F. Anfuso et al., ANALYTICAL ASSESSMENT OF ORETO RIVER WATER AND PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION TESTS OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC POLLUTANTS, Annali di chimica, 88(7-8), 1998, pp. 483-494
Oreto river is one of the sources from which the city of Palermo deriv
es its water supply. The present paper reports a systematic analytical
investigation carried out on four sites and in different seasons. The
main physico-chemical parameters that were determined are: temperatur
e, pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen de
mand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), concentration of nitroge
n containing species (NH4+, NO2-, NO3-), total phosphorus and anionic
surfactants. The sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) has been determined in
order to establish the suitability of the water for irrigation. Moreov
er, in order to prove the effectiveness of the photocatalytic method t
o degrade organic pollutants dissolved in an actual water effluent, so
me experiments were carried out by irradiating in a batch photoreactor
water samples withdrawn from the river. Polycrystalline TiO2 (mainly
in the anatase phase) was used as photocatalyst.