of Dissolved Organic Matter in Rainwater

Abstract

Rainwater is a potential source of drinking water, but has various components of dissolved organic matter (DOM). DOM is a reservoir of potential hazards in drinking water. Therefore, a new method is required to purify rainwater as a drinking water source in terms of DOM aspects. A radio-frequency (RF) treatment system is introduced here to purify source water with a small possibility of contamination. RF is generated by applying a frequency of 1.5 MHz through a glass reactor with a diameter of 2 mm which is wrapped by a 2 mm copper wire. The results demonstrate that UV260 value and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) are reduced during RF treatment. DOC was reduced by a lower amount compared to UV260, suggesting the partial transformation of bio-refractory DOM. A fluorescence excitation-emission matrix showed that humic-like substances in rainwater were reduced faster than protein-like ones, indicating that humic-like substances are susceptible to reduction by RF treatment. The results offer information on the use of RF treatment in a rainwater purification process for the production of drinking water.