Pathogenic microorganisms in wastewater pose serious health concerns. Several wastewater treatment facilities in parts of Africa discharge wastewater that has not been disinfected. In this regard, more effective approaches in wastewater disinfection are needed to tackle the problem of bacterial contamination. Various advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been successfully applied at laboratory and pilot scale. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a single (UV photolysis and H 2 O 2 ) and hybrid (UV/H 2 O 2 , UV/TiO 2 ‐zeolite, and UV/TiO 2 ‐zeolite/H 2 O 2 ) AOPs on the removal of Escherichia coli from wastewater from the Embu Sewage Treatment Plant, Kenya. The solid‐phase catalyst TiO 2 ‐zeolite was prepared by solid–solid dispersion immobilization and characterized by XRD, SEM, and BET. Analysis using SEM and BET showed a well‐formed TiO 2 ‐zeolite catalyst, with zeolite corresponding to Type IV isotherm which is the characteristic of mesoporous materials. The UV photolysis achieved 81% E. coli , while H 2 O 2 achieved 86%. Hybrid systems, on the other hand, UV/H 2 O 2 , UV/TiO 2 ‐zeolite, and UV/TiO 2 ‐zeolite/H 2 O 2 achieved 89%, 91%, and 100% E. coli removal. Additionally, measurement of protein was conducted using the Kjeldahl method to monitor changes in concentration in the wastewater, and bacterial reactivation after 24 h in the dark was measured; no regrowth was observed after 60 min of UV/TiO 2 ‐zeolite/H 2 O 2 , suggesting that this contact period was sufficient to kill cells. Therefore, the UV/TiO 2 ‐zeolite/H 2 O 2 hybrid system has the potential to be used for disinfection purposes, enabling water generation that meets the requirements of regulated parameters in terms of water quality.
Simiyu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.